Where Bears Can Attack Bills Weak Spots

The Bears will find some Buffalo Bills going through down years and have a chance to make in-roads at those positional battles.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus saw progress on Sunday in a defense too often scorched since the midseason trades of Roquan Smith and Robert Quinn.

Staying close to the Philadelphia Eagles required more than the struggles and cave-ins their entire defense had been experiencing throughout the season's second half. They even put an exclamation point behind their efforts with big hits on QB Jalen Hurts by Joe Thomas and by Trevis Gipson.

"I know we were down some guys with injury, but the guys are playing together," Eberflus said. "They're playing together, they're playing the right way, they're hustling, the intensity is there.

"I know we had a bunch of strip attempts the week before and we had some good takeaways (Sunday), which is encouraging. We look at a couple things, and one of them is takeaways. Obviously, it's part of the HITS principle. The other one is run defense. We want to make sure we're squared away in the run defense."

They allowed just 112 yards rushing to the Eagles, who came into the Week 15 ranked second in rushing. They'll need this kind of effort again against Josh Allen and Buffalo's second-ranked offense.

However, there are more matchups available for the Bears to exploit on both sides of the ball against the 11-3 AFC East-leading Bills than against Philadelphia. Some Bills have experienced remarkably unremarkable seasons.

Here are the positions where the Bears have the best matchups again Buffalo on Christmas Eve.

Bears DE Trevis Gipson vs. Bills RT Spencer Brown

Gipson hasn't had a season to remember, without sacks since Week 2 and with only three tackles for loss on the season. However, he held his ground against an Eagles offense that attacks the edge as well as anyone and his three tackles was his high since Week 2. Despite his lack of sacks, Gipson has been active and is only three pressures short of the 17 he had last year when he had seven sacks replacing Khalil Mack. Brown has experienced a miserable season and is one of the reasons Allen needs to scramble so much. Pro Football Focus grades the Bills right tackle 77th out of 80 tackles it grades in the NFL. His breakdowns include three marks in the 40s and 47.6 overall. He has allowed four sacks after allowing one last year. PFF last week released its group rankings for offensive lines and the Bears offensive line strangely was ranked 10th while the Bills were ranked 26th in what seems like a role reversal. It's the right tackle and left guard positions, in particular, that drag down Buffalo this year.

Bears DT Justin Jones vs. Bills LG Rodger Saffold

Normally a rock-solid performer for the Bills, Saffold is experiencing a year like he's had only one other time in his 13-year career. He's been struggling, and that's being kind. PFF grades him 77th among 83 guards in the league. He has committed nine penalties and allowed a pair of sacks. Jones is no highly ranked performer. He isn't having the type of season Ryan Poles evisioned when he was signed as an alternative after Larry Ogunjobi failed his physical when he signed in Chicago as a free agent. However, Jones is always active and moves up and down the line performing various roles for a group that has struggled overall. He has only six QB pressures, three QB hurries and two sacks. The Bears didn't get Jones to be a role player but it's what he has been. Still, his season has trended upward the second half and he has an edge compared to how Saffold has played.

Bears WR Chase Claypool vs. Bills CB Dane Jackson

Jackson has had a poor season by his standards but also a scary one. He had an early season injury like the one Teven Jenkins had for the Bears last week. He was taken off on a stretcher, then to the hospital, then released and was practicing again nine days later. He later suffered a neck stinger, which had to be scary considering what happened earlier in the year. PFF grades him 97th among the 122 cornerbacks it grades. Sportradar has him at three touchdown passes allowed. Claypool's ability to line up and go is in question again this week due to a knee injury suffered against Green Bay. He missed last week's game and the Bears badly needed his threat as a downfield receiver. They'll need it even more now with Equanimeous St. Brown in concussion protocol and with N'Keal Harry's back injury still an issue. The Bears had to rely on a group of marginal receivers as Justin Fields' chief targets in his absence.

Bears LT Braxton Jones vs. Bills Edge Shaq Lawson

Braxton Jones has allowed five sacks this year but remains among the highest-graded Bears offensive linemen by PFF. The rookie left tackle has gradually improved his PFF grade at blocking the pass, and has been among the team's highest ranked run blockers all year. He has been at or near the top of all rookie left tackles as a blocker. His problem has come against bull rushes, but Lawson is not exactly the king of the bull rush. Lawson is only playing extensively because of the season-ending injury to Von Miller. Lawson has 3 1/2 sacks. He had one against the Jets when no one made an attempt to block him. He is ranked 80th among edge defenders by PFF. Throughout his career, he has been a serviceable player. However, he's quite the downgrade from Miller.

TICKETS TO SEE JUSTIN FIELDS AND THE BEARS AVAILABLE THROUGH SI TICKETS

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven