LINE: Colts -4.5. O/U: 47.5 ABOUT THE BEARS (1-3): Hoyer passed for 619 yards and four touchdowns without an interception in his two starts, and coach John Fox said his decision on who would start when both he and Cutler are healthy is “performance-based”.
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The Bears are coming off their first win of the season though, a 17-14 win over the Lions. Chicago won the last two regular-season games, posting a 29-13 win at Lucas Oil Stadium on September 7, 2008 and later notching a 41-21 victory at Soldier Field on September 9, 2012. The Colts have allowed 375 hits on QB Andrew Luck from 2012-16, the most in the NFL.
Bears inside linebacker Jerrell Freeman, who played for the Colts for five years, knows first-hand how unsafe Luck and the Indianapolis offense can be. I heard a couple of [former teammates] talking and they said it would take that offensive line time to jell, that in about five weeks you’d start to see improvement.
If that continues against the Bears, shame on the O-line.
On Sunday, the Colts will be at home, playing a Bears team likely without their starting quarterback.
“Guys know in this profession you have to go out there and get your job done”, cornerback Darius Butler said.
The Bears only scored 17 points against the Lions and are averaging only 15.5 points per game (last in league). Somewhere among the dropped passes, the constant penalties and the missing pass rush, everyone is on cleanup duty.
Luck finished 28 of 39 for 322 yards and two touchdowns, while Hoyer was 33 of 43 for 397 yards and two TDs. He’s a lovely teammate, a great locker room guy.
Brian Hoyer will be under center for Chicago again. If you’re like me then you’re always on the go. And when you look at the pass protection, Hoyer’s getting the ball off on time, nobody has to block for six seconds, so it’s good for the team as a whole.
This week, the Colts find themselves in the same situation the Bears were in last week. “It’s about making plays and we have to do that and execute better early in the games”.
RUNNING UPHILL: Colts running back Frank Gore moved into 10th place on the NFL’s career rushing list last week and needs 20 yards to pass Jim Brown (12,312 yards). The only player who did not return was inside linebacker Josh McNary (stinger).
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While Alshon Jeffery remains the Bears most risky playmaker at wide receiver, one player to watch is freshly appointed starting running back Jordan Howard-who played his collegiate football last season at Indiana University. WR T.Y. Hilton is tied for sixth in 2016 with 25 receptions and is No. 8 with 336 yards. Some wonder if Mathis’ is starting to show his age at 35 years old. He has five total tackles in limited playing during his four games this year. Fangio schemed with coverages to confound Stafford and got a little pressure, but not enough to beat Luck, and rookie Leonard Floyd has yet to step past his myriad injuries to make the kind of impact usually associated with No. 9-overall picks.
