Winning on the road isn’t easy in the NFL. Away from the comforts and energy of your own home stadium Prince Amukamara Jersey , entering an environment where tens of thousands of people are deeply emotionally invested in your failure can be taxing. Factor in a suffocating altitude that takes time to adjust to and you have the recipe for a stellar home field advantage. After a disheartening season-opening loss, the Bears have no choice but to succeed against the Denver Broncos in their own digs this Sunday. The percentage of teams who start 0-2 making the playoffs isn’t kind—it’s roughly 10 percent since 2007. Once a preliminary hole is dug in and entrenched, most find it difficult to climb out of their own early grave. The Broncos are practically nigh unbeatable at home in the early season. Their head coach, Vic Fangio, might understand what makes the Bears’ defense tick better than anyone else, and likely has more of an inside scoop on what ails the Bears’ offense, too. None of that can matter for the Bears, who can’t afford another painful and ill-advised defeat after such high preseason expectations. Here’s how the staff of Windy City Gridiron sees Sunday’s matchup at Mile High Stadium playing out. Robert Zeglinski: Bears 21, Broncos 13After a sloppy performance against the Packers’ defense, there’s no reason to trust Mitchell Trubisky and the Bears’ offense against the Broncos. Offensive issues aside, Chicago pulls off its first win of 2019 in an ugly grinder.Lester A. Wiltfong Jr.: Bears 20, Broncos 12I’m assuming that Thursday night was the the perfect storm of sucking, overconfidence https://www.thebearsfanshop.com/Adam-Shaheen-Jersey , stubbornness, and poor game-planning that led to the Bears having their worst offensive performance of the Matt Nagy era. They’ll turn it around and look competent, but it’ll be Chicago’s defense that leads the Bears to the win on Sunday.Aaron Leming: Broncos 13, Bears 10I don’t think the Bears’ season is over after Sunday, but expecting them to go into a hostile place and beat a Broncos team at home in their first home game of the season is a tall order. I expect it to be another close and likely frustrating game from the offense. In order to win, the Bears will need to commit to the run game and quick passing game. I’m not sure Matt Nagy does that.Sam Householder: Broncos 17, Bears 16I’ll get more into the numbers in my Friday betting column, but the Broncos at home in September are damn-near unbeatable. The fretting over the offense continues as panic starts to set in in Chicago.Robert Schmitz: Bears 16, Broncos 13While the data behind Denver’s home field advantage is hard to overstate, the Broncos’ relative health issues and short week of practice lead me to believe the Bears can buck the trend off 10 days of rest. Trubisky struggles again, but a rushing attack evenly featuring all three backs produces points off. The ugly win leaves fans grimacing, but their record improves to 1-1 nevertheless.Steven Schweickert: Bears 17, Broncos 13Last year’s Bears responded to a devastating loss against the Packers in Week 1 by losing horrifically to ... wait Mitchell Trubisky Color Rush Jersey , they didn’t lose to Seattle and went on to finish 12-4? The season’s not over yet. Defense travels and the Bears find enough offensive sparks to even their record.Patti Curl: Bears 52, Broncos 9Nagy turns the offense around and the Bears drop a fifty Biscuit on poor ole’ Fangio. Erik Duerrwaechter: Bears 17, Broncos 10I’m returning to being optimistic and suggesting Trubisky will bounce back from his stinker in Week 1. I’m also expecting Matt Nagy to follow through on his promise of utilizing the ground game better, while Chicago’s defense wrecks havoc on Joe Flacco.Jacob Infante: Bears 17, Broncos 13Denver hasn’t lost a game at home in September since 2012, so the Bears could very realistically start the year off at 0-2. However, with the Broncos’ poor defensive performance on Monday night, I’ll take Chicago to do enough on offense to complement a top-notch defensive outing.WhiskeyRanger: Bears 21, Broncos 9After a disappointing loss, and an extended break to think about it, the Bears offense corrects enough of its issues while the always stout defense proves to be too much for Denver. The city of Chicago collectively sighs with relief.Kev H: Bears 17, Broncos 3The Bears aren’t great on offense but oh my god the Broncos are so bad that the three points seems generous.Ken Mitchell: Bears 21, Broncos 3Two defensive touchdowns do the heavy lifting for Chicago. I’m not sold on our offense right now Pat O'Donnell Jersey , but I’m less sold on the Bronco’s offense verses our defense that’s out to prove a point.Robert wishes everyone would have something nicer to say about the Broncos aside from their stadium and city being a mile above sea level. WCG Contributors: Jeff Berckes; Patti Curl; Eric Christopher Duerrwaechter; Kev H; Sam Householder; Jacob Infante; Aaron Lemming; Ken Mitchell; Steven Schweickert; Jack Silverstein; EJ Snyder; Lester Wiltfong, Jr.; Whiskey Ranger; Robert Schmitz; Robert Zeglinski; Like us on Facebook. LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Guard Kyle Long felt whole again Friday after returning to practice with the Chicago Bears for the first time since late October.Following seven missed games after foot surgery, Long is hoping to come off injured reserve in time for the Bears' first playoff game in January, if not before."It felt good to be in a helmet and running around," Long said. "I don't feel like a ghost in the building, which is nice." Long suffered a tendon injury to his right foot on Oct. 28 in Chicago's win over the New York Jets, and then underwent surgery and rehab.The Bears (10-4) play Sunday at San Francisco (4-10).Coach Matt Nagy couldn't commit to Long's return for the playoffs or possibly even next week's game against the Minnesota Vikings. Long practiced Friday only on a limited basis and the team will monitor his recovery."Just to kind of get a feel for where he tells us he feels with everything health-wise and then also the other part, too, is when you're out like that it's the conditioning side too," Nagy said. "We'll just keep communicating and talking to him and then we'll see what we think is best as we go. Today was a great first step."Now in his sixth season, Long doesn't want to miss a chance at his first postseason action."I've never had a chance to play in the playoffs," Long said. "I'm just really happy for our team. We have put ourselves in a position to be in the playoffs."But right now we are going to San Francisco tomorrow and we've got business to take care of the next two weeks. There's obviously no timeline https://www.thebearsfanshop.com/Kyle-Long-Jersey , so I'm just trying to progress every day and make strides."A Pro Bowler from 2013-15, Long has been plagued by injuries severe enough to require surgery the past three years. He missed 14 games in 2016 and 2017. He had surgeries last offseason to his neck, shoulder and elbow, and the previous year suffered a gruesome ankle injury requiring surgery."It's really frustrating," Long said. "If you're a football player you want to play football, and if you can't do that then you don't feel like yourself. So I'm just happy we're winning."The Bears replaced Long with Eric Kush for one game and then former Kansas City Chiefs guard Bryan Witzmann took over for Kush.Long's return had the Bears fired up on defense, too."I think that it will be a morale boost to see him overcome his obstacles and be able to rejoin the team in that way," defensive end Akiem Hicks said. "That guy makes me excited because you can tell that he has given everything to this game, mentally and physically, you know? So I'm always happy when a guy like that gets to come back to the game that he loves."NOTESFree safety Eddie Jackson (right ankle) and linebacker Aaron Lynch (elbow) missed all three practices this week and are doubtful for Sunday's game. Jackson, a Pro Bowler, would be replaced by third-year player Deon Bush in the starting lineup. … Hicks had missed Thursday's practice because of illness but returned Friday and will play against San Francisco.
