With two talented offenses, expect to see a shootout tonight on Monday Night Football.
Last time the Seahawks and Bears met, the Seahawks blew the Bears out 0-26. This time things should be a lot different during MNF. Here’s why.
• Mitchell Trubisky’s New Weapons-During the offseason the Bears picked up Allen Robinson. The wide receiver was once a favorite target of QB Blake Bortles in Jacksonville. Chicago also picked up wide receiver Taylor Gabriel from Atlanta. He had more than 65 receptions over the past 2 years, thrown by QB Matt Ryan. Tight end Trey Burton also joined Chicago after winning a Super Bowl with the Eagles. Mitchell Trubisky will probably be looking to connect with Allen Robinson Monday Night, if not Taylor Gabriel. Seahawks’ rookie cornerback Tre Flowers will need to have a bigger game than during his NFL debut last week. That wasn’t too bad considering he had the most tackles on his team.
• Russell Wilson’s New Weapons– Seattle QB Russell Wilson’s favorite receiver, Doug Baldwin, is out for a few more weeks (MCL). Wilson should still be able to get completions on Monday night. Wide receiver and 6X Pro Bowler Brandon Marshall signed a one-year contract with Seattle during the offseason. Wilson also found a new target last Sunday. Rookie tight end Will Dissly had over 100 receiving yards in Denver for his NFL debut. Head Coach Pete Carroll added another receiver to his depth chart after Sunday’s game in Denver. Wide receiver Keenan Reynolds was promoted from the practice squad and will make his NFL debut tonight.
• Chicago’s Defense-Last year, the Bears were a top ten team in rushing yards allowed. They added strength by signing a new linebacker–a BIG addition it was, too–in Khalil Mack. He’s more than likely to be a future HOF’er. Mack will do his best to disrupt Wilson’s running game.
• Seattle’s Defense-Strong safety Kam Chancellor is out, but his replacement, Bradley McDougald, played well last week and had two interceptions. The Seahawks still made changes to their defense after their Week 1 loss in Denver. Linebacker Mychal Kendricks signed a one-year contract after he was dropped by Cleveland. Cleveland had picked up the ex-Eagle and Super Bowl champion but dropped him after finding out about legal issues that may have him facing up to 25 years behind bars. Sentencing is not scheduled until January, and Kendricks is expected to play Monday night. Still, though, it will be tough to stop running back Jordan Howard, who rushed for 1,000 yards last year. Expect Mitchell Trubisky to run the ball himself, as well as throw the ball to second-string running back Tarik Cohen.
• Seattle’s Running Game-When it comes to Seattle’s running game, we may see a little more Chris Carson and a little less Rashaad Penny. Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny shared the ball evenly Sunday against the Broncos, but Carson produced more than five times as many rushing yards as Penny. Russell Wilson also targeted Carson five times.
We can expect a shootout tonight with two talented offenses. That’s kind of funny when you think that these two teams were once known for dominant defense.
