Arkush: Chicago Bears facing another must-win situation
harkush@profootballweekly.com
For the third week in a row, the Chicago Bears find themselves in an almost identical position, facing another poor football team against whom they are fairly evenly-matched with both clubs in a must-win situation.
Two weeks ago, the Lions came to Chicago and managed to lose as much as the Bears managed to win, as the Bears' defense played very well but the offense was only able to put up 17 points.
Last week, the Bears managed to lose as much as the Colts managed to win, as the Bears put 23 points on the board but with 522 yards of offense should have scored more.
This week, the Bears get the 1-3 Jaguars coming off a bye following their first win of the season over those same Colts, 30-27 in London two weeks ago.
Jacksonville is probably a bit more talented than the Bears almost everywhere but at quarterback, where Blake Bortles appeared to have a breakout season last year, his second in the NFL, but has backslid a bit early this season with just 7 TDs and 6 interceptions in his first four games.
Bortles is big and athletic at 6-5, 240 pounds with a great arm and surprising athleticism, having averaged 365 yards on the ground his first two seasons and already totaling 89 yards and a touchdown on 15 rushes this year.
Some of Bortles' struggles this year are due to a woefully inept ground game. The Jaguars are just 30th in the NFL rushing and 27th in average gain per rush.
That makes it difficult for Jacksonville's offense to stay on the field, as they are just 26th in the NFL in time of possession, although that's marginally better than the Bears, who are 28th.
The offensive line has been a problem for the Jaguars - in addition to their struggles on the ground they are 24th in sacks allowed.
Luke Joeckel was the second overall pick in the 2013 draft, but has been slow to develop and is now lost for the year with a torn ACL.
Free agent addition Kelvin Beachum is playing his way back from a serious knee injury in Pittsburgh last year and the rest of the line is so suspect that 2015 Bears starter Patrick Omameh is now their starting left guard.
T.J. Yeldon is averaging just 3.2 a pop on the ground, Jets free agent Chris Ivory has been a big disappointment and Denard Robinson has just four attempts on the season.
Wide receivers Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns are both coming off 1,000-yard seasons and are the strength of the offense, along with No. 3 Marquis Lee and tight end Julius Thomas, when Thomas can stay on the field.
Marcedes Lewis is supposed to give the Jags a great two-tight end set with Thomas but, again, it just hasn't materialized this season.
Jacksonville is actually seventh in the NFL in total defense and against the pass and fourth in average gain per pass, and they are at least average against the run, ranking 17th.
But Jacksonville is still just 26th in the league in points allowed.
Multimillion dollar free-agent investments this year in Malik Jackson, Tashaun Gipson, Davon House and Prince Amukamara have yet to pay dividends and young studs Dante Fowler, Jr., Jalen Ramsey and Myles Jack are still struggling to make an impact.
Veteran middle linebacker Paul Posluszny is Jacksonville's best defender and the guy Brian Hoyer and Cody Whitehair will have to identify on every play.
Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley is a favorite of his players and the front office as well, but with a career mark of 13-39, he is very much on the bubble and the Bears may be dealing with an inspired bunch of Jaguars playing to save their coach's job.
• Hub Arkush, the executive editor of Pro Football Weekly, can be reached at harkush@profootballweekly.com or on Twitter @Hub_Arkush.