What Were the Odds the Bears Would Beat Las Vegas Raiders

 

October 11, 2021

Not many people predicted the Bears would beat the Las Vegas Raiders, including yours truly. The Raiders opened the scoring with field goal. Thanks in part to Raider penalties, the Bears scored 14 unanswered points and were never really challenged in a 20-9 upset victory. This game showed that there is a glimmer of hope. If Bears QB Justin Fields continues to grow, I may have to revise my win total projection.

The defense this for the most part has been outstanding.  New Defensive Coordinator Sean Desai has been a tremendous upgrade over Chuck Pagano. Once again the Bears defense could be their calling card.  The Raiders offense was flying high in its previous four games. Raiders QB Derek Carr was averaging 329 passing yards per game. The Bears held him to 205 yards and an interception. The Bears continue to thwart offensives on fourth downs.  Khalil Mack is having his best season since 2018.  After the Raiders scored their only touchdown, it was his sack on Carr that prevented a two point conversion that would have cut the lead to a field goal.

The offense is not exactly a juggernaut, but there are a lot of positives. Without running back David Montgomery the Bears still racked up 143 rushing yards. Damien Williams had 64 yards on 16 carries. What was surprising is sixth round draft pick Khalil Herbert, had 75 yards on 18 carries. The Bears were opportunists taking advantage of Raider penalties. The Bears had a first and goal at the ten yard line. Th. Early in the first touchdown drive Raider’s Yannick Ngakoue’s roughing the passer gave the Bears a first down on what would have been a third and 18 The Bears had a first and goal from the 10 yard line. This usually leads to a Bears field goal. After two penalties it was first and goal from the two yard line. Fields fired his first career touchdown pass to tight end Jesper Horsted, giving the Bears the lead. Later in the first Fields left the game with an injury. After missing three plays he completed a 12 yard pass on third and 7 to wide receiver Allen Robinson. Damien Williams completed the drive with a 4 yard touchdown. After the lead had been cut to five, Field’s had his best sequence. He completed a 13 yard pass to Darnell Mooney to convert a third and 12. He the connected with tight end Cole Kmet for 11 yards leading to a Cairo Santos 46 yard field goal. Santos would later connect on another 46 yarder. He has now made 34 in a row. What may be most important is the Bears were turnover free.

What does all this mean?  The Bears defense will keep them in most games. They need an uptick in the offense to make them competitive against upper echelon teams. The schedule gets really tough with a game against Aaron Rodgers Packers followed by a road game against Tom Brady and the Bucs. Although
highly unlikely, winning either of these games would be huge.