Chicago Bears Week 12: What To Look For

Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Bears defense must pressure  Josh McCown.

Josh McCown had a great year last season as Jay Cutler’s backup. He then parlayed that into a big payday with the Bucs. There is a reason McCown’s been a career backup, however. He is just 1-4 this season as Tampa’s starter.

One question I have is this — how different would things be if McCown was still Cutler’s backup? We already saw what he could do with the Bears’ offense, so would the clamor for Cutler to be benched be louder? Just wondering…

Back to the issue. Tampa’s offense is slugging to say the least. They are 25th in scoring, 28th in total yards, 19th in passing yards, and 28th in rushing yards.

That last number is interesting. Doug Martin has had injuries this season. Even when he is in the game, though, he has not been successful. He has only 166 yards on the season, and is averaging a paltry 2.9 yards per carry.

Bobby Rainey has taken over in Martin’s place, but he has had his ups and downs. He is averaging 4.3 yards per carry, but he cannot control a game. Of his 392 yards this season, 144 of them came in Week 2 against the St. Louis Rams.

Getting practically no help from the running game, the Bears have to put pressure on McCown. They did a good job against the Minnesota Vikings and Teddy Bridgewater last week, and they have to continue it this week. Keep putting the pressure on McCown. He may not throw interceptions, but he will throw the ball away to avoid sacks, and have his do that enough times and the Bucs will spend most of the game punting.

Next: Have Cutler continue to roll out