Chicago Bears vs. Baltimore Ravens Preview & Prediction | PFF

Chicago Bears vs. Baltimore Ravens Preview & Prediction | PFF

The next game that we have here, Chicago Bears at the Baltimore Ravens. Now, the Ravens totally up in the air whether or not Lamar Jackson is going to be back from this one from that hamstring injury. It looks like Rocoan Smith is going to be back. The way that he talked, he’s like, “Hey, the by-week came at a great time. I think we’re getting a little bit more healthy.” He obviously didn’t mention you Lamar Jackson. I didn’t see that in any of his quotes. But we’ll figure out exactly how that makes a difference if it comes around. But Dalton, on Chicago side of things, what’s the big story for them and their offense? I I mean, for as much as the talk is always around Caleb Williams and his development the last couple of weeks and as this win streak has extended, it’s really the Bears run game that has carried their offense and especially the last two weeks has gotten a lot better, getting DeAndre Swift going, getting Kyle Manungy going as the second guy behind him, a physical runner, even as an undersized guy. The offensive line the last couple weeks in the run game has played a lot better. Drew Dolman and those guys in these outside zone schemes that Ben Johnson was going to he was sure to bring them in and it just took some time for this old line to get in sync and they’ve dealt with some injuries as well. But you look at the last couple weeks against the Commanders and then last week I you know I I think you talk about an 82.6 rushing grade. Really good stuff. He was DeAndre Swift was one of the best players on the field against the Saints last week. 5.5 yards per carry. 14 explosive runs Trevor over the last two weeks. No other team has more than 10. This is where it’s starting with Caleb Williams playing a complimentary role. I think he’s been really good in the play action game the last couple weeks. And that’s what you want to keep going against a Ravens team that has the second worst run defense grade in the NFL this year. They’ve really they’ve had a hard time stopping the run between the tackles. It’s been a consistent theme. If the Bears can continue to do that, I like their chances a lot to go in and score points on this defense. And then again, get Caleb going in the bootleg game. Get him out on the move, cut the field in half for him. You don’t need him to be in obvious passing situations as much right now with this run game the way that it’s going. If DeAndre Swift and Kyle Manungy keep running with the success they have the last couple weeks, I like the Bears chances. I agree with you as well. Right. I mean, for as much as Caleb Williams, I think has gotten better in some areas this year with Ben Johnson and I think he is going to improve the balance of this team and really having confidence to hand the ball off or give a short pass to one of your running backs out of the back field knowing that they can make things happen for you that just eases the mind of a quarterback as well. So even beyond independent of the yards that you gain, the first downs that you gain, that confidence that you gain from being able to have those easy quote unquote because it’s the the NFL and I don’t know really if anything is easy. Those easy completions that really help you out I think can mean the world for Caleb Williams. So handling that I think will be a big deal. That’s why Rocoin Smith being back for the Ravens I think is a big deal here in this one. But, you know, specifically what I wanted to point out here with the Ravens before the by-week that they had last week, they they face off against the Los Angeles Rams. And if you’ll remember Dalton, they scored three points in that game. Derrick Henry rushed for 122 yards and they scored three points. Now, obviously that was Cooper Rush and Tyler Huntley were in there and and so, you know, you’re going back and forth with quarterbacks and you’re trying to figure it out. But if anything, you would look at this and say, “Well, if Derrick Henry doesn’t go off, I don’t know what else they have.” Derrick Henry did go off. They scored three points. Why? Because he couldn’t score in the red zone. When you look at the Baltimore Ravens, their last three games, they have a red zone touchdown conversion percentage of 28.57, which is 31st in the NFL. The only team that’s worse is the Las Vegas Raiders. Sorry, Walt. That to me is the biggest difference in this one. And that to me is truly like the Lamar Jackson effect here. You know, Lamar doesn’t play defense. Like the defense has got to play better independently. that doesn’t matter. But it’s when the the Ravens actually get in those spots where you can realistically expect them to put seven on the board instead of three that they are not converting since Lamar Jackson has been out. And if the red zone game is not going to get better for this team, Derrick Henry can rush for 150, 200 yards. I think there’s still a chance that they might lose these games if they’re not converting the way that they need to in the red zone. So that is just a that’s that’s a major point of uh you know obviously the game script you know getting away from them a little bit but you you’ve got to be aggressive when you were in the red zone and you’ve got to be able to convert and the Ravens just simply have not been able to do that with any quarterback that has not been named Lamar Jackson over the last couple of weeks. So that I think is a is a big deal in this one. I have the Bears winning this. Now I made this score prediction with the assumption that Lamar is not going to start at quarterback for them. And if that’s going to be the case, I got the Bears 27, I got the Ravens 17. If Lamar starts for them, obviously we’re recording this show on a Wednesday, so how healthy he is probably goes into it. But I think even just as a baseline, how he operates the offense, this game gets a little bit closer no matter what. And so I would think that they’ll hold on to the ball a little bit more. The time of possession will be there a little bit more. The offense is going to be more balanced, and it can be more dynamic. I think this is much closer to a coin flip type of a game given how bad the Ravens defense has been throughout this season, even with a somewhat limited Lamar Jackson if he is just in there. So, I don’t have an exact prediction if Lamar plays because again, I don’t know exactly how healthy he’s going to be. But without Lamar, I’m saying Chicago 27, Ravens 17. What do you got? I I’m I’m going to hedge just in case he does play because it’s only Wednesday when we’re recording this and we don’t necessarily know yet. I’ve got the Bears also. I’ve got it 23 to 20. I think they can still win this game with their run game and the way their offensive line has been working. And even if we get Lamar Jackson in this game, he will not be 100%. And the Bears secondary has been playing better lately. So, I’m not quite as worried. It’ll certainly be a better passing game for the Ravens if Lamar’s in there at all than it would be for Cooper Rush. But, I think this Bears offense is rolling right now. They’ve got the momentum and it’s still kind of a work in progress in the passing game. But, I like what Ben Johnson is doing getting in the foundation of his offense with DeAndre Swift in this run game. Michael said, “Uh, I won, but seeing DeAndre Swift go off on my bench was inspiring.” It’s always inspiring when everybody eats, you know, when you get to look at the lineup, see the win, but see the guys on the bench, they’re performing well. The starters get to root them on. You know, it’s all feels that’s how you get momentum in the following weeks, you know, when everybody on the team is eating. See, I think I think it’s the opposite. I I think I want to see the guys on my bench do absolutely nothing so I know I made the right decisions. That’s I I if my bench won anyway. If I won anyway, then fantastic. I made all the right. You’re just scared of making a decision is what I heard. Well, no. I made the I made all the right ones. Is the idea when you get the clean sweep and everyone on your bench has two points and everyone in your starting lineup has 20. Then you feel really good about yourself because you go, “Wow, look what I could have screwed up.” See that? No. I want I want a juggernaut of a team. I want an absolute juggernaut of a team. I don’t care who I put in there. I know that whoever I put in there, they’re going to answer the call. That’s what I want. That’s how you got to manage your fantasy football team. Look, I I had to start Tom Brady last week and I believe I got the win. I got to double check on this, but I had to start Tom Brady last week because I just don’t have any quarterbacks. All my quarterbacks were hurt. It’s deep league. Wasn’t able to pick him up. But I had to start Tom Brady. You know what? It’s for the leadership. And you know what? We got the win. Tom Brady experience. It’s that simple. Can’t teach the hardware. That’s all it takes sometimes.

PFF’s Dalton Wasserman and Trevor Sikkema preview the matchup between The Chicago Bears and The Baltimore Ravens.

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