Chicago Bears: Alvin Kamara injury may heed huge advantage

This weekend’s matchup with the New Orleans Saints could see the Chicago Bears catch a big break.

The bye week has come and gone. It’s time for an important stretch for the Chicago Bears. That stretch begins with the team which I see as the best team in the NFC, the New Orleans Saints.

At 5-1, the Saints look like one of the only sure things in the conference. New Orleans has been extremely impressive this year, especially considering they’ve been without Drew Brees for the majority of the season. Backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has come in and done more than enough to keep his Saints in the win column each week.

It doesn’t hurt to have one of the best running backs in football on that offense, though. Alvin Kamara may be the toughest back to bring down in all of the NFL when he’s at his best — but that might not happen this weekend.

Last week, Kamara suffered a high ankle sprain against the Jacksonville Jaguars. As he continues to work his way back to full strength, the Saints might opt to either limit his work or sit him out entirely against the Bears.

Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported that the Saints could see him limited in practice for the remainder of the week, but Kamara, himself, believes he has a shot to suit up.

If the Saints are without Kamara completely, that means the Bears will see an NFC heavyweight without both their starting running back and quarterback. In Kamara’s place would be Latavius Murray seeing the majority of the work.

The Bears are familiar with Murray, having seen him in a Minnesota Vikings uniform previously.

The Bears defense will be down Akiem Hicks for a solid eight weeks, but getting Bilal Nichols back is going to help the defensive line tremendously. As long as Eddie Goldman is still in the middle to kickstart the run-stuffing, and the Bears have their linebackers at full strength, this should be a game where they have a huge advantage.

The Saints’ offense runs through Kamara, for the most part. He is one of the most well-rounded backs in the game today, and opens things up within the playbook. Now, you’re likely going to see Michael Thomas with a whole lot of targets as they still try to stay balanced on the ground with Murray.

The Saints could end up being fairly one-dimensional on Sunday, and with the Bears having home field, this might be a recipe for a big win in Chicago. We will keep monitoring Kamara’s status going forward this week, but as of now, it’s looking like they won’t see him at full strength, if at all.