Chicago Bears vs Dallas Cowboys – Week 3 Game Preview: Overview, Keys to Game, Insights
The Bears (0-2) got smoked at Ford Field by the Lions last Sunday giving up 52 points as their injury-ravaged secondary got lit up by Jared Goff. It’s been a rough beginning to the Ben Johnson era and finger-pointing is already underway, which is increasing the pressure for a win when the Cowboys come to Soldier Field this Sunday.
Dallas (1-1), of course, made all kinds of headlines when they traded star pass rusher Micah Parsons to the Packers right before the season. The defense has suffered accordingly, giving up 61 points the first two weeks of 2025. They did manage to outlast the Giants in overtime for a Week 2 victory in their home opener.
The Cowboys and quarterback Dak Prescott have plenty of weapons at their disposal on offense. The most dangerous is big play machine wide receiver CeeDee Lamb who already has 222 yards in two games. Fellow wide out George Pickens and tight end Jake Ferguson are also threats.
Dallas is quite vulnerable to passing on defense as evidenced by Russell Wilson throwing for 450 yards and three touchdowns against them. They are going to need to outscore their opponent to consistently win this year.
The Cowboys’ secret weapon probably is place kicker Brandon Aubrey, who has possibly the strongest leg in the NFL. He is 82-91 in his career and has connected from 65 yards and just last week from 64 to send the game to overtime. That could be a deciding factor with Chicago’s difficulty in kicking so far through two weeks.
The Bears will be without their two top cornerbacks again and Jaylon Johnson is on injured reserve with his groin problem. That is a big issue when facing receivers like Dallas has on the roster. Caleb Williams is going to need to have a big afternoon to give his team a chance to win. One thing’s for sure, a victory would ease a lot of nerves in Chicago.
Where to Watch/Listen
- Sunday, September 21 at 3:25pm CT on FOX, WBBM Radio (English), and WRTO Radio (Spanish).
Keys to Victory
Here are my keys to Sunday’s game. If these things happen, the Bears should have a shot to win.
- Try to find some way to control the passing game. The Bears are really up against it when it comes to the secondary and they have to do something to at least mitigate the damage so they don’t get blown up like against Detroit.
- Keep building the connection between Williams and Rome Odunze. The two 2024 first round picks hooked up a few times against the Lions and it would obviously be helpful if that kept going.
- Try to create some turnovers. The Bears stayed in the game against the Vikings thanks to a pick six. They did not get a single turnover last week and things got ugly.
Don’t Tell Me the Odds
The Bears are home underdogs with the Cowboys favored by 1.5 points at Soldier Field. Vegas expects a high scoring affair with the over/under set at 49.5 points.
It’s Football Weather
It’s going to be 75 and cloudy with a 9 mile-an-hour wind out of the southwest for the game Sunday afternoon.
My Prediction
There are going to be a lot of big plays in this game with points piling up. Dallas will come up with one big stop and take home a 31-28 victory.
Official NFL Preview
Here is the official preview of the Cowboys-Bears game from the NFL.
