Beating the New York Giants on Sunday is paramount for the Chicago Bears. Everybody knows their schedule gets a lot tougher after this week. The list of playoff-contending teams lines up throughout the rest of the schedule. That makes this game crucial. New York is 2-7. That tells you this should be a game the Bears win. They have home-field advantage and momentum from winning five of their last six games. Still, it is hard for some to buy into the idea, especially with New York's strong pass rush.
However, there is an element that isn't being accounted for enough. Reports indicate the weather will be a significant factor on Sunday. All of Cook County is under a Winter Storm Watch from midnight all the way through Monday evening. Models indicate anywhere from three to six inches of snow in the right conditions. That means Soldier Field won't be the best place to throw the ball. If this proves true, the Bears stand to benefit far more from the Giants thanks to their much stronger running game.
The Chicago Bears are well-equipped to handle the weather.
They have the second-best rushing attack in the NFL right now, thanks to head coach Ben Johnson's system as well as the efforts of D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai. Both also aren't strangers to playing the elements. Swift did last year. Monangai did at Rutgers. New York is 31st in the NFL against the run, and that was without having to deal with bad footing from a wet field.
If that weren't bad enough, their own running game is in a bad way. Standout rookie Cam Skattebo was lost for the season to a broken ankle. Nobody else has stepped up to fill that void. Most of New York's production has come from Jaxson Dart's scrambling. So, unless he goes crazy, the Giants might not be able to handle the weather conditions, while the Chicago Bears are perfectly situated to take advantage.
