Bears and Patriots Game Day Preview

Chicago Bears (2-4) at New England Patriots (3-3)

Kickoff: 7:15 p.m., Monday, Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.

TV: Locally in Chicago on WGN, nationally on ESPN (Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters)

Radio: WBBM AM-780, FM-105.9 (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Mark Grote)

Spanish Radio TUDN AM-1200, Latino Mix FM-93.5 (Omar Ramos, Miguel Esparza)

Streaming: fubo TV (Sign up for free trial)

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Latest Betting Line: Patriots by 8 1/2 (Over/under 39 1/2). Money Line, Patriots bet $100 to win $400. Bears, bet $100 to win $310. Most up to date betting info at SI.com sportsbook.

BearDigest Pick: Patriots 20, Bears 10.

BearDigest Record: 5-1, 3-3 vs. the spread, 2-4 vs. the total.

The Series: The 15th game between these teams with New England owning a 10-4 series lead. The Patriots have won the last five. The last Bears win came in 2000, 24-17 in Chicago. The Bears are 0-4 in New England.

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The Coaches: Bears coach Matt Eberflus is 2-4 in his first year, and as an assistant the teams he has been on are 2-3 against the Patriots.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick is 293-146 in the regular season and 31-13 in the postseason. His 324 wins ties him for the most ever with Bears founder and coach George Halas all time. He is 257-102 with the Patriots in the regular season and is 6-1 against the Bears.

Last Week: The Bears lost 12-7 after getting zero points on three trips inside the red zone, including their final drive that ended inches away from the goal line on a Darnell Mooney reception. They lost despite rushing for 237 yards.

The Patriots won their second straight after starting 1-3. They beat Cleveland 38-15 with four sacks and only 70 rushing yards allowed. Backup QB Bailey Zappe played for the third straight game and started for the second straight game due to an ankle injury to Mac Jones, Zappe is averaging 8.5 yards per pass attempt, has a passer rating of 111.4 with four TD passes and one interception.

This Season: The Bears have lost three straight, the first two on late turnovers and last week inches from the goal line. Two muffed punts by Velus Jones Jr., including one last week, led to losses. QB Justin Fields makes his 17th career start. The Bears have won four of the first 16. He has four TD passes, five interceptions and a passer rating of 72.7 this year, 73.1 for his career. He is averaging 7.6 yards per attempt this season. RB Khalil Herbert came into Week 7 leading all NFL running backs in yards per carry at 6.4. He has 402 yards on 63 attempts ... RB David Montgomery has 256 yards on 62 carries. ... WR Darnell Mooney leads the team with 17 catches for 241 yards. ... Linebacker Roquan Smith leads the NFL in tackles coming into Week 7 with 66.

The Patriots lost to Miami on the road, Baltimore at home and Green Bay on the road. Despite losing Jones, they shut out the Lions 29-0 when the Lions had the league's highest-scoring offense, and took the ball from Cleveland last week four times. RB Rhamondre Stevenson averages 5.1 yards a carry and has 447 yards on 87 attempts with three TDs while Damien Harris has 257 yards on 57 rushes for a 4.5-yard average. Jakobi Meyers leads New England with 24 receptions for 321 yards. DeVante Parker is averaging 21.1 yards a catch with 253 yards on 12 catches. ... DE Matt Judon has six sacks and is second in the NFL. DE Deatrich Wise Jr. has five.

Matching Up:

The Bears are 28th on offense, 32nd (last) passing and second in rushing. They are 16th on defense, 29th against the run and third against the pass. They are 11th in scoring defense and 31st in scoring offense.

The Patriots are 13th on offense, 18th passing and 10th rushing. New England is 12th on defense, 15th against the pass and 17th against the run. The Patriots are 12th in scoring offense and seventh in scoring defense.

Injury Report:

Bears: No one is injured.
Patriots: QB Mac Jones (ankle), CB Shaun Wade (illness), WR Nelson Agholor (hamstring), DL Christian Barmore (knee), WR Kendrick Bourne (toe), DL Lawrence Guy (shoulder), CB Anfernee Jennings (calf), CB Jonathan Jones (ankle), CB Jalen Mills (illness), G Mike Onwenu (ankle), LB Josh Uche (hamstring), T Isaiah Wynn (shoulder) are all questionable.

Of Note: First- and second-round QBs starting against the Patriots at Gillette Stadium have a record of 1-25. ... The Bears rank are tied for fifth in rushing plays of 20-plus yards with seven. ... The Bears are still tied with Green Bay for most victories by an NFL franchise with 785. ... While Belichick will trail Don Shula in wins by 22 victories if he gets No. 325, he would pass Shula for victories with one team (257). However, Belichick and Shula both trail Halas in wins with one team (318). ... Mac Jones has a passer rating of 95 or higher in three of his four starts against NFC teams.

Next Week: The Bears are at Dallas on Sunday at noon. The Patriots are at the Jets Sunday at noon.

Key Individual Matchups

WR Darnell Mooney vs. CB Myles Bryant

The Patriots lost slot cornerback J.C. Jackson to the Chargers in free agency so Myles Bryant has replaced him. The Bears need to bring Mooney into the slot more in this game and get him open on underneath or crossing routes more to test Bryant, who has allowed 72.7% completions for a passer rating of 118.9, according to Sportradar. Bryant is one cornerback Mooney will have no problem matching up with size-wise. The fourth-year New England DB is 5-foot-8, 180 pounds. Mooney will be determined to make up for last week's bobbling goal-line catch in this one.

