Days before their Thursday's showdown with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Soldier Field, the Chicago Bears are still in a bind on how to stop their offense led by veteran quarterback Tom Brady. The 43-year-old Brady has a perfect 5-0 record against the Bears during his 20-year tenure with New England Patriots, including 14 touchdown passes and an average passer rating of 109.2. Brady is fresh from his historic five-touchdown performance in their come-from-behind win over the Los Angeles Chargers, and the momentum of their three-game winning streak has installed the Buccaneers as a six-point favorite over the Bears.
Their own three-game winning run came to an end following a 19-11 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Bears coach says Brady knows game inside out
For Bears head coach Matt Nagy, it is always hard to go up against Brady as he is the guy who knows the game inside out. "He attacks you downfield. There's never any panic," said Nagy, according to Tampabay.com. He adds that a huge lead is not safe with Brady leading the offense. "You're always in the game with him," he added, referring to the quarterback who has led the most 10-point comeback wins in NFL history with 34. The last of Brady's comeback win happened when he carried the Buccaneers out of a 17-point hole en route to win over the Chargers on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.
In that game, Brady became the oldest quarterback to throw five touchdown passes in a game and to tally back-to-back three-touchdown outings. In 2014, Brady threw five touchdown passes in the Patriots' 51-23 win over the Bears.
Pagano is winless against Brady
The duty of determining how to stop Brady falls on the shoulder of defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano, who has a 0-6 record against Brady-led teams, either a defensive coordinator or head coach.
During Pagano's tenure as head coach of the Colts, Brady beat them five times, including a 45-7 rout in the AFC Championship Game in 2014. In that game, Brady completed 23 of 35 passes for 226 yards and three touchdowns. In 2011, Pagano was the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens when Brady and the Patriots defeated them in the AFC Championship Game, 23-20.
Pagano was a defensive backs coach for the Ravens in 2009 when they got a big win over Brady, 33-14, in the playoffs, but he was only a position coach then.
Pagano said Brady has the uncanny ability to read defenses, and he seldom gets it wrong. "He can make you look foolish because he gets them in the right play 99.9 percent of the time," said Pagano, adding, "it's really, really difficult." The Bears defense will be led by Pro Bowl outside linebacker Khalil Mack, who said that it would be a rare challenge to go up against one of the best in Brady. Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson, for his part, said they need to be better as they will be going up against the greatest of all time. "I categorize him as the GOAT for sure," Johnson said.