Chicago Bears defense will struggle with Patriots, regardless of QB

The New England Patriots have found some life in the last two weeks, going 2-0 against the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns. While the teams they faced are not giants, the wins are impressive because the team has been using their backup quarterback. As we head to their week seven game against the Chicago Bears, we are still not sure if Mac Jones will suit up this week.

However, whether it is Mac Jones, or Bailey Zappe, the Chicago Bears’ defense will struggle to defend the New England Patriots.

Chicago Bears run defense is in trouble vs New England Patriots

The Chicago Bears’ pass defense Is not elite, but we all have seen that the weakness of the team this season is the run defense, particularly runs outside the tackles. The edge rushers of Robert Quinn, Trevis Gipson, Al-Quadin Muhammad, and Dom Robinson are not improving enough, and the team is unlikely to get any better.

On the flip side, the New England Patriots are one of the best rushing teams in the NFL. So far this season they rank 3rd in EPA per rush, and 8th in success rate when rushing. Meanwhile, the Chicago Bears rank 23rd in EPA allowed per rush, and 27th in success rate.

What is even worse is that the Patriots can dominate outside the tackles. The two best games that the Chicago Bears have had this season have come against Washington and Houston. That is because both team do not have an outside rushing attack, and both teams are more comfortable between the tackles.

However, the Patriots are built to run outside the tackles. So far this season the team has 73 rushes for 402 yards outside the tackles compared to 84 rushes for 353 yards inside. That is a difference of 5.5 to 4.2.

Then, there is the Chicago Bears’ defense allowing 559 yards on 99 rushes outside and 360 yards on 89 rushes inside. The difference here is 5.6 outside, and 4 yards per rush between the tackles.

So, the Patriots are picking up 5.5 yards on every run to the outside, while the Bears are giving up 5.6 yards on every run to the outside. This is a disaster of a matchup. If there is one thing New England does well, it is adjusting the game plan to highlight the flaws of their opponents.

The Patriots are likely to run outside all game, and fans will have no idea who played quarterback, as the team rips off runs at five yards a clip.