Chicago Bears vs Washington Redskins: Week 16 keys to the game

2) A bounce back game for the secondary

Despite the Bears applying consistent pressure on Aaron Rodgers, the secondary struggled mightily. Aside from the obvious deep play to Jordy Nelson, the Bears’ secondary had a number of breakdowns during the game. Rodgers threw for 252 yards with no touchdowns. However, that doesn’t accurately depict how Chicago fared against the Packers. Davante Adams dropped two easy touchdowns where no Bears defender was within 5 yards. The Bears are about to face another deep passing attack with Washington coming to town, and the secondary must bounce back.

I’ve put the burden on the front seven for the past few games, but the secondary has to step up for a victory on Christmas Eve. The Redskins have a plethora of options when it comes to the passing game. Desean Jackson is one of the best deep threats in football, Jordan Reed is a top 5 tight end in the NFL, Chris Thompson is a speedy option out of the backfield, and the likes of Pierre Garcon and Jamison Crowder round out Washington’s weapons.

For the Bears to be successful, they have to lock down Kirk Cousins’ first read. With as many weapons as Washington has, the secondary will have to force Cousins to survey the field and buy the pass rush time to make plays. Additionally, Chicago can’t allow the deep ball. The Bears’ strength on defense is forcing teams to grind out tough yards and first downs from end zone to end zone. Big plays make the system extremely difficult to execute. For the Bears to earn this key, they must force two coverage sacks, and allow no more than three pass plays which exceed 20 yards.