Windy City Gridiron
Victories in the NFL are short-lived, as attention must always pivot to the next opponent.
Such is the case for the Chicago Bears. Fresh off the good vibes of beating the heck out of the Dallas Cowboys, the shift to the Las Vegas Raiders is now on.
This is a road game many fans circled and are making a road trip out of. There are plenty of people who love a weekend away in Vegas. Hopefully, that translates into a more homey-feeling away stadium on Sunday.
The Raiders may be 1-2, but this game is far from a gimme.
Vegas boasts Maxx Crosby, one of the most disruptive pass rushers in the league. And while their offense hasn’t been humming, they have a competent QB and some weapons that can cause Chicago fits.
Rookie running back Ashton Jeanty is poised to break out, and the Bears’ run defense after three weeks looks primed to let him.
Chicago’s bye week is coming up after Vegas. If the Bears want to continue the good feelings, going into the break at 2-2 will be immensely better than 1-3.
Las Vegas Raiders
SB Nation site: Silver and Black Pride
Record: 1-2, 2nd in AFC West
Last week: 41-24 loss to the Washington Commanders
Game day, time, TV: Sunday, 3:25 p.m. CT, CBS
Spread: The Chicago Bears are 1.5-point favorites over the Raiders. Some books have the Raiders favored by 1 point.
Bears all-time record against: 9-8
Historical meetings: In week five of the 1996 season, the Bears hosted Oakland.
The Raiders took a 17-3 lead on a Derrick Fenner one-yard run, a field goal and a Tim Brown touchdown from Jeff Hostetler.
The Bears answered with a Dave Krieg-to-Rashaan Salaam 11-yard touchdown pass.
The next two Raiders drives ended with Hostetler interceptions.
The Bears tacked on field goals following both of those and then another in the fourth. Hostetler ended the game with his fourth INT on the day and the Bears won 19-17.
Last meeting: Week 5 of 2021. What turned out to be Jon Gruden’s final game as a coach, the Bears traveled to Las Vegas and took it to the Raiders.
Justin Fields found Jesper Horstead for a short touchdown and Damien Williams ran in another score.
Josh Jacobs scored on a rush in the third quarter but the Raiders went for two and failed.
The Bears tacked on two field goals and left with a 20-9 win.
Injury report: The Raiders had three players on their injury report on Wednesday who were limited or not participating.
Limited
Did not participate
Offense: The Raiders enter week four ranked 26st in points and 16th in yards.
Their passing offense ranks sixth and their rushing offense ranks 30th.
Veteran Geno Smith (63.2 pct cmp./831 yds./4 TD/4 INT) has had a rocky start to the season. He’s been sacked 12 times in three games to go with his four...
