Bears (4-3) at Bills (2-6)
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, New Era Field, Orchard Park, New York TV: CBS
Danny Sheridan’s line: No line Bears’ keys to victory: The offense has leaned on QB Mitchell Trubisky, but they’ll beat the Bills on the ground. RBs Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen have to keep the Buffalo front seven on their toes against the run and in the air. Youthful Buffalo LBs Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano have struggled at times against opposing running backs. When teams run well against the Bills, it opens things up in the pass attack, too. Defensively, shutting down Buffalo’s run game is shutting down the only thing the Bills do well. Buffalo’s lack of talent at quarterback and wide receiver shows when the run game stalls.
Bills’ keys to victory: The Bears are no longer a franchise built solely on defense. Chicago’s offense can hang with the best of them, entering the game averaging the ninth-most points per game (27.7). On the flip side, Buffalo’s offense is in dead last in the same category. Buffalo’s defense has to force Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky into mistakes, and that starts with sacks. If Buffalo stalls the Bears’ momentum and takes the ball away, it’ll give its lackluster offense the extra chances it needs to score. If that offense does score, it’ll be because the offensive line created space for RBs LeSean McCoy and Chris Ivory.
Matchup to watch: Bears WR Taylor Gabriel vs. Bills CB Phillip Gaines. Buffalo’s biggest hole on defense is easily its No. 2 cornerback spot. Can the Bears exploit it?
Who wins? At the start of 2018, this was one of the only games where Vegas had Buffalo favored. Things have changed, though, and the Bears should cruise.
Bears, 31-10 BEARS SCHEDULE
L ..... at Green Bay ..... 24-23 W .......... Seattle .......... 24-17 W ....... at Arizona ....... 16-14 W ....... Tampa Bay ....... 48-10 Oct. 7 ............... Bye ............... L ..... at Miami ..... 31-28 (OT) L ..... New England ..... 38-31 W ......... N.Y. Jets ......... 24-10 Nov. 4 ........ at Buffalo ........ 1 Nov. 11 ......... Detroit ......... 1 Nov. 18 ...... Minnesota ...... 1 Nov.22..atDetroit..12:30 Dec. 2 ..... at N.Y. Giants ..... 1 Dec. 9 ........ L.A. Rams ........ 1 Dec. 16 ...... Green Bay ...... 1 Dec. 23 ..at San Fran. .. 4:05 Dec. 30 ...at Minnesota ... 1
L ........ at Baltimore ........ 47-3 L ...... L.A. Chargers ...... 31-20 W ......... Minnesota ......... 27-6 L ........ at Green Bay ........ 22-0 W ........ Tennessee ........ 13-12 L ........ at Houston ........ 20-13 L ...... at Indianapolis ...... 37-5 L ....... New England ....... 25-6 Nov. 4 .......... Chicago .......... 1 Nov. 11 ...... at N.Y. Jets ...... 1 Nov. 18 ............... Bye .............. Nov. 25 ...... Jacksonville ...... 1 Dec. 2 .......... at Miami .......... 1 Dec. 9 .......... N.Y. Jets .......... 1 Dec. 16 .......... Detroit .......... 1 Dec. 23 ..at New England ..1 Dec. 30 ........... Miami ........... 1