(Photo: © David Banks-Imagn Images, 247Sports)
CHICAGO, Ill., —In the middle of a four game winning streak, everything seems to be working for the Chicago Bears. The offense has beat opponents on the ground and through the air. But the NFL is an imperfect league and everything changes each week.
Week 8 will be no different for the Bears, who are set to play their toughest opponent yet. While the Baltimore Ravens have won just one game this season, they've always been a tough, competitive matchup for any team.
"I would say that their record is not indicative of kind of the way this team plays," said offensive coordinator Declan Doyle. "It's a longstanding organization, a lot of continuity and coaching staff and then players, they're fast, they're physical, they have a lot of talent on defense. They still have a number of guys who play at a really high level. The way they play is impressive to watch on film."
After a mediocre performance in week 7, Caleb Williams will look to get back into a rhythm and be the reason the passing game keeps Baltimore's secondary on its heels. But to win this game, the offense will need to put up points on the board in bunches, which means executing in the redzone.
"It's an area that we haven't really met our standard down there quite yet," said offensive coordinator Declan Doyle. "It's obviously something that we're working on."
For perspective, the Bears have converted on just 50 percent of opportunities in the redzone through the first six games. That's well below the league average of 59.03 percent. Like Doyle mentioned, the offense's execution hasn't been up to standard but there have been some successes.
The offense has had success in the redzone running the football. But getting more out of the passing game inside the opponents 20-yard line will really be a major key in helping the entire unit take another step forward. Space gets much tighter in the redzone and offenses have much less room to operate. As a playcaller, Ben Johnson will need to get creative about how the offense operates while position coaches make sure their respective players are doing their assignment.
"Things happen faster because the safeties are lower, windows are tighter, all of that stuff is true," said Doyle. "However, it's still the same thing that we've talked about with pre and post snap processing where you're constantly trying to get the quarterback to process quicker playing through there. Those opportunities come up in each game when we're down there. We're throwing the ball and I think that will continue to come up."
For the Bears to have success on Sunday and extend the win streak to five games, the franchise's longest since 2018, it'll require execution in the redzone with a high level of consistency.
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