Bears RG Teven Jenkins vs. DT Christian Barmore

The former Alabama standout hasn't been the best at stopping the run in this, his second year. It's possible he'll even be replaced on downs when the run is more likely going forward. His Pro Football Focus rating against the run is only 39.3. The 6-foot-4, 310-pounder has 15 tackles and a sack. He's been better as a pass rusher. The Bears will need to run in this game, whether on RPO runs by David Montgomery and Justin Fields or stretch plays by Khalil Herbert. Jenkins has been excellent as a run blocker. Overall he rates the 13th best guard in the league and also 13th best in run blocking. Barmore is very athletic and sometimes gets himself hurt by getting out of run lanes. He's also suffering from knee soreness that limited him in practice this week. His replacement, Lawrence Guy, has a shoulder injury and was also limited in practice. Jenkins is athletic but also very powerful and needs to be utilized to his strengths in this matchup edge.

Bears FB Khari Blasingame vs. Patriots SS Kyle Dugger

When allowed to come into the box as an extra linebacker, strong safety Kyle Dugger has been very effective at stopping the run or covering a tight end over the middle. As a pass defender, he has been mediocre. When the Bears are not using RPO in this game, they can run by leaving a fullback on the field more. Blasingame has only been used for 70 offensive plays so far but has been very effective, ranked by PFF one spot below Kyle Juszczyk in fifth among fullbacks. He has been effective as a pass or run blocker.

Bears CB Kindle Vildor vs. Patriots WR Tyquan Thornton

Nelson Agholor is the starter for the Patriots on that side of the field but injuries have limited him to 162 offensive plays and he has been missing time in practice this week. Thornton is the Baylor rookie with electrifying speed but so far he's been bottled up with six catches and only 44 yards. Vildor has surprised with drastic improvement over the last three games, and owns career-best passer ratings against of 86.7 and completion percentage at 64%. He has been ranked in the league's top 10 among cornerbacks by PFF, coming in 19th overall at 72.5, four spots behind teammate Jaylon Johnson. It's been a matter of gaining experience for Vildor, who hadn't had more than a full season's worth of starts (17) until this year.

Bears WR Dante Pettis vs. CB Jack Jones

The really desired matchup will be if N'Keal Harry gets sufficient playing time to match up with Jones. Harry, being the former Patriots receiver, would be ideal for the national TV telecast if he makes his Bears debut. However, it's more likely Pettis who would get more time, especially after his big catch for a TD last week. Pettis delivered when he had been having problems for two games dropping the ball, a problem he really hadn't experienced early in the year. Pettis' strength is not necessarily speed, but route running. Jones is all the rage as the Patriots have had some injuries in the secondary. He stepped up and now has two interceptions, a forced fumble and recovery along with four pass deflections. He'd be giving away 7 inches to Harry, 4 inches to Pettis but it hasn't hurt him so far. The Auburn cornerback is 5-foot-9, 175 pounds but plays much bigger and is the highest-graded cornerback in the league by Pro Football Focus. DBs for New England need to be strong at man-to-man coverage and Jones has been to date.

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Bears CB Kyler Gordon vs. WR Jakobi Meyers

The Patriots can put their best receiver anywhere and it wouldn't be a shock, but when he lines up in the slot he'll be facing the Bears rookie who is coming off his best game in the NFL. Meyers, a 6-foot-2, 200-pounder, was a restricted free agent this year and he should be watched closely by the Bears because he could be on the unrestricted free agent market next spring. Meyers has 24 catches in four games, having missed two due to injury. He has had 95-yard and 111-yard games and averages 13.4 yards a catch. Gordon's improvement will be tested.

Bears T Larry Borom vs. Patriots DE Deatrich Wise Jr.

Wise has been around now six years but there is no doubt he has come into his own and is playing the best in his career. He has been named a team captain and he is currently ranked 19th among edge players by Pro Football Focus with an 82.3 grade. Wise has matched his career high with five sacks. At 6-foot-5, 275 pounds, he's also stout against the run. Borom starts his 15th game and has given up two sacks with three penalties committed. He has gradually improved and PFF has him graded 40th among league tackles at 67.1 but 17th at pass blocking (77.4). Is he up to challenging one of the league's hotter pass rushers?

Bears LB Roquan Smith vs. Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson

Stevenson is a big back (6-foot, 227 pounds) from Oklahoma, drafted in the fourth round and like the Bears' Khalil Herbert, he seems to be coming into his own in his second season. After running for 606 yards last year, he is averaging 5.1 yards a carry this season and the Patriots have no problem pounding the ball at teams with him and a group of backs. They are ranked 10th in rushing. It helps young quarterbacks like Mac Jones or Bailey Zappe to have the running game working and there's no doubt the Patriots have this in gear. Smith leads the NFL with 66 tackles but the impact plays expected of him this year from weakside linebacker haven't been there. He has only three tackles for loss. Two came in the same game when he had his only interception, against Houston. The Bears rank 29th against the run and it's difficult to rate Smith high when the team hasn't been able to stop the run.

Bears T Braxton Jones vs. Patriots DE Matthew Judon

Jones' benching has been a source of speculation at various spots on social media and analytics websites but Pro Football Focus has given him a solid start for a rookie tackle. His overall grade is 37th best among tackles, which puts him in the middle of the league. No one can complain about this from a fifth-round rookie. He does need to improve as a pass blocker as his about his skills so far, with some suggesting Riley Reiff should replace him. However, his pass blocking is ranked 62nd in the league. Facing Judon would be difficult considering the former Ravens pass rusher has averaged one sack per game and has 13 hits on the quarterback.

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