Matchups Favoring Bears Against Patriots

Facing a Bill Belichick team often means taking a different tact on offense.

On defense, it means being prepared to stop the run first and for the Bears both can be problems.

"He's able to do what he's done over the course of the length of his career: Take away a guy's strength and make him play left-handed," Bears coach Matt Eberflus said. "That's his whole motto of what he's been able to do. We've seen it in the Super Bowls and seen him in playoff games do it.

"Even when he was d-coordinator of the Giants, you saw him do it there. It's been a stellar career and he's been able to do that over the long haul."

For the Bears on offense, this means Justin Fields will be forced to play within the pocket and throw shorter. Belichick tried to do this with Mitchell Trubisky in 2018 and the Bears nearly got him by scoring 31 points in a 38-31 loss at Soldier Field

On defense, it means they better come prepared to defend the run better than they have in a game this season.

The only opponent they held to less than 117 yards rushing was Houston, and that was after the Texans piled up 70 rushing yards by halftime.

The Bears need to avoid doing what Belichick is trying to make them do over but they can by pressing the matchups they should own in this game.

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.

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