Chicago Bears: Careful what you wish for in Bills game

The Chicago Bears travel to Buffalo to take on the struggling Bills, but is there cause for concern?

Fans of the Chicago Bears are likely foaming at the mouth after watching last night’s Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots game. The Bills have scored a total of 11 points over their last two games and have only crossed the threshold of the end zone twice in the last five games.

That, my friends, is the definition of a futile offense. However, I am a cautiously optimistic fan by nature. And so I am reminded of the old adage, “be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.”

I remember many days ago when the Bears learned they would be facing Miami Dolphins’ backup Brock Osweiler. The victory was certain — until it wasn’t. Osweiler carved up the Bears defense for more than 500 total yards and 380 passing yards.

So when Derek Anderson left last night’s game with a neck injury, you’ll have to forgive me if I didn’t immediately leap for joy. Now I know Nathan Peterman is exponentially worse than Brock Osweiler. In fact, Peterman probably shouldn’t be on an NFL roster, and yet that’s what makes me nervous.

Over the past few years, has anything worked out for the Bears? Doesn’t this feel like the kind of “trap” that they have walked into in recent years? I know this is a different year, with different players, and different coaches, but I’ve also been a Bears fan long enough to experience everything that could go wrong go wrong.

Remember when the Bears were supposed to roll into Arizona and dismantle the Cardinals and their pathetic offense? Mike McCoy was on the verge of being fired for his incompetence at the time (he has since been fired). But the Bears found a way to end up in a dogfight in which the game came down to the final possession.

I also fear the law of averages. While those statistics in the tweet above made me vomit all over my keyboard, it just feels like if Peterman is ever going to have a decent game, it would come against the Bears. That just seems to be their luck. The last time the Bears were double-digit favorites on the road like they are expected to be Sunday, was in the infamous “they are who we thought they were” game against the Arizona Cardinals. While arguably luck was on their side that game, there is no reason that game should have ever been that close.

But let’s just throw Peterman and inconsequential history out of the conversation altogether. I suspect the Bears will see a heavy dose of LeSean McCoy and Chris Ivory. They struggled to stop Frank Gore and Sony Michel before he left the Patriots game with an injury. And in crunch time in the fourth quarter against the Patriots, they couldn’t get a stop when it mattered, even though the Patriots kept dialing up run after run.

What makes me even more nervous is how aggressive and fast the Bills’ defense is. Mitch Trubisky will need to be on top of his game and must not take anything for granted. He will enter an incredibly hostile environment full of lathered up crazies who like to decorate the field with marital aids. Mitch has had some difficulty with the blitz this season, although Matt Nagy dialed up a perfectly timed screen in the New York Jets game to combat it. He’ll need more of the same.

Do I expect the Bears to emerge from this game with a win and move to 5-3 overall? While nothing is a given in this league, they absolutely should. If they don’t, it will reveal a lot about this team, but mostly things that fans, even in the deepest darkest recesses of their brains, wouldn’t want to admit.