The Chicago Bears lost last week, but they did manage to build a little momentum in defeat. Washed away in an 11-point loss to a now 3-5 San Francisco 49ers team was a solid effort from rookie quarterback Justin Fields. The former Ohio State star, shouldering massive expectations vacated by past QB cornerstones like Mitchell Trubisky, Jay Cutler, Cade McNown, Rex Grossman, and roughly 40 other names, had his best game as a pro to provide a dot of light at the end of Chicago’s decades-long search for a hero.
For his efforts, the football gods rewarded him with a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers and their top 10 defense.
Pittsburgh (-6.5) ranks second in the league in both pressure rate and QB hurries. TJ Watt, fully aware of Myles Garrett’s 4.5-sack performance in the Browns’ win over the Bears weeks ago, will approach Monday night with the zeal of a fourth-grader tearing through The Giver, knowing there’s a pizza party in it for him if his entire class reads 100 books that month. A rookie quarterback who broke out for 100+ rushing yards for the first time in his career eight days earlier gets to face a defense that prepares to see Lamar Jackson twice a year.
It’s a rough scene for the Bears, but a wonderful opportunity for the Steelers to inject themselves into the thick of a dense and unpredictable AFC playoff race. Let’s examine this matchup.