It feels good to win, doesn’t it, Raider Nation? With victories over the Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots in back-to-back weeks, the Las Vegas Raiders are on a two-game winning streak. There’s more good news: Up next is the 1-5 Chicago Bears, who find themselves without their starting signal-caller.
With a Week 7 victory, the Silver and Black will hold a 4-3 record and head to Detroit on the heels of a three-game win-streak.
Before we get too ahead of ourselves, though, let’s focus on the Bears.
Here is how your Las Vegas Raiders stack up against Chicago’s NFC North squad.
Points scored per game:
CHI – 21.3 (19th-most)
LV – 16.7 (28th-most)
Note: The Raiders have scored less points in each contest than Chicago averages.
Points surrendered per game:
CHI – 29.3 (3rd-most)
LV – 21.8 (14th-most)
Offensive turnovers:
CHI – 11 (4th-most)
LV – 12 (2nd-most)
Defensive turnovers:
CHI – 5 (T4th-least)
LV – 5 (T4th-least)
Sacks surrendered:
CHI – 11
LV – 12
Sacks earned:
CHI – 9 (2nd-least)
LV – 13 (8th-least)
Offensive red zone efficiency:
CHI – 56.25% (14th-highest)
LV – 40.91% (8th-lowest)
Note: This stands out as the biggest discrepancy between these two clubs. Both the Raiders and Bears are near-identical in most categories, but Chicago is getting it done in the red zone while Las Vegas is not.
Defensive red zone efficiency:
CHI – 78.95% (2nd-highest)
LV – 70% (4th-highest)
Time of possession:
CHI – 29:36 (15th-highest)
LV – 29:13 (19th-highest)
Note: Neither the Raiders nor Bears are used to holding onto the ball for more time than their opponents. One of these clubs will do that on Sunday, however, and that team will likely win the contest.
Strength of schedule through six weeks:
CHI – -2.4 (4th-easiest)
LV – -1.4 (6th-easiest)
Tyson Bagent set to face Raiders in Week 7
Of course, Chicago’s numbers were generated with Justin Fields under center, who likely won’t be playing on Sunday. Instead, undrafted free agent Tyson Bagent should be the Bears’ quarterback.
Although this will be Bagent’s first NFL start, should Fields officially be ruled out, the rookie saw plenty of action in Week 6 upon Fields’ injury.
Through just under one half of football, Bagent posted a 71.4% completion percentage (4th-highest in Week 6; 10-for-14), 8.8 average depth yards per target (comparable to Fields’ 8.4), 0:1 TD:INT ratio, and 56.5 passer rating (7th-lowest). The 23-year-old had one pass batted down at the line of scrimmage.
On his first drive of the game, Chicago’s rookie QB fumbled. The defense scooped up the ball and took it into the end zone for six.
Stat of interest: In Week 6, the Bears’ offensive line gave Bagent an average time to throw of 2.25. This was the third-lowest mark league-wide. Such a number bodes well for the Raiders’ defense, which gave Mac Jones the second-least time to throw last week (2.20).
Las Vegas should come into this matchup fired up from Davante Adams’ comments earlier in the week. Should that translate to a win, the Raiders will have won three in a row with Detroit in their sights.
*Top Photo: Sam Morris/Getty Images