Are you ready for some football? Redskins / Bears game preview, injuries, and roster moves
Monday nights have not been kind to the Washington Redskins in recent history. The team enters their game with the Chicago Bears tonight having lost 15 of 16 games at home on Monday nights since 2000. Since 2008, the Redskins are 2-15 on Monday nights, regardless of venue. The Burgundy and Gold looks to avoid opening the season at 0-3, something that has never happened under Jay Gruden. A loss tonight would all but bury any chance at a division championship and would come close to slamming the door on any playoff chance.
The Redskins enter the game with some good news, injury wise, and some troubling news in the injury department. Defensive Captain, Jonathan Allen is expected to be back for the game after missing the last game and half with a knee injury. Allen was a full participant in practice on Saturday. Cornerback Fabian Moreau looks to see his first game action of the season after practicing fully on Friday and Saturday. Moreau’s defensive backfield teammate Quinton Dunbar has not practiced all week and is listed as questionable. Colt McCoy continues to be out due to complications from his leg injury from last year. The team has put cornerback Dominique Rogers-Cromartie has been placed on injured reserve.
The big injury news for the week has been the status of Tight End Jordan Reed. Reed has been in the concussion protocol since the preseason and has yet to be cleared to play. Reed has suffered numerous concussions throughout his career and Adam Schefter has reported that the team and others throughout the league fear that Reed may never play again because of them.
For the Bears, reigning NFC Special Teams Player of the Week, kicker Eddy Pineiro has a knee injury and is listed as questionable for the game. The Bears also listed safety Eddie Jackson (shoulder), guard Kyle Long (hip) and lineman Trey Burton (groin) as questionable. Defensive tackle Bilal Nichols is ruled out with a broken hand.
The Redskins were much more quiet this week in regards to roster moves. The team did, however, sign free agent linebacker Noah Spence. Spence was drafted in the second round of the 2016 draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs cut Spence at the end of the summer after he failed to live up to expectations. Spence has played in 34 games and started six throughout his career. With the Buccaneers, Spence recorded four forced fumbles and 6.5 sacks. The Redskins expect Spence to see time at linebacker this evening.
Keys to victory:
An effective short passing game. The Redskins’ offensive line, believed to be a huge weakness for the team, has performed admirably thus far this season. Quarterback Case Keenum has had time to throw and has had a pocket to step in to. Keenum has been sacked only twice thus far. While the Eagles and the Cowboys have formidable pass rushes, they are not at the same level as the Bears. Khalil Mack will give the Redskins offensive line all they can handle, and more. Mack has recorded eleven quarterback pressures already this season and right tackle Morgan Moses has been the weak link on the Redskins offensive line this season. The Redskins will need to provide help to Moses and utilize a short passing game that gets the ball out of Keenum’s hands quickly. This will need to include screen passes to Chris Thompson and short, quick passes over the middle to Trey Quinn and Terry McLaurin. The Bears are unlikely to let much get going in the run game and deep passes will be tough to come by. This leaves the Redskins one dimensional, but it is a dimension that can be exploited. If the Bears have a weakness on defense, it is their secondary and the Redskins receivers have looked good in the early going.
Get the Bears off the field on third down. The Redskins of 2019 are on pace to be one of the worst 3rd down defenses of all time. The Redskins have allowed an unimaginable third down conversion rate of 64%, worst in the NFL. The Bears have struggled on 3rd down this year, converting 23%, 30th in the NFL. If there were ever a time for the Redskins to correct their 3rd down woes, tonight is the night.
Win the field position battle. One of the Redskins’ greatest weapons in Punter Tress Way. Way leads the NFL in yards per punt with 52 and puts the ball inside the twenty 56% of the time. The Redskins do not need to score on every possession, but they do need to get a first down or two. This will allow Way to do his thing and pin the Bears deep. The Redskins can then get after Mitch Trubisky forcing him into mistakes.
My prediction – Redskins 21 Bears 20.
