Patriots vs Bears: Bill Belichick has his sight on making history
On Monday night, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is looking for his 325th win as a head coach against the franchise that is currently tied for first in all time wins. The Chicago Bears are tied with 785 wins with the Green Bay Packers. This will not be lost on a noted professional football historian like Belichick.
After tying George Halas’s 324 wins for 2nd all time, the Patriots coach went on to give a touching tribute to many of the Cleveland Browns franchise cornerstones.
It would not be lost on Belichick to get win 324 and 325 against these two historic franchises.
Both of these teams head into the match up with 2021 1st round draft picks as their quarterbacks. Two quarterbacks who have completely different beginnings to their career.
Patriots quarterback Mac Jones looking to make his return on Monday night
Mac Jones has come into a situation as stable as you can get in the head coaching department under Belichick. In his first year the New England Patriots did not ask him to do much besides keep the team in the game long enough for a more veteran player to make a play to win the game.
Knowing in order to win Mac needed to take the next step and be the player who made game winning plays he pressed the ball in situations early that he bit him. Starting the year with 2 touchdowns, 5 interceptions and 1 lost fumble, Mac’s turnovers have crippled the Patriots in big situations.
Jones, if he starts, will look to get back on track this week. Managing the game while being slightly more selective where he takes shots (in hindsight this would have been a better game plan for myself at the college bar).
In Justin Fields’ second season in the NFL he is already on his second coach. Starting with Matt Nagy his rookie season, Fields threw 7 touchdowns and 10 interceptions with 155 yards a game passing. Year 2 under Matt Eberflus hasn’t been much better. Between Fields inaccuracy and the lack of talent around him the Bears have struggled once again to start the year.
Patriots vs Bears: Both teams will have a similar blueprint for success
The Bears should follow the Patriots playbook of running the ball and playing stingy defense, a formula that makes many of the NFL “Experts” sick these days. Fields has come up with big runs in crucial situations but without being accurate throwing the ball he will continue to struggle.
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The new trend in the NFL has been risky 4th down attempts in order to follow the analytics which is something that has helped the Patriots this year.
With an offense that has moved the ball but does not score a lot of points, other teams not attempting field goals has been something that has helped the Patriots and both young quarterbacks. Belichick will certainly be taking points whenever he can get them against the Bears. Scoring 20 points will seem like a difficult feat for a Chicago team that has its own struggles offensively.
Defensively, the Patriots have dominated the turnover battle over the last few weeks. That trend should continue against the Bears in this Week 7 matchup. Led by Kyle Dugger and Devin McCourty, the young secondary has been outperforming expectations this year. The Patriots should force Fields to beat them by throwing the ball and wait for the mistakes to come.
Next. Patriots Gameday: Tyquan Thornton blazing onto the NFL scene. dark
Offensively, the extremely talented Rhamondre Stevenson has taken almost every snap the last 2 weeks. Getting Damien Harris back should help take some of the load off Stevenson. The Patriots have 6 viable pass catching options. Moving the ball hasn’t been an issue but converting in the red area is where they need to improve.
If the New England Patriots solve that issue a playoff spot should be in their future.
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