Oakland Raiders: Game breakdown and prediction for Week 5 against Chicago Bears

The Oakland Raiders travel to London to take on the 3-1 Chicago Bears. It’s a matchup against the best defense in football that’s surely to be enticing.

The Oakland Raiders are going overseas to try their hand at facing the best defense in pro football in the Chicago Bears.

New England, Buffalo, and Carolina are certainly up there and may very well have the edge right now in some categories. But make no mistake about it, these Bears are the best overall defense in the league.

The Bears are second in points allowed (45) and third in sacks recorded (17), while also being third in one of the more important categories, third-down defense, with an opponent success rate of 27.1%.

This is a defense that is right where it’s supposed to be, in terms of numbers, and is gradually progressing upward to eventually become the statistical number one defense.

Bottom line is that Derek Carr and the Raiders have their hands full in this game and I’m not too sure they do so well, even coming off a nice road win.

What do they have in their favor?

The Bears are down a quarterback. Make what you want of Mitch Trubisky and the problems he’s had, but he’s at least better than Chase Daniel who will be under center for the Bears in this game due to a Trubisky shoulder injury last week.

Daniel, much like Trubisky, is a game manager who should be able to keep the ball protected and out of Oakland’s hands.

But what the Bears lose in Trubisky is an athletic quarterback who can move outside the pocket and develop plays with his feet. Daniel, though a solid backup in this league for years, does not have that extra element to his game.

Hence, the Raiders get a bit of a break defensively, which they’ll desperately need given that their own offense could have a hard time moving the football. It’s also a break considering the Raiders, defensively, aren’t that great either.

But we already knew that of course.

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The key to this game will be if Carr can move the football against the Bears defense. Right now, it looks like the team will have Tyrell Williams and J.J. Nelson listed as questionable.

Williams being out would lose the Raiders their best receiver. Nelson being out again would devoid the Raiders of a legit deep threat.

That wouldn’t leave much for Carr to utilize in the passing game other than the tight end Darren Waller. Somebody else would have to step up in that case (meaning Hunter Renfrow or Keelan Doss).

As far as running the ball goes, I don’t love the matchup for Josh Jacobs. He had a nice week in Indianapolis, but the Bears are fourth in rushing yards allowed. And dating back to last year, this same Bears unit was number one against the run.

But all of that aside, I think the Raiders lose this game because of one man — Khalil Mack. He’s going against his former team and short-term coach in Jon Gruden.

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Gruden shipped him away prior to the start of last season and Mack has done nothing but terrorize this league with his pass-rushing, finishing with 12.5 sacks a year ago and already 4.5 this year in four games.

I think he absolutely destroys his former team in this game in a revenge spot.

Add in Akiem Hicks (who could return) and Roquan Smith (who should return) and this Bears defense should have itself a huge game.

I have it 23-14 Bears with some garbage time success for Carr and company. I think Daniel takes care of the ball and puts together some nice drives, the Bears defense absolutely smashes, and the five-point spread is covered.

But I can’t wait to talk about it if I’m wrong.