3 Keys to a Chicago Bears victory over the Chargers in Week 8

With Justin Fields still sidelined in Week 8 by a thumb injury on his throwing hand, backup quarterback Tyson Bagent will make his prime-time debut on Sunday Night Football against the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chicago Bears are searching for their first winning streak since Weeks 16 and 17 of the 2021 season.

Yes, sadly, the Bears have not strung together two or more wins in a row for almost two years. And if you trust the oddsmakers, that woeful drought may not end on Sunday. The Chargers are 8.5-point favorites against the Bears, which means they’re expected to win by at least two scores.

It’s hard to blame anyone for taking that line. Los Angeles has a roster seemingly stuffed to the gills with playmakers, while Chicago has won just five out of their last 24 games.

But all is not lost for the Chicago Bears. As seemingly talented as the Chargers are, their defense has been dreadful this season, giving up over 300 passing yards per game. Head Coach Brandon Staley is on the hot seat, and quarterback Justin Herbert has been struggling.

A Bears win is improbable but not impossible. How can they pull it off? Hitting these three keys would be a great way to start.

Take the ball away

The Bears never trailed in Week 7 against the Raiders. Tyson Bagent felt relatively little pressure to make a play since he was mainly protecting a lead. That makes things much easier for a rookie quarterback, and the defense needs to give him that advantage again, especially against a much better offense and quarterback.

Bagent’s job will be much more difficult if the Chargers can move the ball at will in the first half and put up 17 points or more. He will be forced into obvious passing situations and need big plays to stay in the game. But if the defense continues its positive trends over the last three weeks and takes the ball away and forces some 3-and-outs, then this contest will be theirs for the taking.

Minimize mistakes

It’s unreasonable to expect Tyson Bagent to play turnover-free football once again. He will probably lose the ball or throw a pick or two. The key is not to eliminate mistakes but to keep them to a minimum. Receivers can’t let passes get tipped and picked off. The offensive line can’t get smoked and allow free rushers at the quarterback.

Most importantly, the penalties have to be cleaned up. The Bears are lucky they were nursing a three-score lead for much of their game against the Raiders because some of those penalties could have been backbreakers, especially the pass interference calls on third downs.

Mistakes are going to happen. But to win, they must clean up the penalties and take care of the football.

Play to your strengths

Last week, offensive coordinator Luke Getsy stumbled upon an unprecedented formula for victory: he devised and executed a game plan that catered to the strengths of his players. Indeed, it was a shocking development.

He proved he could do it once, now Getsy must do it again.

According to Pro Football Focus, the Chargers are the worst team in the league at defending screen passes, the Bears are the second-best team at executing screen passes. I’m no NFL coach, but I think the Bears should call some screens Sunday night.

But the deep shots have to be called, too. The Chargers have an above-average run defense and likely won’t allow the Bears to gash them on the ground like the Raiders did. This puts more pressure on Tyson Bagent, who confirmed to reporters that he can sling the rock as far as anyone. The key here will be dialing up these deep shots at the appropriate time and for Bagent to prove he can walk the walk of a starting NFL quarterback.

Prediction: Bears win 27-24

I’m 3-4 on the year with my predictions, but I’m also on a two-week “winning” streak. I picked the Bears to stumble and fall to Minnesota, then rebound against Las Vegas.

This time, I’m picking them to stun the NFL and defeat the Chargers in prime time.

The defense will have their best game of the season, while Tyson Bagent does just enough to keep the Bears one step ahead of the Chargers.

And that’s where things would get interesting for Chicago. Matt Eberflus confirmed earlier this week that Justin Fields is the unquestioned starter. But if one week later, the Bears are sitting pretty on a two-game win streak, taking down an 8.5-point favorite on the road, with another good game from backup quarterback Tyson Bagent? There will be a full-blown quarterback controversy in Chicago.