The Chicago Bears will be looking for their second straight win when they return to Soldier Field on Thursday night, hosting the New England Patriots on a short week.
After getting quarterback Caleb Williams back on the field after he missed three weeks with a hamstring injury, the Bears had a highly-explosive and consistent offensive performance. New England comes into this game with a strong defense, that has allowed just over 18 points a game, allowed 91 rushing yards per game, and less than 215 passing yards per game.
All of those numbers are a challenge for Bears head coach Ben Johnson, as he’ll have to find a way to exploit a tough Patriots defense that doesn’t allow their opponents to do much. Here are the top offensive keys for Chicago on Thursday night:
Clean pocket for Caleb Williams
During last week's win over the Atlanta Falcons, Caleb Williams was 24-24 for 248 yards with a clean pocket protecting him in the pass game. That's special. Chicago will have to look to keep that same type of production on Thursday night, and while New England's defense is strong, they only have 14 sacks through the first six games of the season, putting them in the middle of the league leaders. Williams thrives when he has to make plays on his own, but he dominates with a clean pocket, and that should be the top priority once again this week.
Dominate time of possession
One way that the Bears can exploit the Patriots defense is by keeping them on the field, wearing them down throughout the course of all four quarters. New England ranks high in most defensive categories, but Chicago has averaged just over 36 minutes of time of possession this season, most in the NFL, showing a true dominance in controlling the clock and flow of the game. The offense can be explosive at any moment, but for this matchup, they may just need to focus on keeping the defense on their heels and putting together long scoring drives.
Eliminate penalties
The Bears have two games this season where they have committed 12 penalties, both have come in wins, the regular season opener against Carolina, and last week's win over the Falcons. The operations needs to be completely cleaned up, and in doing so, the long drives will be more sustainable for the offense, putting New England's defense at a big disadvantage. It's quite interesting to wonder how Chicago's offense would look as a whole if the penalties were eliminated, especially since the two games they've committed 12 penalties, they've scored 31 and 59 points in those wins.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: 3 keys for Bears offense vs. Patriots in prime time