Chiefs at Bears, Week 15: OPEN THREAD – it’s prime time Sunday Night Football coming right up. The Kansas City Chiefs are traveling to Chicago to take on the Bears in a game that features the Chiefs offensive coordinator from two years ago, Matt Nagy, vs his old mentor, Andy Reid. I’d say Nagy is still connected to Reid’s hip as I heard an interview this week in which Nagy referred to Reid as “coach.” While the Bears are out of playoff contention, Matt Nagy has made it clear that the team is playing to win the last two games against the Chiefs and then the Vikings:
“I really am looking forward to our team finishing and playing really hard these last two games. We can do that. So my message to the guys is, we’re rolling. There’s nothing that changes. It stinks that we can’t get to the playoffs, but that’s on us. We made this. Hopefully we learn from it and remember this feeling. But these next two games to us are very important and we’re going to play them hard.”
Losing five out of six games in a row essentially took the Bears out of contention earlier in the season but they will be a tough out playing at home, winning 3 of their last 4.
The Chiefs are playing for a chance to get the AFC 2-seed and if the New England Pats lose to the lowly Miami Dolphins next weekend… and the Chiefs win tonight and at home to the Los Angeles Chargers in their last game… they will then lock that 2-seed up. Things must fall the Chiefs way now because the Pats beat the Bills yesterday and the Chiefs have their own bad stretch of the season to deal with, losing four out of six in October/November.
In the meantime, the Kansas City Chiefs are on a roll and are getting most all of their player off the IR list, and that’s a good sign. Pro Football Focus said this week, referring to the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes:
“Now, they’re healthy for the most part, and that means trouble for the rest of the AFC. If you let Mahomes operate on his terms, you’re done for as a defense. Since the start of 2018, Mahomes ranks first in passer rating from a clean pocket (124.0) and when throwing in 2.5 seconds or less (120.7).”
PFF has it correct… for the most part. Yes, while Patrick Mahomes can be very good on the run, he is even better in the pocket and Ransom Hawthorne said it best in his Saturday piece called, “Do You See What I See?” making some important points about the interior of the Chiefs offensive line:
“For all the great things he can do on the run, Mahomes is still at his best in the pocket. This week made it evident that the primary source of his regression this year, is the lack of competent blocking in front of him.”
So, while I think the Chiefs should handle the Chicago Bears with ease tonight, if the Bears take advantage of the weaknesses on the Chiefs OL, this game could end up becoming a lot tougher than it has to be.
Two Important Bears to Watch For
UNO: Khalil Mack
Mack is said to be having an off season, stat wise, and that’s likely because he had 12.5 sacks last season and just 7.5 this year. However, Mack is quite capable of getting off on RT Mitchell Schwartz or LT Eric Fisher at any time and against anyone. I suspect Andy Reid is planning around Mack so that he can’t take control of the game but, Mack is one to watch.
DOS: Mitchell Trubisky
I know, I know… Trubisky is not Patrick Mahomes… and the Bears could have had Mahomes or even Deshaun Watson instead of Trubisky in the draft two years ago. Blah, blah, blah… ad nauseum in the gymnasium… or football field in this case. However, three weeks ago Trubisky threw for 338 yards and had a 3-TD game. In fact, he has had four 3-TD games this season. Do you recall when Mahoems threw for zero TDs against the Detroit Lions with an 81.0 rating earlier this season? Well, Trubisky appears to own the Lions and has thrown for 6 TDs against them this year with a rating in the 120’s. Let’s not underestimate Mitchell Trubisky or that adage: on any given Ice Cream Sunday. Point: if Mitchell Trubisky has a good game, the Bears will be a tough out.
The reasons I think the Chiefs are headed for a win include:
A) Health 101 – the best ability is… changeability (or something like that). With most K.C. heading for the grass instead of the tent, all smoke signals say go.
B) Matchups – the Bears passing game has a rating of 85.2 and is ranked 20th at NFL.com while the Chiefs defensive backfield is ranked 6th with an 82.0 rating. It doesn’t sound like a big advantage but Matt Nagy will have to come up with a game plan for a defensive unit that has ranked first in the league over the last month.
It really comes down to the Chiefs #5 offense vs the Bears #8 defense. With the Chiefs in ascending momentum and the Bears out of he playoffs as of last week’s loss to the Packers, I like the Chiefs chances in the City by the Lake.
C) Coaching
While Andy Reid has spawned Matt Nagy and many other successful coaches in the NFL (Reid is literally “out of his tree”), Nagy is in his second year as a head coach. I remember when Reid’s Chiefs faced the Eagles the first year Doug Pederson became their coach and Reid beat him. Of course Pederson went on to win a Super Bowl the next season but as with any new job, there is an adjustment period and I believe Nagy is still in that adjustment period. Besides, Reid will still want to school his one time protege. Advantage Reid.
Weather Report
As of Saturday evening, the outlook for Sunday evening at Soldier Field comes to us from weather.com:
Too bad it’s not going to be snowing again: we know how these Chiefs perform in inclimate weather. However, this should be a fast field so look for Tyreek Hill going long early in this one.
Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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