Former NFL cornerback Charles Tillman says the Chicago Bears can challenge for the Super Bowl this season, provided that they improve on offence.

Since losing to Green Bay during the opening week of the season, Matt Nagy’s team have won three straight games heading into Sunday’s meeting with the Oakland Raiders at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Although Chicago’s offence is yet to reach top gear, averaging just 16.5 points per game, the defence has cemented its status as one of the NFL’s best and produced a dominant display in the 16-6 win over the Minnesota Vikings last week.

“I think they look really good,” former Bears cornerback Tillman told Mirror Sport . “The defence, as always, is superb.

Chicago Bears have been tipped to be potential Super Bowl contenders (
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“The offence is a little shaky right now - that’s no secret. The biggest thing for them is that they have to take what the defence gives them and not turn the ball over.

“But defensively, they are so solid and I can’t say that enough.”

When asked if reaching the Super Bowl is a possibility for the Bears this year, the 38-year-old said: “Definitely! The defence is going to win plenty of games for this team.

“But offensively, they’re not there yet. I don’t think they’re doing their part and it’s just a matter of time before the defence possibly breaks down and the offence is going to have to do more and put points on the board.

“Scoring 10 points a game isn’t going to be enough.”

The Bears are in London to take on the Oakland Raiders on Sunday (
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Tillman was part of some of the NFL’s top defensive units during his 12-year spell with Chicago between 2003 and 2014.

And the two-time Pro-Bowler, who also played for the Carolina Panthers before retiring in 2016, said he sees similarities between the current group and some of the stars he played alongside.

“Everyone talks about [star pass rusher] Khalil Mack and it’s safe to say he is the face of the defence,” Tillman continued. “But I also feel that Eddie Jackson, Kyle Fuller, Danny Trevathan, Roquan Smith, Eddie Goldman – all those guys are important.

“In our team, it wasn’t just Brian Urlacher, it was the likes of Mike Brown, Chris Harris, Nathan Vasher, Tim Jennings, Lance Briggs.

“Those guys right now are a lot like we were. They are stacked at every position so they have all the pieces you need for a legit Super Bowl or play-off defence.”

Pass rusher Khalil Mack is the key part of a fearsome defence (
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Victory on Sunday would send the Bears into their bye week 4-1 and help the NFC North team in their quest to reach the play-offs for the second successive year.

Tillman is no stranger to playing in London after featuring during Chicago’s only other appearance in the capital, which came in 2011 and saw the Bears record a 24-18 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Wembley.

Speaking at the NFL's UK offices, Tillman added: “One thing I remember from that game at Wembley is that not many fans had jerseys of current Bears or Tampa Bay players. They just had NFL jerseys.

Chase Daniel is set to start at quarterback this week with Mitch Trubisky injured (
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“I saw a Curtis Enis jersey from like 1999. Their jerseys were so old but you could tell that people there were just fans of the game - so I thought that was cool.

“I’ve heard it’s changed since then, so when games are played now, you will mainly see the jerseys of the teams playing that week. That proves that the game is growing and getting there.

He continued: “The big talk is if there will be an NFL team in Europe, but I think there has to be a little more interest for that to happen.

“It’s grown a lot and is still growing, but I think that it has to even more to sink a billion dollars and get teams to come over here full-time.”