The Chicago Bears are heading into a very intriguing Week 3 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, but they won’t have starting quarterback Jay Cutler. He will miss the game due to a hamstring injury, which means that backup quarterback Jimmy Clausen will be forced to play a major role. Last week he wasn’t very good when he came into the game for Cutler, but a week of game tape and work with the No. 1 offensive unit will help him in a big way.
One of the keys for the Bears’ offense if they want to compete against a tough Seattle defense is to utilize tight end Martellus Bennett to the fullest of his potential. He hasn’t been targeted as much as he should be over the past couple of seasons and that has to change immediately for the Bears to have any chance at coming away with a road win.
Through the first two games of the season, Bennett has caught nine passes for 109 yards and a touchdown.
At 6-foot-6 and 273 pounds, Bennett is the type of target that not many defenders are capable of sticking with. He is without question capable of putting up massive numbers if the Bears viewed him as a No. 1 target. That is exactly what he can be, especially this week for a quarterback like Clausen going up against one of the NFL’s best defenses.
Seattle got the good news that star safety Kam Chancellor will be returning to the field this week. That news made things even worse for the Bears. Heading into Seattle and pulling out a victory is difficult, but doing it without a starting quarterback is nearly impossible.
Clausen doesn’t have a ton of options but to go to Bennett early and often throughout the game. Richard Sherman will be covering the No. 1 target, which won’t be Alshon Jeffery because he will miss the game due to injury as well. Eddie Royal will likely slide into the top receiver role and Bennett will immediately become the second target for Clausen.
If the Bears want to have any chance of pulling off a big win, they have to force feed the football to Bennett.
Using his size to the most advantage that they can has to be the game plan for John Fox and Adam Gase. They have no other targets that have any advantage against the Seattle defense.
Expect to see Bennett receive a heavy workload this week and to see him come up with a huge game whether the Bears come out with a win or a loss.
