Kyle Monongai explains how much he's learned as a rookie with the Chicago Bears
If the Chicago Bears haven’t sounded like a broken record to themselves yet, this week it’s become much more evident.
The penalties and red zone execution need to change. That much has been said plenty of times over the last four weeks.
It didn’t hurt the Bears much during a four-game winning streak. It did last week as the Ravens ended that win streak. It’s why the Bears face an interesting test this weekend.
The Cincinnati Bengals are next and offer the Bears a chance to remedy multiple parts of their team that are struggling at the moment. From the red zone offense to the pass rush, the Bengals are a team that offers the Bears a chance to right the ship.
But, the Bengals aren’t a team to take lightly.
The Bears defense:
Cincinnati is 3-5 on the season. The team lost star quarterback Joe Burrow in Week 2. The Bengals’ young defense has taken some hits so far this season.
That makes it easy to assume the Bears will have some sort of advantage on both sides of the ball. But, sturdy veteran quarterback and AFC North journeyman Joe Flacco has teamed up with star receivers Tee Higgins and JaMarr Chase to score 30 points per game at home so far this season.
"We know how dangerous this team can be and like a lot of teams this time of year, you're pushing to stay alive so this is a big game for them," Johnson said on Wednesday. "It's a big game for us as well."
The Bears can beat the Bengals by playing complementary football. They did so against the Commanders, and the Saints to a lesser extent.
It starts defensively, as the Bengals’ offense is a unit the Bears have to find ways to limit.
With Flacco at quarterback, the Bengals have scored over 30 points in their last two games: 33 points in a win over Pittsburgh and 38 points in a loss to the Jets. The run game is steady enough with Illini product Chase Brown to allow Chase and Higgins to do damage in the passing game.
With Flacco at quarterback, the Bengals sacrifice mobility for experience. That’s allowed the Bengals’ passing game to attack defenses in specific ways. That does open up a lane for the Bears’ pass rush to be effective, as Flacco isn’t as mobile as the last three quarterbacks the Bears faced.
The good news for the Bears is that starting cornerback Tyrique Stevenson was a full participant in practice on Thursday. Even with losing rookie defensive lineman Shemar Turner to a torn ACL, second-year pass rusher Austin Booker will be active Sunday.
That might mean more snaps for Dayo Odeyingbo in the interior of the defensive line.
But, the pass rush needs chances to build its momentum. That means the offense has to take it upon itself to help the defense.
"We have to get into some of these games where we can get the score in a position where they're having to throw every down," Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. "It's much harder to rush the passer when you're in a run-play action-down than when they're in a drop-back mode."
The other side:
The Bears can score against the Bengals.
Cincinnati’s defense ranks last in the league in points allowed per game, total yards allowed per game and rushing yards allowed per game. The team ranks 30th in the league in passing yards allowed per game.
The yardage ranks are a boon for the Bears. This is a team that Johnson has admitted has no issues moving the football. Finishing drives in the end zone is another story.
"When we get the first first-down, we're able to move the ball really at will," Johnson said on Monday. "It’s just not resulting in the points. Our red zone percentage is down. We need to score more touchdowns when we get down there."
Missed assignments and penalties are what have marred the Bears’ offense the last two weeks. A 26-14 win over the Saints should have easily breached 30 points. The Bears scored only 16 points last week, which is the first time all season they’ve failed to break 20 points.
Against the Ravens, the Bears didn’t record a turnover for just the second time all season. But, forcing four turnovers a game isn’t something the Bears can count on. What they can count on is the red zone offense execution. That’s what hurt the Bears the most in Baltimore.
The Bears work on their red zone offense on Fridays. But, they still have to cut out the penalties that limit the offense well before that. So far, they’re trying some different tactics to remedy the penalty infractions, but are playing that situation close to the chest.
"We're using some unorthodox things out there on the practice field that you might not see," Bears offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said. "It's something that we're addressing and is really important for us to be able to stay on schedule and be able to move the ball offensively and be effective and finish with touchdowns."
What works in the Bears’ favor is that they’ve had the second-best starting field position in the NFL, starting at their own 33.3-yard line on average. That sits behind the Lions, whose average starting field position is at their own 34-yard line.
Combine this with the Bears’ offensive success before the red zone, and it means the Bears should have multiple chances to score in the red zone on Sunday.
Finding ways to get into the end zone and shake the red zone issues on Sunday might go a long way to solving them later in the season.
Getting there and continuing to struggle might mean the Bears have harder decisions to make.
"If guys are continuing to hurt the team and hurt the offense, then you have to look at other solutions," Doyle said. "But, the way we're attacking that right now is process-driven."
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