The Chicago Bears (2-4) travel to Foxborough to play the Patriots (3-3) on Monday Night Football.
While the Bears only have one less win than the Patriots, it seems like Patriots are trending in a positive direction while the Bears are going the opposite way. Let’s take a look at Patriots position by position group:
Quarterback: Mac Jones was the starter for the first three games until he sustained an injury to his ankle during a week 3 loss to the Ravens. The next week, Brain Hoyer was the starter but sustained a head injury and was knocked out of the game. The Patriots then turned the quarterback position over to rookie Bailey Zappe. Zappe has won his first two starts at quarterback and is the only rookie quarterback in the Super Bowl Era to post a 100+ QB rating and win his first two starts.
His first two starts were against the Browns who are 21st in DVOA and the Lions who are 25th in DVOA. The Bears currently rank 31st in DVOA so they may not be a challenge for the young quarterback making his third start. Zappe does a great job of protecting the ball (only one interception) and is completing 72% of his passes.
The Bears have faced more decorated quarterbacks this season but Zappe will still present a challenge on Monday Night.
Running Back: Rhamondre Stevenson has taken over the starting role after splitting carries with Damian Harris who is questionable for the game vs the Bears. Stevenson has rushed for 448 yards which is good for seventh in the league and has been the focal point of the offense since Zappe has been the starter.
If the Bears want to win the game they will have to shut down Stevenson, but the Bears are currently ranked 31st in rushing yards allowed. The Patriots will be running early and often at the Bears front seven and Stevenson will be ready to continue to his breakout season on Monday.
Offensive Line: The offensive line of the Patriots has only allowed 11 sacks in six games which is ninth lowest in the league. The Patriots offensive line since Zappe has started has only allowed 2 sacks and 2 quarterback hits. The standout on the offensive line this year has been guard Michael Onwenu. Onwenu ranked 4th in pass block win rate as a guard this week and has not allowed any sacks this season.
The other outstanding player on this offensive line has been center Dave Andrews. Andrews has only allowed one sack this year and this week had 99 percent pass block rate as a center last week vs the Browns. The Patriots offensive line has done a great job of help this inexperienced quarterback and the other skill positions put up points.
Wide Receivers: The Patriots do not have a traditional number one wide receiver who will receive a plethora of targets or receiving touchdowns. Jakobi Myers has led the team in yards the last two years but has yet to have a 1,000 yards receiving season in his career and only has three career receiving touchdowns. Currently, the Patriots ranked 17th in passing offense which is slight improvement from where they were through six games last year. The deep threat for the Patriots has been Devante Parker who is averaging 21.1 yards per reception which is 3rd in the league.
The Bears have allowed a reception for over 40 yards in four out of the six games they have played this year and the Patriots will try to exploit those weaknesses in the Bears secondary.
Tight Ends: Starting Tight End Hunter Henry is third on team in targets this season and is coming off a season-high in targets in the game vs the Browns. He has gotten off to a slow start in terms of receiving touchdowns after having a career high nine receiving touchdowns last year for the Patriots and this year only having one.
Zappe has seemed to find a connection with Henry last week and the Bears linebackers will need to be aware of Henry who is one of the better tight ends in the league.
Defensive Line: The Patriots have allowed 119 rushing yards per game this season but have been much better against the run in the last two weeks. After giving up 199 yards to the Packers in week 4 the Patriots have only given up 171 yards rushing total in the last two weeks. The Patriots just held the leading rusher in the league Nick Chubb to 56 yards rushing on 12 carries. The Bears offense is one-dimensional with running the ball that has kept the chains moving and this defensive line will be ready for the Bears rushing attack.
The standout player on the defensive line is Deatrich Wise Jr. Wise has five sacks in six games this season which is a career high and he has been great against the run. The Bears offensive line will need to be aware with Wise is at all times on Monday.
Linebackers: This group has been great at pressuring the quarterback and the best linebacker for the Patriots who has done that this year has been Matt Judon. Judon is tied for second in the league in sacks with six and is tied for fifth for quarterback hits. Judon, who has the made the Pro Bowl the last three years is flourishing in this Patriots defense.
Luke Getsy, the Bears offensive coordinator needs to be aware with Judon is at all times because he will be trying to cause chaos every time the Bears offense in on the field.
Secondary: Coming into this season, many experts wrote off this secondary after losing J.C. Jackson in free agency to the Chargers. Jackson was the best corner for this team last season and the Patriots signed Super Bowl hero Malcolm Butler to add some experience to the secondary but he was cut before the end of the preseason.
The secondary for the Patriots has been a huge surprise is how they have played this secondary. Cornerback Jack Jones has had a standout rookie season and is third among cornerbacks less than 25 years old in allowed passer rating. Jones is also in the top 20 in completion percentage allowed as well. The most passing yards this secondary has given up was in week 1 vs the Dolphins when they allowed 270 yards.
The secondary does a great job of limiting long passing plays and Darnell Mooney and the rest of the wide receivers may have a difficult time getting open on Monday night.
Kicking: Nick Folk has made ten out of twelve field goals this year including a field goal from 50 yards this season. Folk has always been one of the most reliable kickers in the league and this season he has been much the same from his entire career.
Punter Jake Bailey ranks 31st in average punt yards this year which is a dramatic drop from 2021 when he ranked in the top 10 in average punt yards.
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