Matt Nagy’s first season in charge of the Chicago Bears was a huge success. Chicago was predicted to finish last in the NFC North, but the team won the division and made the playoffs for the first time since 2010. The offense tallied more than 400 points for just the third time this century, and they are looking to build off of that this season. The Bears have only made the playoffs five times in the past 25 years, so getting back to the postseason would be quite the achievement.
2019 NFL Season Win Totals
Chicago Bears
Over 9.5 Wins +120
Under 9.5 Wins -145
The Bears aren’t going to sneak up on anyone this year. Early action has been on the Bears under 9.5 wins as sharps don’t like this team’s chances as much with a first place schedule. Green Bay and Minnesota are at nearly the same price to win the division as Chicago, and bettors have been favoring those two teams at the expense of the Bears.
Chicago Bears 2019 Schedule
|
Week
|
Date
|
Opponent
|
|
1
|
September 5, 2019
|
Green Bay Packers
|
|
2
|
September 15, 2019
|
@ Denver Broncos
|
|
3
|
September 23, 2019
|
@ Washington Redskins
|
|
4
|
September 29, 2019
|
Minnesota Vikings
|
|
5
|
October 6, 2019
|
@ Oakland Raiders
|
|
6
|
BYE
|
|
|
7
|
October 20, 2019
|
New Orleans Saints
|
|
8
|
October 27, 2019
|
Los Angeles Chargers
|
|
9
|
November 3, 2019
|
@ Philadelphia Eagles
|
|
10
|
November 10, 2019
|
Detroit Lions
|
|
11
|
November 17, 2019
|
@ Los Angeles Rams
|
|
12
|
November 24, 2019
|
New York Giants
|
|
13
|
November 28, 2019
|
@ Detroit Lions
|
|
14
|
December 5, 2019
|
Dallas Cowboys
|
|
15
|
December 15, 2019
|
@ Green Bay Packers
|
|
16
|
December 22, 2019
|
Kansas City Chiefs
|
|
17
|
December 29, 2019
|
@ Minnesota Vikings
|
The Bears will have the fortune of playing the NFC East and the AFC West in cross-divisional play this season. The NFC East could be a mess once more as both New York and Washington might be set to play rookie quarterbacks, while Dallas overachieved last season. Meanwhile, Chicago will get the two best teams in the AFC West at home, making those games considerably easier.
Chicago Bears 2019 NFL Draft Picks
|
Round
|
Pick
|
Player
|
Position
|
College
|
|
3
|
73
|
David Montgomery
|
RB
|
Iowa State
|
|
4
|
126
|
Riley Ridley
|
WR
|
Georgia
|
|
6
|
205
|
Duke Shelley
|
CB
|
Kansas State
|
|
7
|
222
|
Kerrith Whyte Jr.
|
RB
|
Florida Atlantic
|
|
7
|
238
|
Stephen Denmark
|
CB
|
Valdosta State
|
Chicago didn’t pick until early in the third round of this year’s draft as a result of two trades. The Bears traded their first-round picks in 2019 and 2020 to Oakland for Khalil Mack last year, and they traded their second rounder in this year’s draft for a second rounder last season.
With only five picks, the Bears focused on new options at a position of need (running back) and depth at an important position (cornerback). Keep an eye on Shelley. Chicago raved about him during rookie minicamp, and he could have the biggest impact of the rookies.
Chicago Bears 2019 Prediction
Mitchell Trubisky’s continued development is the most important thing for this offense. Trubisky put up good numbers and made the Pro Bowl in his second season in the league, but defenses seemed to figure him out by the end of the year. He largely made one read in Nagy’s system. If that read wasn’t open, he took off running. Trubisky proved to be an above average runner, averaging 6.2 yards per carry, but defenses started to spy him near the end of the season. That caused problems because when left to freelance in the pocket, he threw a lot of bad passes.
With another offseason under Nagy, there is hope that Trubisky will have developed a sense of progressing through his reads. Chicago is trying to take some of the pressure off of him by giving the running game a spark. If you take out Trubisky’s runs, the ground game averaged under 3.8 yards per carry in 2018. The Bears brought in Mike Davis and drafted two running backs to pair with Tarik Cohen, so they are optimistic the running numbers will improve.
The offense doesn’t need to be great for Chicago to win. The Bears’ defense is so good that just an above average offense could give the franchise its second straight NFC North title.
Adding Khalil Mack was costly, but the linebacker proved to be worth the bounty of draft picks. He finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting and generally wreaked havoc when he was on the field. He led the team in sacks, forced fumbles, and quarterback hits, and he was a First Team All-Pro for the third time in four seasons.
Mack wasn’t the only First Team All-Pro on this defense. Defensive backs Kyle Fuller and Eddie Jackson turned the Bears secondary into a no-fly zone and both players were awarded top honors for their play. There really isn’t a weakness on the defense, and Chicago could end up with the league’s best unit for the second straight year.
I’m going against the grain by taking the Bears to win 10 or more games. This defense is going to be nasty if they stay relatively healthy, and I think the offense will play well enough to get to double-digit wins. I wouldn’t be surprised if Anthony Miller had a big sophomore season as he has the potential to be an elite NFL wide receiver.
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