The Chicago Bears are in London this weekend, taking on the Jacksonville Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in Week 6. How does their offense stack up against the Jaguars’ defense?
Chicago Bears Offense
- QB: Caleb Williams
- RB: D’Andre Swift
- WR: DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze
- TE: Cole Kmet
- LT: Braxton Jones
- LG: Teven Jenkins
- C: Coleman Shelton
- RG: Matt Pryor
- RT: Darnell Wright
Jacksonville Jaguars Defense
- LDE: Jose Hines-Allen
- LDT: DaVon Hamilton
- RDT: Arik Armstead
- RDE: Travon Walker
- WLB: Ventrell Miller
- MLB: Devin Lloyd
- SLB: Chad Muma
- LCB: Montaric Brown
- RCB: Ronald Darby
- NB: Jarrian Jones
- FS: Antonio Johnson
- SS: Andre Cisco
Tale of the Tape
Chicago Bears Offense
- Points Per Game: 22.6 (16th)
- EPA Per Play: -0.13 (25th)
- EPA Per Pass: -0.25 (27th)
- EPA Per Rush: -0.15 (25th)
Jacksonville Jaguars Defense
- Points Per Game: 28.6 (30th)
- EPA Per Play: -0.12 (29th)
- EPA Per Pass: -0.28 (31st)
- EPA Per Rush: -0.14 (11th)
Stats that Matter
- Jaguars defensive end Travon Walker has put together two of his best games this season, totaling seven pressures in each of the last two games after not doing so in any single game in his career previously. Walker has 19 total quarterback pressures this season. Bears right tackle Darnell Wright has been underwhelming in his sophomore season. While Jacksonville has one of the worst-ranked pass rush win rates, it been much better in the last two weeks.
- On the other side of the Jacksonville line, Josh Hines-Allen has also been strong the last two games, generating six pressures in each contest. Hines-Allen ranked second in the NFL with 96 pressures last season. Meanwhile, Bears Braxton Jones was better last week, but he draws a tough assignment this week facing Hines-Allen.
- Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams has been excellent the last two weeks, and he has a golden opportunity to take another step forward this week against a Jacksonville defense that has allowed the most opposing passing yards in the NFL this season (1,066).
- The Jaguars’ shoddy pass defense has allowed a league-high nine passing touchdowns on dropbacks longer than 2.5 seconds this season. Last week, Williams completed 12 of 16 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns on dropbacks longer than 2.5 seconds. That comes out to a 156.3 passer rating for QB1. If Chicago’s offensive line can repeat their performance from last week, Williams could carve this Jacksonville defense up on Sunday.
- Jacksonville is the only defense in the NFL with zero interceptions this season. Williams has recorded back-to-back games with zero interceptions, and the Bears have won all three games in which he had no interceptions.
What does it all mean?
Chicago’s offense has been significantly better in recent weeks, and Jacksonville’s defense is another unit the Bears can continue to build against. The Jaguars aren’t as bad as Carolina, but they are vulnerable to a big game (especially against the pass).
Since Caleb Williams, Marcedes Lewis, and other offensive captains asked Shane Waldron to coach them harder and be more collaborative with the offensive design after the Indianapolis loss, Waldron and the Bears’ offensive scheme has looked very different.
Jacksonville is a beatable opponent, much like Indianapolis was in Week 3. Still, I think this version of the Bears is much better than the one we saw a few weeks ago in Indianapolis, and I think they’ll continue to build on their recent performances.