There’s no doubt in my mind that the Bears don’t find a way to beat the Raiders in 2024.

With every comeback, there was a brutal collapse, whether it was physical or mental, and sometimes both. It started in the Commander’s game last season and continued against Minnesota, Green Bay, and, of course, Detroit.

There’s also no doubt in my mind that the Bears have a long way to go before they become a great team, and that’s okay. Ben Johnson gets the perfect scenario for the bye week – the good feelings of a two-game win streak, while his team gets valuable time to reset, work and improve with 13 games still on the schedule.

Here are the areas the Bears need to put under the microscope as they self-scout and find solutions:

• Find a pass rush. The Bears have only five sacks, while Denver has 15, and Detroit, the Rams and Pittsburgh have 14. There are only three teams in the entire league that are less productive than the Bears in rushing the passer. We continue to put out an APB for Montez Sweat and Gervon Dexter. The duo is supposed to be the Bears’ best players up front, but they are producing like small-time role guys. For $100 million, Sweat has just two sacks in his past 10 games. In the meantime, new addition Dayo Odeyingbo was a no-show against the Raiders.

• Run the football. The Bears’ 102.3 yards per game on the ground ranks 24th. Their 3.9 yards per carry is 25th in the NFL. The polarizing topic amongst fans is the role of D’Andre Swift and his 3.3 yards per carry average.

The best way I can summarize Swift is that he’s not necessarily the problem, but he isn’t the solution either. Imagine where the offense will go if they threaten teams with a run game. You can’t be one-dimensional and expect to win.

• Be wise at the trade deadline and stop trading for role players. In recent years, the Bears have traded picks for Ryan Bates, Darrell Taylor and Dan Feeney. None have helped the Bears in the short or long term. As I mentioned above, I don’t believe Swift is a solution, so I can be persuaded in trading for a running back like Alvin Kamara – as long as you don’t give up a pick in the top four rounds.

I’d prefer to continue to search for contributors on either line. As the Bengals tumble without Joe Burrow, maybe they are open to revisiting trade talks for Trey Hendrickson.

I’d also be in favor of searching for secondary help. While this isn’t just for bye week, Ryan Poles must make calls with the deadline just a month away.

• Get the young players involved. This will be a good two weeks to figure out ways to get Colton Loveland and Luther Burden involved more consistently. Burden showed everyone in the Cowboys game that he’s a dangerous player, but Loveland has been slowed by injuries since he became a Bear. The two have combined for just 10 catches and 142 yards this season – they were drafted as high as they were to contribute immediately while becoming big-time playmakers in the long term. It was nice to see Ozzy Trapilo play fairly well in the second half of the Raiders game after Theo Benedet replaced Braxton Jones.

• Get healthy. Both TJ Edwards and Kyler Gordon are vital to the defense. While Gordon and Jaquan Brisker were drafted together, they have barely played at the same time recently. Allen will be able to be more aggressive with both on the field. What is Darnell Wright’s future with his elbow injury? Can Austin Booker take the next step and help fortify the pass rush when he returns from injured reserve?

After the disastrous start the first two games, the Bears have bounced back nicely, built momentum, and have shown great belief in their new head coach. The once-daunting schedule looks more manageable for a variety of reasons. For now, however, the only place the Bears should be looking is within.

• Marc Silverman shares his opinions on the Bears weekly for Shaw Local. Tune in and listen to the “Waddle & Silvy” show weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m. on ESPN 1000.