Bears vs. Raiders: Three things to watch in Sunday's Week 7 matchup
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It's not how you start, but how you finish that matters. But undrafted rookie free agent Tyson Bagent is finally going to get to start what he finishes for the first time in his NFL career. Here are three things to watch when the Bears host the Raiders Sunday at noon.
Our first thing to watch is quarterback play since it's going to be on Bagent and whoever the Raiders start in place of Jimmy Garoppolo to lead one of these teams to a win. Bagent is confident. He gets that from his daddy Travis, the 28-time world champion arm-wrestler. Yes, you heard that right. 17 times with the left arm, 11 times with the right arm. Go check him out on YouTube. He should have been a pro wrestler. Meanwhile it will either be former Bear Brian Hoyer or rookie and Stevenson High alum Aidan O'Connell for the Raiders. O'Connell, the fourth-round pick, got the nod the last time Garoppolo missed a game.
Our second thing to watch will be DJ Moore. After back-to-back explosive performances, Moore only had five catches for 51 yards in the loss to the Vikings. I would say now would be a good time to get Moore going. But the reality is any time, if not every time, is a good time to get Moore going. As the Bears biggest offensive playmaker, this man should be getting double digit targets every game. He currently is ranked 42nd in targets. That's despite only the Panthers' Adam Thielen having a higher completion percentage (83.33%) than DJ Moore's 82.05% completion percentage for players with over 35 targets. Get that man the ball.
The final thing to watch is the sidelines and the men in charge of these two teams. That would be Matt Eberflus and Josh McDaniels. The players win the game. But bad coaching can lose it. Eberflus has had very little success: four wins in 23 games. He's won 17.4 percent of his games as a head coach. But Josh McDaniels isn't exactly a world-beater. It's his fourth season as a head coach. He's never had a winning season, and he's just 20-31. McDaniels calls the plays on offense, and Eberflus calls the defense for the Bears. We'll see if that defense can continue trending in the right direction against Las Vegas. Something has to give.
The Bears will be looking for their first win at Soldier Field since they beat the Houston Texans 23-20 on Sept. 25, 2022.
