Bears Looking For First Win of Season

Chicago Bears OL Kyle Long stretching before a game
(Credit: CSN Chicago)

       The Chicago Bears (0-2) are looking to win their first game of the season when the Pittsburgh Steelers (2-0) come into town on Sunday. The Bears are coming off of a bad loss to Tampa Bay and hope to get back on track against a very good foe.

       Mike Glennon had a very bad game against the Bucs, throwing two interceptions and fumbling once. His other stats don't mean too much due to the fact that anything good came in the 4th quarter when the game was all but over. What sucks about the first half is that the Bears were doing well on their first drive. They were moving down the field with some ease until Glennon threw an interception. MG wasn't looking as sharp as he did against the Falcons. A lot of his passes were either thrown behind the receiver or too low. It just didn't seem that he was all the confident after his interception on the first drive of the game.

       Although Pittsburgh comes into this game as a middle of the pack offense, the Bears defense should be prepared for an air assault anyway. Roethlisberger has a huge weapon in Antonio Brown, one of the best wideouts in the game, as well as Martavis Bryant on the opposite side and Le'Veon Bell in the backfield. With a secondary that hasn't truly proven themselves yet, I expect the Steelers to go right at the Bears and see if they can handle the pressure. Brown is bound for a big play or two every single game, so I don't see why this week would be any different.

       Luckily up front we have Akiem Hicks who will try to break through Pittsburghs offensive line that is only allowing 1.5 sacks/game through two this season. The Bears will need to count on Willie Young and Leonard Floyd as well to apply some pressure on Roethlisberger. If he has too much time to throw, he will absolutely tear up the Bears defense. No way do we want one of our corners or safeties running around with Brown for too long; that's just asking for trouble.

       Although Pittsburgh could have a great day through the passing game, I don't really worry about the defense as much I do the offense. With Meredith and White both out for the season, the Bears are still trying to figure out what weapons they have on offense. Kendall Wright has been Glennons main target in terms of wideouts. The hope is that Markus Wheaton will be back for the game on Sunday, a big boost for the offense that is missing so many pieces. The key is for Glennon to have a better game this week....... duh. If he can limit turnovers and make better decisions, there is no reason the Bears shouldn't be able to compete in this game. Hopefully the playbook opens up as well.

       Jordan Howard is also off to a slow start this campaign after being the second best rusher a year ago . This past week against the Bucs, Howard had 7 yards on 9 rushing attempts. The real issue is the fact that Howard only got the ball 9 times, although some of that is due to playing from behind the entire game. Even Tarik Cohen was mostly bottled up. He also muffed a punt which led to a touchdown by the Bucs on the ensuing drive. Both running backs and the quarterback need to be at the top of their game if they hope to beat a good Steelers team.

       Things will have to start changing for the Bears and fast, or else they are looking at a very disappointing season.

INJURY REPORT:

OL Kyle Long, WR Markus Wheaton, and CB Prince Amukamara are set to make their season debuts after missing the first two weeks due to injury.

OL - Tom Compton - Questionable

RG - Josh Sitton - Doubtful (DNP all week)

ILB - Nick Kwiatkoski - Out