This former Chicago Bears defender looks to make things personal in Week 8

The Chicago Bears have won two of their last three games. When you look at it this way, things do not sound as bad. When you look at the whole picture though, this team is still 2-5 on the year and only has five wins to speak of under Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus. The Chicago Bears will face another team with only two wins this season, but the matchup does not seem as easy for Chicago as it does for the Chargers.

The Las Vegas Raiders allowed the Bears to gash them on the ground while giving up easy completions when needed. Tyson Bagent did a fantastic job spreading the ball around and hitting his first reads when open. It did not happen often, but when needed, he also showed strong pocket poise while evading and extending plays. The Raiders couldn't get to him fast enough as Luke Getsy dialed up six and seven-man protections on nearly every passing play. His quick release and first-read throws allowed him to quickly get the ball out to his skill players.

Through six games, the Chargers are currently ranked 11th in rushing yards allowed per game, while the Raiders find themselves 24th. The ability to run with D'Onta Foreman, Darrynton Evans and hopefully Roschon Johnson might not be as easy as it was last week. This means that Tyson Bagent will probably need to do more in the passing game than throw two passes over 10 yards. This also opens up the door for the Chargers' edge rushers, Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa.

Khalil Mack could be a big problem for the Chicago Bears

When it comes to Khalil Mack, he doesn't sugarcoat things. He still takes not being paid by the Raiders personally. Instead, they traded him to the Chicago Bears. Mack had a great start to his short career here in Chicago, but injuries derailed things and Ryan Poles moved on from the sack specialist before the 2022 offseason officially began. Poles had a verbal trade with the Los Angeles Chargers on the table that became official as soon as it could that offseason. Mack has played fairly well for the Chargers. He had eight sacks last season and played the full year.

Mack already has seven sacks this season, but six of those seven sacks came in one game. That game was against the Raiders. Now, being traded away while still on your rookie contract probably hurts way more than how and when he was traded from Chicago to Los Angeles. However, I wouldn't be shocked if he still holds some type of grudge. He was paid well here in Chicago and netted multiple draft picks when shipped out, but don't be surprised if he brings some serious heat this week. If Luke Getsy thought he had to max protect last week, now he has two ends to defend.

With how good the Chargers' run defense is, Tyson Bagent will need to be more involved in the game plan this week. The quick throws will be important, but to win this game, Bagent will probably need to throw it downfield more. It will be a good test to see how Luke Getsy can gameplan when he doesn't have a dominant running game. It will be important to see how the Chicago Bears can use Bagent's skills to operate this offense and can he put together back-to-back strong performances?