Picking the Chicago Bears most difficult games is not too hard with a first-place schedule. Last Word on Pro Football is breaking down every team’s schedule into two parts, toughest and easiest. This time, we’ll break down the toughest games on the 2019 Chicago Bears schedule.
Chicago Bears Most Difficult Games in 2019
1. Week 15: at Green Bay Packers
Typically the Bears toughest games, this season’s matchups with the Green Bay Packers will follow the same timeline as last season. That means in addition to playing each other in the opener, they will also face off in week 15. The only difference is the locales have been flipped. How much of an impact that will have remains to be seen.
Working in Green Bay’s favor is that by this time in the season, any kinks left in the offense should be worked out by then. Working in the Bears favor is they still have the better defense and the more established offense. Of course, if we are judging the offenses by the guys running the show, Green Bay has the edge.
2. Week 16: Kansas City Chiefs
Bears fans will get to see their offense run to perfection in Week 16. Unfortunately, there is a good chance it is the Kansas City Chiefs doing the operating. The defense will have its hands full with reigning-MVP Patrick Mahomes scrambling around just to throw a no-looker to Tyreek Hill to Travis Kelce.
Nagy will play the role of pupil attempting to overtake his sensei in a battle that could have far-reaching seeding implications. His saving grace will be if the defense does indeed get a bead on Mahomes (something most defenses failed to do in 2018) and maintain it. Luckily they will face the Kansas City offense on the lakefront.
3. Week 9: Philadelphia Eagles
Familiarity can play a large role in matchups being tougher than others, this is one of those cases. Philadelphia Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson is 3-0 against the Bears including a 16-15 come-from-behind victory in the Wild Card game last season. Philly is 9-4 against Chicago since 2000.
Nick Foles was the starter in that Wild Card game but Carson Wentz is 2-0 against the Bears himself. There are a couple of things Nagy and the Bears can hang their hats and hopes on. First, they had a lead in the fourth quarter of that game; maybe their more aggressive defense gets off the field. Second, they were a field goal away from winning that game.
4. Week 11: at Los Angeles Rams
Chicago hopes to follow a similar path to the one the Los Angeles Rams have taken under Head Coach Sean McVay. They have already made their dramatic turnaround going from 3-13 to 12-4 in one season. Next, they will look to make their way to the Super Bowl, albeit hopefully with a different final result.
L.A. came to the Windy City in Week 14 last season and lost 15-6, their lowest scoring output outside of Super Bowl LIII. Both quarterbacks struggled in that game but Jared Goff was (slightly) worse. That will be the Bears best bet to take the Rams down again as the latter will surely be looking to atone for that loss.
5. Week 7: New Orleans Saints
When a Drew Brees-led team checks in this far down a list of toughest games, it shows the strength of the schedule. When the New Orleans Saints come marching into Chicago, it will pit last year’s 12th-ranked passing offense (in terms of yards) against the seventh-ranked passing defense.
Brees is 4-3 against the Bears in his career, reeling off four-straight wins after losing his first three tries. In the four Brees wins, the Bears scored no more than 18 points. They scored more than that in all but four games last season. They went 3-1 in those games with that lone loss being in the Wild Card.
6. Week 8: Los Angeles Chargers
The Bears attempt to sweep SoCal in 2019 actually starts with the Los Angeles Chargers. Philip Rivers and friends have made steady progress under Head Coach Anthony Lynn. They won nine games in his first go-round and improved to 12 victories last season. Their stark defensive improvement even led them to a Wild Card win over the Baltimore Ravens.
The Chargers only faced three defenses close to the talent level of the Bears unit. They went 2-3 against Rams, Ravens, and Broncos. One of the wins, against Baltimore, came after playing them twice in three weeks. The other was a week 17 drubbing of a listless Broncos team. Chicago does get the Chargers at home, providing a boost in that regard.
7. Week 14: Dallas Cowboys
What is the one thing a defense, undoubtedly tired, would want to see towards the end of the season? How about the two-time defending NFL rushing champ and the hog mollies blocking for him. That is what is on tap as Ezekiel Elliott and the Dallas Cowboys come to Chicago in week 14. That is if Zeke and Jerruh get the whole contract thing sorted out.
These are two very similar teams on paper. Two teams with young, polarizing quarterbacks and ferocious defenses. Dallas has the sledgehammer that is Elliott, but they will be breaking in a new (or at least tweaked) offense. Mitchell Trubisky’s familiarity in the system could prove to be the difference in this one.
8. Week 2: at Denver Broncos
This was a hard game to rank on this list. On the one hand, Denver Broncos Head Coach Vic Fangio if fresh off of coaching against Trubisky every day for the last two years. He knows him better than even Nagy having been around for the John Fox era that preceded Nagy’s arrival. Remember the thing about familiarity?
On the other hand, this game is as low as it is because the Broncos and Fangio are still going through a transition. As a defensive-minded coach, expect an already good defense to remain that way at worst. Offensively, how fast effectively can Joe Flacco or Drew Lock pick up and operate the scheme to take advantage of Fangio’s intimate knowledge of the opponent?
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