Bears Vs Cowboys: When Two D's Go To War

Take a guess who has the best defense in the NFL right now? Yep, the Dallas Cowboys, who will be taking on the Bears this Monday night in what could prove to be a defensive battle.

The Cowboys have allowed a league best 250 yards per game. This breaks down over three games to an average of 137 yards passing and 113 yards rushing. To put it mildly, they've been pretty stingy.

Chicago's defense has also been strong this season and the two teams are pretty closely ranked. The Bears are sixth with 279 yards allowed each game and fifth in points allowed with 16.7. The front four have played well and lead the league in sacks with 14. And only the Atlanta Falcons have had more interceptions than Chicago so far.

As each day passes things seem to be pointing to Matt Forte hopefully playing against the Cowboys on Monday. The question will be whether he will be at full strength and how much of the workload he will have to share with Michael Bush. Teams have shown that you can run the ball against the Cowboys, albeit not for huge amounts of yardage. Whoever plays, the Bears' running game will have to be up to scratch if they want to chalk up the victory this week.

Both teams are tied in terms of passing touchdowns allowed with just 3, and I would be surprised if we see this game turn into a shoot-out. I think it gets determined on the ground and more likely, by which defense plays the better game.

Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray had a good start to the year, rushing for 131 yards against the Giants. However, in the last two games he has run the ball for 44 and 38 yards respectively. The Bears defense shouldn't find it too difficult to contain Murray and limit his gains on the ground.

Dallas have a good group of receivers, although Dez Bryant hasn't had the type of year so far that they would have hoped for. They are counting on him developing into one of the league's elite, but he just hasn't shown that sort of form as of yet. Tight end Jason Witten remains one of Tony Romo's favorite targets, although he has only caught eight of the 21 passes thrown his way. Miles Austin appears to be their most dangerous threat with 17.4 yards per reception and an average of 81 yards receiving each game.

I think it's going to be a close game on Monday night. Both teams are 2-1 and both teams play in tough divisions where every win is vital. It could come down to one play in deciding who wins this one. Or it could depend on which quarterback plays the better game. Some put Romo and Cutler pretty close together when ranking passers in the NFL. Click here to read ESPN Chicago's take on who they think is the better QB.

Let's leave the last word to Jay Cutler who yesterday commented on the Cowboys' dangerous defensive lineman DeMarcus Ware:

"Once you get into the game, you've got to let the game plan take care of that. Monday through Sunday in this case we're gonna do our best to get our game plan prepared and make sure we have the edges shored up and make sure we're taking care of (No.) 94 because he can be a problem. If you leave him alone too many times one on one, he's gonna make a play. So you've got to keep him guessing, throw a lot of stuff at him and hopefully at the end of the day keep him off you."

Let's hope DeMarcus Ware and the rest of the Cowboys D isn't too much of a problem for the Bears' offensive line and that the Bears come out on top this Monday night.