Bear Digest

Matchups weighing down heavily on Bears' side against the Ravens

The Ravens have experience and personnel advantages over the Bears but they also have had personnel weaknesses leading to five losses that can be exploited.
Gene Chamberlain|
Luther Burden used all over the formation but particularly inside has been effective but the Bears haven't thrown to him enough.
Luther Burden used all over the formation but particularly inside has been effective but the Bears haven't thrown to him enough. | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

This Baltimore Ravens team the Bears play Sunday owns a 1-5 record and hasn't had Lamar Jackson for the last two games due to a hamstring injury.

They were without Roquan Smith for two games with a hamstring injury.

Now the Bears play against a healthier Ravens team that should even have 300-pound fullback Patrick Ricard back from an injury.

"It's a good football team that we're playing," Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. "I know things haven't gone as well as they would've liked throughout the course of the season, but make no mistake about it, you watch tape, in particular, offensively this is a good football team and I think they run the ball exceptionally well.

WHERE THE BEARS HAVE MATCHUP PROBLEMS AGAINST RAVENS

"They have an MVP quarterback, which makes it challenging. His ability to not only throw the football, but his ability also to run and create with his feet causes us a lot of problems. They've got skill players all across the board."

The Bears are heavy underdogs but the Ravens have had other problems not related to those players who missed games due to injuries.

Their roster has real issues along the defensive front and in pass coverage that helped make them a 1-3 team before Jackson missed two games, and those are places where the Bears can take advantage if they hope to pull off an upset.

Here are the matchups weighing down heavily on the Bears' side in Sunday's game.

LG Joe Thuney vs. DT Travis Jones

It could also be former Bear Brent Urban lining up at this spot. The Ravens then swap out when they go to pass rush mode but Jones is a massive 338-pound defensive lineman who is graded just 95th of 124 defensive interior players against the run. Thuney has been every bit the guard the Bears hoped and possibly even more. His strength was supposed to be pass blocking and he is Pro Football Focus' No. 1-ranked pass blocker at guard but he had a phenomenal game blocking the run by PFF grade. 

RT Darnell Wright vs. Edge Kyle Van Noy

Van Noy has been an asset as an edge rusher in the past, although he is now 34 years old and hasn't been effective this year. More importantly, he is not an asset stopping the run, graded 86th out of 113th edge players against the run according to PFF. Wright's strength is his run blocking, as he's graded 15th as a run blocker among tackles and much of the earlier trouble he had as a pass blocker was the result of penalties. He seems to have fixed this and is past the elbow injury he had. The Bears are at their best running around Wright's side, averaging 6.81 yards, which is seventh best in the league there according to NFLGSIS.com. It's a 335-pound tackle blocking on a 250-pound, 34-year-old edge.

WR Luther Burden III vs. CB Marlon Humphrey

Humphrey has been an effective cover corner in the past but this year has struggled with a career-worst 109.7 passer rating against per Stathead and is graded by PFF 108th out of 112 cornerbacks in coverage. Burden has caught virtually everything coming his way when targeted. Caleb Williams has a 141.7 passer rating when he targets Burden, which says they need to get him more than the 14 targets he's had. His 14.3 yards per catch is also healthy.

DT Gervon Dexter vs. G Daniel Faalele

Dexter goes against a solid pass-blocking guard who is graded by PFF as 16th best pass blocker at his position in the NFL but Dexter is the 11th best pass rushing guard. Overall, he is 49th out of 82 guards in blocking the run and pass. Where Dexter has been at his worst is as a run defender, but the 380-pound Faalele has been even worse as a run blocker, where he is graded 65th out of 82 interior blockers. Dexter can use his speed and strength edge in this one against a bulky player.

CB Kyler Gordon vs. TE Isaiah Likely

The Ravens like to be in 12-personnel or even heavier packages and Gordon then would be covering tight ends or backs more than he would a slot receiver, provided the Bears don't move him outside like they did when Nahshon Wright suffered an injury last week. Gordon's grades are irrelevant so far as he hasn't had enough plays due to injury but his past shows he is one of the better pass coverage slots and also plenty physical enough to cover a tight end. A hit he put on Alvin Kamara last week showed his physicality. Likely has been effective enough in the past and like Gordon, also just started playing after an injury. He has played three games and has three receptions as a move-tight end option.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.