Foxboro, Massachusetts home of the New England Patriots will be visited by the Windy City Chicago Bears. Gillette Stadium will set the stage for clash of defenses that promise to produce a great match up. After back to back wins at the Meadowlands, the 9-1 Chicago Bears can secure a division crown with a win over the 7-3 New England Patriots along with losses by Green Bay and Minnesota.
If that were to happen, the Bears would become just the fourth team to clinch a division title after only 11 games since the NFL expanded to a 16-game schedule. One of the other teams to clinch this early was the 1985 Bears, who finished 15-1 and went on to defeat the Patriots 46-10 in Super Bowl 20.
The Patriots faced the NFL's worst ranked pass defense last week in Green Bay. Things will be a lot tougher for New England when the Bears come to town. Chicago currently has the league's top ranked pass defense and is coming off a shutout of the New York Jets last week.
New England Quarterback Tom Brady shredded a Packers defense ranked last in the NFL at defending the pass for 244 yards and four touchdowns. He knows he's in for a much tougher test this week against a tough Bears defense that's loaded with talent.
Chicago's defensive line is arguably the most athletic group in the league. Led by Pro Bowler Tommie Harris, the Bears defensive front is fearsome whether it be stopping the run or pressuring the quarterback. Harris teams with Tank Johnson to form a destructive tandem at defensive tackle.
The Bears defense though is athletic and quick. They are loaded with athletes from the defensive line to the secondary. There are a lot of individual stars on the Chicago defense but everything starts in the middle with linebacker Brian Urlacher.
Urlacher has topped 100 tackles in five of his first six seasons and excluding an injury, he will easily obscure that mark once again this year. Urlacher is the total package. He can stuff the run up the middle, chase down ball carriers sideline-to-sideline and drop back into pass coverage.
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I know they are home but the New England Patriots are in for a loss here. This will be a tight score on the total and to recommend an over 37½ is my way of saying there is no way this game will be boring. Chicago is +4 and the road dog looks good. They are healthy and strong and well, we can see Tom Brady sacked a few times as well.
