Looking at the remainder of their 2024 schedule, the New England Patriots will not have many opportunities to rebound from their 2-7 start. At least considering their opponent’s recent trajectory, one of their best might come on Sunday: the Chicago Bears have lost both games since their bye week, and the pressure has been mounting for head coach Matt Eberflus. Chicago is still a clear favorite entering the game, though.
For the Patriots to pull off the upset at Soldier Field, they will need to play better than last week versus Tennessee. They also will need the X-factors to go their way. While newly-signed Yannick Ngakoue will not factor into the mix on Sunday, the edge position as a whole will be quite important.
There are two reasons for that: 1.) Chicago will be without both its starting left tackle (Braxton Jones) and its starting right tackle (Darnell Wright) due to injury , and 2.) Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has repeatedly proven his ability to extend plays and move outside the pocket.
Given those circumstances, the Patriots’ edge defenders will be in the spotlight on Sunday. That is especially true for Anfernee Jennings and Keion White, the nominal top two at the position. Both Jennings and White will see a healthy workload yet again.
The former will play close to 100 percent of defensive snaps a third straight week as the top true outside linebacker on the roster; the latter is more of an inside/outside tweener, but has emerged as the top counterpart to Jenn.
