Bears vs. Raiders preview: Things to know ahead of Week 5 matchup

The Chicago Bears (2-2) will face the Las Vegas Raiders (3-1) on Sunday, where Chicago will be looking to pull off an upset for their first road win of the year.

While there’s not a lot of faith in the Bears to beat the Raiders, Chicago is riding some momentum following a Week 4 win against the Lions, where the offense looked the best it has all season and the defense continued its dominance getting after the quarterback and taking the ball away.

Here’s everything to know about the Bears-Raiders’ Week 5 matchup:

Game information

When: Sunday, Oct. 10 at 3:05 p.m. CT
Where: Allegiant Stadium; Las Vegas, NV
Referee: Craig Wrolstad
TV: CBS
In-market live stream: fuboTV (try it for free)

Last meeting: 24-21 Raiders (Oct. 6, 2019)

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The Bears and Raiders last met in London back in 2019, where the Bears lost a heartbreaker in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. It was Khalil Mack’s first meeting against his former team, where he was held without a sack and just 1 QB hit. With Mitchell Trubisky sidelined with a shoulder injury, it was backup Chase Daniel leading the way at quarterback, where he tossed two touchdowns and two interceptions in the loss.

Things started out rough for the Bears, who were shutout 17-0 at halftime. While Chicago scored 21 third-quarter points to take a 21-17 lead, the Raiders bounced back from a brutal third quarter to stage a fourth-quarter comeback behind running back Josh Jacobs, who scored the game-winning touchdown with 1:57 left to play.

Last week

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Bears: Won 24-14 vs. Lions

Raiders: Lost 28-14 at Chargers

Chicago is coming off a 24-14 win over Detroit, where rookie quarterback Justin Fields finally got to open things up downfield, where he connected with Allen Robinson and Darnell Mooney. The Bears continued to find success on the ground with David Montgomery, who recorded his second 100-yard rushing game of the season and two scores. While Chicago’s defense allowed the Lions to march all over them, they did only allow 14 points and forced two turnovers and had four sacks on Jared Goff.

Las Vegas is coming off their first loss of the season, a 28-14 defeat by the Chargers. The Raiders dug themselves into a hole early, falling behind 21-0 by halftime. While they were able to close the gap with two third-quarter touchdowns, it wasn’t enough. Kicker Daniel Carlson missed a 52-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, which led to the game-sealing touchdown by Chargers running back Austin Ekeler.

Raiders QB: Derek Carr

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Carr has gotten off to an impressive start this season, where he leads the NFL with 1,399 passing yards through four games. But he’s also coming off his worst game of the season against the Chargers, who essentially created a blueprint for the Bears defense in how to stop Carr and the Raiders offense — pressure and lots of it.

Carr was sacked four times and pressured a ton by the Chargers. And it doesn’t help that Carr will face a Bears pass rush that ranks first in the league with 15 sacks, including 8.5 sacks from the dynamic duo of Khalil Mack (4.0) and Robert Quinn (4.5). With a patchy offensive line that struggled in pass protection, Carr could be in for a long afternoon.

Raiders players to watch

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TE Darren Waller: Waller is one of the league’s best tight ends and the go-to target for Carr. Waller has 24 catches (t-1st among TE), 39 targets (1st) and 6 catches of 15+ yards (t-2nd). Simply put, Roquan Smith and Alec Ogletree face quite a tall order keeping him in check.
DE Maxx Crosby: Crosby has the potential to be a game wrecker for the Raiders if the Bears offensive line can’t contain him. Crosby has been one of the surprises through the first four games, where he leads the NFL in total pressures with 30. The fact that Crosby is going against Bears RT Germain Ifedi doesn’t inspire confidence.
WR Hunter Renfrow: Renfrow is one of the NFL’s best slot receivers, and he could certainly give Chicago some fits. Through four games, Renfrow has 22 receptions, 249 yards, and two touchdowns. Not only will the Bears have to contend with Renfrow on offense, he’s impressive as a returner on special teams.
DE Yannick Ngakoue: Ngakoue spearheads the Raiders’ 1-2 punch at edge rusher, where he’ll face Bears LT Jason Peters. While Crosby has been racking up accolades, Ngakoue has been putting together an impressive season, where he ranks ninth in the league with 18 total pressures.

Team ranks

AP Photo/Kamil Krzaczynski

Team ranks, via Team Rankings

	CHI	LV
Points per game	16.0 (30th)	26.0 (9th)
Points allowed per game	22.8 (10th)	25.0 (19th)
Turnover differential	+2 (T-7th)	0 (T-14th)
Passing yards per game	114.2 (32nd)	326.0 (2nd)
Rushing yards per game	122.8 (9th)	80.5 (27th)
Passing yards allowed per game	238.8 (15th)	229.5 (13th)
Rushing yards allowed per game	112 (14th)	132.2 (23rd)
Sacks allowed	16 (T-30th)	13 (T-25th)
Sacks against	15 (1st)	9 (T-14th)

Injuries to know

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The Bears have a couple of big defensive starters whose status for Sunday’s game might be in jeopardy with outside linebacker Khalil Mack (foot) and Akiem Hicks (groin) missing practice Wednesday and Thursday. While Mack might be able to push through it, the same might not be said for Hicks. Running back David Montgomery remains sidelined with a knee injury, which is expected to sideline him for 4-5 weeks. Although he hasn’t been placed on injured reserve yet. His replacement Damien Williams, who suffered a thigh bruise, has been a full participant in practice all week.

Meanwhile, the Raiders are banged up in the secondary with cornerbacks Trayvon Mullen (toe) and Damon Arnette (groin) injured. While running back Josh Jacobs re-aggravated his ankle injury against the Chargers, he’s been at practice this week and appears on track to play. That appears to also be the case for left tackle Kolton Miller.

Storyline to watch: Khali Mack’s Revenge, Part II

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Three years later and people still can’t believe the Raiders traded All-Pro edge rusher Khalil Mack to the Bears. Mack’s already had a chance at his former team back in 2019, but it didn’t go exactly as he would’ve liked. Not only did Chicago lose 24-21 in London, but Mack was held without a sack.

Now, Mack will get a second shot at revenge against his former team, and it certainly helps that Mack has been off to an impressive start this season, where he has 4.0 sacks through four games. Mack and Robert Quinn make up one of the league’s best pass-rush duos, who have combined for 8.5 sacks, 12 QB hits, 14 QB pressures and 7 tackles for loss through four games.

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