The Chicago Bears are sitting at 2-4, and they have lost three straight games. With a long break after Thursday Night Football and before Monday Night Football, this may be the best chance for the team to make changes to the lineup before the actual bye week.
With that in mind, what could the Chicago Bears change to get things going in the right direction when they face the New England Patriots?
5. Chicago Bears should Bench Al-Quadin Muhammad
The Chicago Bears coaching staff has stuck with their man for too long. They have started Al-Quadin Muhammad in all six games this season, and there has only been one game in which Trevis Gipson played more snaps than Muhammad.
Last week against the Vikings the team decided to get Gipson more work, but on Thursday they went right back to Muhammad. He wound up playing 12 more snaps than Gipson.
Muhammad can be more gap-sound at times in the run game, but Gipson gets the in the backfield more in the run game. He also provides more pressure and has been the much better pass rusher. Now that they have this time they should be able to look back and realize that Gipson is doubling the production on half of the snaps.
Heck, Dominique Robinson rotates behind Robert Quinn, but Quinn plays so much that they can even cut into the snaps of Muhammad with Robinson.
The first thing the team should do is find ways to reduce playing time of Muhammad. It will not be a game changer, but will put the team on the right step forward, and will give them more playmaking in both areas. They have enough time where it would make no sense not to make this switch now.
4. Chicago Bears should look for a bigger RB timeshare
David Montgomery has been great as the lead back for the Chicago Bears this season. This is not like AQM, where we need to see less of him. However, there are obvious times when Khalil Herbert should be getting more work.
We have seen enough of Herbert from his starts this season and last. Even on Thursday, he had one of the biggest plays of the game with his 64-yard run that put the Chicago Bears in the red zone. Still, he finished with just six more carries, and two of them came on that exact drive. The team can work him more than a couple of drives per game.
The reality is that Chicago should realize that they have a thunder and lightning situation brewing. Herbert is obviously the big play lightning, while Montgomery has the power and ability to push between the tackles that makes him the thunder.
Even when Herbert did play, when he broke the run to put the Chicago Bears in the red zone, they could have gone to Montgomery. Herbert just had a long run and had to be catching his breath. Beyond that, in the red zone, they should always be looking at the thunder. The fourth and one run should have definitely been Montgomery and not Herbert.
Then, when they are in the open field we could see a bit less Montgomery, and a bit more Herbert. This is not benching Montgomery, as we mentioned, it is turning him into the only back who should get chances in the red zone. Still, they should take a chance or two away from him between the 20s, and give those rushes to Herbert. The split is nearly 80/20 when both are healthy, and a 60/40 share would be better.
Beyond that, the best thing the Chicago Bears could do over this time is to understand when and where to use each on the field.
3. Chicago Bears will make WR changes
This one appears to be less about speculation and more about the reality of the situation. In the offseason, the thought was that N’Keal Harry and Velus Jones would be more involved in the offense than Dante Pettis and Ihmir Smith-Marsette.
Obviously, that has not happened yet. Injuries have been the story for both, and it has given Pettis a chance to make two game-changing touchdowns this season.
Still, the offense has a chance to grow with Harry and Jones, and those two should out snap Smith-Marsette and Pettis moving forward.
That is tough to say after Pettis caught a touchdown and Jones fumbled the game away, but Jones Is not returning punts here. In fact, the Chicago Bears’ plan to get him the ball on offense has been good.
Jet sweeps and screens are all he can handle for now, but he has moved and shaken with the ball In his hands. Then, there is N’Keal Harry. Harry is the best blocker in the group, and his outside presence will transform Darnell Mooney into a full-time slot player, which is a big win for Mooney.
Pettis played well Thursday, but is a place holder, and has four non-factor games to two big play games. They have to get Jones involved on offense, and Harry makes things a lot easier. When you add in that Smith-Marsette has been a disaster, it starts to get easier to make this change.
Jones saw his snap counts increase in the last three weeks, and Harry will make his debut Monday. This is a great time to get both moving in the right direction.
2. Chicago Bears must start Lucas Patrick at center
Lucas Patrick was signed to not only be the Chicago Bears starting this center, he was signed to be the center of the future. He was going to be the guy that Justin Fields led his career with. So far, Lucas Patrick has not taken a single at center.
Now, some of that was expected, his hand injury prevented him from snapping a football. Still, Patrick has largely been a disappointment this season, and it is hard to say that it is not because he is playing out of position.
Versatility was a key for signing Patrick, but having a starting center was far more important. They gave Sam Mustipher a shot, and he has not lived up to expectations. Perhaps they did not want to rush the change and make sure that Patrick was completely healthy.
Well, now they have 11 days to get him into the lineup. You are arguably making two spots better because Patrick has turned into a liability at guard. He may be the same at center, but at least you push Patrick from a position he was struggling at into a position he was signed to play. From there, you lose Mustipher at center, which could be a huge win.
The obvious question is who starts at left guard. Still, it is hard to say that is the problem of Patrick. They signed him to play center, and now they need to give him a chance in the position he was supposed to play.
1. Will the Chicago Bears bench Velus Jones
Yes, this is a bit contradictory to the slide a few back. We want to see Velus Jones on offense more, but do not need to see him return punts for a bit. The Chicago Bears saw him fumble two games away now, and Thursday was far more costly than his first fumble against the Giants.
The reason we can trust him on offense still is that both fumbles came to tracking the football. He was moving at the last second as he went to haul in the ball and both showed poor form. On offense, he is hardly catching the ball, they are handing it to him on reverses. Still, the time for him to return punts is probably over for now.
Matt Erbflus was given a chance to excuse the issue when he was asked if Velus Jones was still getting used to things given it is just his third week in the NFL. They also asked about the wind.
Eberflus said that Jones has no excuse and that the wind was fine. He was blunt in saying that the issue is solely on Jones. It sounds pretty clear that they will be going back to Dante Pettis as their punt return man, which could cause the even swap.
Pettis loses time to Jones offense, but loses his punt return job to Petts in the meantime. Either way it would be surprising if Jones did return punts on Monday against the Patriots.