Chicago Bears bold predictions for Week 3 vs. Colts
Today at 04:39 PM
After a disappointing loss on Sunday Night Football to the Houston Texans, the Chicago Bears will look to get back on track on Sunday afternoon in their third consecutive game against an opponent from the AFC South. The Bears Week 3 opponent is the Indianapolis Colts, who after starting their season 0-2 will be desperate not to fall into an 0-3 hole that all but assures a postseason berth is out of the question.
For Chicago, the game is just as important. The Lions and Packers are both 1-1 and expected to round into shape as two of the top teams in the NFC as the season goes on. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Vikings have burst of the gate with a surprising 2-0 start behind journeyman QB Sam Darnold. The Bears, who stole a win away from the Tennessee Titans in Week 1, can ill-afford not to keep up pace in the NFC North race.
Now, with the Bears-Colts game less than 24 hours away, it’s time to make our Bears Week 3 predictions.
The Bears running game finally gets on track
After finishing as one of the league’s top two rushing offenses in each of the last two season — in large part thanks to the legs of quarterback Justin Fields — the Bears are currently 28th in total rushing yards so far this year. There are three big problems here, as I see it:
- The inability to run the ball on early downs has put Caleb Williams into far too many third and long situations, giving defenses easy opportunities to pin their ears back and put pressure on an overwhelmed offensive line and a rookie quarterback.
- The strength of this offensive line was supposed to be as a run-blocking unit.
- The Bears spent $24 million on free agent running back D’Andre Swift in the offseason.
Swift, who is coming off of the first 1,000 yard rushing season of his career last year in Philadelphia, has been limited to just 48 yards on 24 carries this year. But Chicago’s struggles to get anything going on the ground can’t just be pinned on Swift.
Khalil Herbert, who has flashed starting running back potential over the last couple years, has just 7 yards on four carries and has been limited predominantly to special teams duties. Velus Jones Jr., who made the transition from wide receiver to running back with the world watching while on Hard Knocks, has just two carries for 11 yards. Chicago’s leading rusher so far this season is Caleb Williams, who has rushed for 59 yards mostly while scrambling out of pressure.
There is some good news: a visit to Indianapolis could be the remedy to these issues. Through two games, the Colts have given up 474 yards rushing, the most in the NFL by 75 yards. Josh Jacobs and Joe Mixon are both ranked in the top five in rushing yards this season thanks in large part to games versus Indianapolis.
If Chicago can’t get their rushing attack going against the Colts, there just might not be any fixing it.
Caleb Williams increases his yardage total once again
Following a disappointing debut against the Titans in which he threw for only 93 yards against the Tennessee Titans, Caleb Williams bounced back in Week 2, throwing for 174 yards against the Texans. Granted, Caleb did throw two picks in the 19-13 loss, but he was under fire from a relentless Texans pass rush all game long, and was playing without injured wideout Keenan Allen, who will be out against the Colts too.
All things considered, it looked to me like the rookie QB grew a great deal and got a lot more comfortable between Week 1 and Week 2, and I’d expect that trend to continue in Week 3… as long as the offensive line can keep him upright. Consider me bullish on Caleb’s outlook this week. I’d expect at least 200 yards passing, as well as his first career passing touchdown.
Rookie edge rusher Austin Booker makes a splash in hometown return
Having grown up just ten miles from the downtown of Indianapolis, Austin Booker has a strong connection to the capital city of the Hoosier State… one that runs even deeper than the ink of the tattoo he has of the Indianapolis skyline on his forearm.
“I’m proud to be from Indianapolis,” Booker told Gabby Hajduk of ChicagoBears.com this week.
Booker may be proud, but the prospect of returning to Indianapolis isn’t just a celebratory homecoming. Now, with the chance to play at Lucas Oil Stadium, the same venue in which Booker believes he underperformed at the NFL Scouting Combine, there’s a feeling that he could be on the hunt for some redemption.
“This one I need some redemption. I’m grateful to be able to share that with my family and have my people in the stands.”
Austin Booker has yet to make a splash during the regular season for the Bears after a promising preseason, but now as as good of a time as ever for the high-motor rookie to make a big-time impact.
Bears head coach Matt Eberflus gets a win against his former team
Austin Booker isn’t the only Bear making a homecoming on Sunday afternoon. Head coach Matt Eberflus got his first opportunity to oversee an NFL defense when he was hired by the Colts to be their defensive coordinator ahead of the 2018 season. In four years with the team, he led Indy to four straight seasons finishing in the top ten in takeaways, and three seasons in which the Colts finished as a top ten scoring defense.
Eberflus left his post in 2022 to take over as the head coach of the Bears, and now will have his first chance to return to Indy. Even with the offense still struggling to find a rhythm, the Flus led D has been good enough through two weeks to inspire enough confidence that the Bears could go into Indianapolis and come away with a win.
With home games coming up against the short-handed Los Angeles Rams and the in-rough-shape-no-matter-how-healthy-they-are Carolina Panthers, with a win over the Indianapolis Colts, the Bears could very well be looking at a 4-1 start before they head to London to play the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 6.
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