The Chicago Bears (3-2) enter week seven with a chance to tack on their fourth straight win in a home battle versus the struggling New Orleans Saints (1-5).
Coming off one of their most important wins of the year, the home team must be careful to not underestimate a Saints team with a bad record. To cap off their first four-game winning streak since 2018, the Bears will have to accomplish the following four keys to success:
Take the next step on the ground
The Bears turned in their best rushing performance in last Monday's win, but there is still room for this unit to improve.
Led by D'Andre Swift's 108 yards on 14 carries, the Bears totaled a season-high 145 rushing yards last week, a stark improvement from their 102 yards per game in the four outings prior. The offense still sits as the league's 18th best rushing unit, but the Saints defense, which allows roughly 114 yards per game, should give Chicago some more opportunities to improve on the ground.
Outside of the 17-point win versus the Dallas Cowboys, the Bears' victories have come down to the wire. If the team can flip the script and get ahead of the Saints early on Sunday, it would be a good opportunity for the home team to flex their growth in the ground game and run out the second half (literally). Look for the coach Ben Johnson and the offense to continue to lean on a run game that features Swift, Caleb Williams in critical situations and the occasional usage of receivers DJ Moore and Olamide Zaccheus.
Get in the end zone from the red zone
The Bears offense has been one of the pleasant surprises of the early part of the season, scoring 21 or more points in all five of their games thus far.
While the improvement as a whole has been noticeable from Williams and company in the second season with the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, the unit can still get better at their red zone execution. Currently, the Bears' convert red zone possessions to touchdowns at a 57% clip, which puts them just below league average. The Saints defense, however, is one of just nine groups that allows red zone touchdowns at a two-thirds or worse rate.
If the Bears can continue to drive the field as they have been able to over their past few games, the opportunities to score in the red zone should present themselves. Especially with their lead kicker in Cairo Santos scheduled to miss his second consecutive outing, it would be smart for Williams and the offense to look to button up their red zone operation and get more points on the board by turning field goals attempts into touchdowns.
Make Rattler uncomfortable in the pocket
Sunday will be a revenge game of sorts between Williams and fellow second-year quarterback Spencer Rattler, but the Bears defense should have an opportunity to get after the young passer inside the pocket.
Rattler, who was benched in favor of Williams when the two were teammates at Oklahoma, has played well through six games, accumulating 1,360 total yards while passing for six touchdowns and just one interception. Despite second round pick Tyler Shough looming over his shoulder, Rattler is proving that he has the potential to be a true starting-caliber quarterback in this league.
The easiest way for the Bears to get Rattler out of his groove is to dial up the pressure, something they have struggled at thus far. A bottom ten team in sacks per game, the Bears have slowly begun to add more second-level blitzes in order to help the front generate more pressure. Gervon Dexter and Montez Sweat lead the team with eight and seven pressures, respectively, but against his former team, defensive coordinator Dennis Allen would be smart to continue to mix in Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards and Kyler Gordon as blitzers from the back-end of the box.
Continue to turn the ball over
The Bears defense has had some highs and lows this season, but as of late, they have been one of the league's premier units at turning the ball over.
With 12 total takeaways, and 11 over their three game winning streak, the team's 2.4 turnovers per game rank best in the NFL. The offense has done their job in protecting the ball, giving the Bears a league-high +8 turnover differential, but if the defense is going to continue to assist in playing complementary football, they cannot stop making big plays on the backend.
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The Saints, to their credit, have been pretty stingy with the ball themselves, and are one of just eight teams, alongside the Bears, who have surrendered four or fewer turnovers thus far. Still, with a coordinator in Allen looking to get revenge against his former team and the recent additions of healthy gamechangers like T.J. Edwards and Kyler Gordon, the Bears could throw some confusing looks at Rattler and get the ball back for their own offense.