Bears and Raiders: Who Wins and Why
A look at positional group matchups and key statistics in Sunday's Bears and Raiders game with a prediction on the final outcome.
Transcript
00:00 No Justin Fields, instead it's Tyson Bajentz's debut as a starting Bears quarterback.
00:15 No Jimmy G, instead it's Brian Hoyer, there's a blast from the past.
00:21 The Bears try to win at Soldier Field for the first time since week 3 of the 2022 season.
00:26 It's the Bears and the Raiders at noon at Soldier Field on Sunday.
00:29 Here's who wins and why.
00:32 In what looks like a closer matchup with Jimmy G gone, there are several areas where neither
00:36 team rates an edge.
00:39 Josh McDaniels gets blasted for his part of losing as a head coach, but at least he didn't
00:43 start out 4-19 like the Bears have under Matt Eberfloos.
00:47 Then you look at intangibles and the Raiders pretty much negate any edge the Bears might
00:51 have from being at home and outdoors.
00:53 The Raiders have always had a strong national fan base and it's now been more than a calendar
00:58 year since the Bears won at Soldier Field.
01:02 Special teams are fairly even, the Bears finally got Valus Jones Jr. going on kick returns
01:06 last week.
01:07 They have their kick blocking specialist Rasheem Green and Kyro Santos has been perfect this
01:12 year kicking the football.
01:14 And Trent Taylor is averaging 8.8 yards a punt return.
01:17 Former Bears returner DeAndre Carter is doing a solid job for the Raiders.
01:22 And they also have kicker Daniel Carlson who has a powerful leg, though not quite as accurate
01:27 as Kyro Santos has been because he has two misses.
01:30 It's also a push when the Bears are running it.
01:32 They are 7th running the ball and the Raiders 21st stopping them, but you have to figure
01:36 that Justin Fields absence is going to take a lot out of the Bears running game.
01:41 Also they are switching up their offensive line again this week so there's going to be
01:45 a little bit of confusion going on.
01:47 The Raiders rate an edge when they are passing and also when the Bears are passing.
01:52 The Raiders pass defense isn't just Mad Max Crosby's pass rush, although that's a good
01:56 start.
01:58 They gave up 193.7 yards passing a game which is not bad at all.
02:04 When the Raiders pass, Brian Hoyer has an array of good targets in Devontae Adams, Jacoby
02:09 Myers, Michael Bayer and Austin Hooper.
02:12 It's good enough that you almost forget they have Hunter Renfroe who appears to be on the
02:15 trading block.
02:16 However, it's not a big edge.
02:18 The Bears pass defense got healthier last week and held the Vikings the 2 of 13 on 3rd downs.
02:24 Their lack of a pass rush is still what's holding them back.
02:28 The Bears get the edge when the Raiders are running and the Bears are playing run defense.
02:33 Who would have thought this when the Raiders have the returning rushing champion Josh Jacobs.
02:38 But so far they average only 3.1 yards a run and Jacobs only 2.9 yards a carry.
02:44 That's partly because they struggle on the offensive line.
02:46 Meanwhile the Bears run defense is tightened up with linebackers TJ Edwards and Tremaine
02:50 Edmonds figuring out the scheme and nose tackle Andrew Billings, the former Raider, helping
02:56 close things off inside.
02:58 The Bears are 15 yards allowed per rush at 3.5 yards and are 8th overall against the
03:03 run while the Raiders are next to last at running it.
03:06 So in a close game, maybe like last week's, who wins?
03:10 The Raiders don't score much only going over 18 points once this year.
03:14 They won't have to score much in the battle of backup quarterbacks.
03:18 I've got the Raiders 17, Bears 10.
03:20 The Raiders only road win this year is over the Broncos so they figure to be able to beat
03:24 the Bears who couldn't beat the Broncos at Soldier Field.
03:27 (upbeat music)