Keys To Victory: Can The Chicago Bears Stop The New England Patriots?

3.  Use Speed To Beat The Patriots Defense

In six games, the Patriots defense has allowed 24.7 points per game. This means that’s it’s not totally impossible to score on the Patriots. A similar offense to what the Bears will be running managed to score 40 points on the Patriots in week six, but the Bears will still have their work cut out for them.

The Patriots like to frequently blitz, meaning that they’ll look to get inside Mitchell Trubisky’s head early. The Bears must counter this by getting the ball out of Trubisky’s hands early. Against the Dolphins, Mitchell Trubisky tossed three touchdowns and averaged 10.2 yards per pass attempt. Jordan Howard averaged 4.9 yards per carry, while Tarik Cohen averaged 6.2 yards per carry. It’s clear that over the last two games, the Bears offense has started to click more. Now, the Bears must continue that into Sunday.

Since Howard is a bigger running back, he’ll likely stay in the backfield and pick up blocks against linebackers. This should free up guys like Tarik Cohen and Taylor Gabriel to make plays. The goal here is to beat the Patriots horizontally.

While Cohen has been placed all over the field this season, Gabriel has been primarily used as a slot receiver. Due to his speed, Gabriel runs crossing routes over the middle of the field. This route is designed specifically to allow the Bears offense to gain 20 or more yards on a single play.

Gabriel and Cohen have shown that they can be major contributors to the Bears offense. Not only does their speed help breakdown defenses, but it also allows for players with size like Allen Robinson and Trey Burton to become more situational players.