The Chicago Bears suffered a tough loss this week as pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue reportedly broke his ankle against the Detroit Lions. He will go on Injured Reserve, ending his season. While that will be a challenge to overcome, the Bears can at least say they don’t have it nearly as bad as the Cleveland Browns. Their opponent this coming Sunday is going through arguably the worst stretch of injuries any team has experienced this season. They had already lost quarterback Deshaun Watson and running back Nick Chubb for the year. Now, it has gotten so much worse.
All three of their top tackles are now done for the season. Jedrick Willis, Jack Conklin, and standout rookie Dawand Jones all suffered injuries that required surgery. This means quarterback Joe Flacco must stand behind rapidly weakening protection. If that weren’t bad enough, the situation might somehow be worse on defense. Not one, not two, but three players on that side of the ball went down last weekend. Defensive tackle Maurice Hurst and defensive end Ogbonnia Okoronkwo tore their pectorals. Safety Grant Delpit, fresh off a contract extension, is done for the regular season with a knee injury.
The Chicago Bears have a big opportunity.
Cleveland is a talented team. That is why they’ve kept winning games despite several losses, but everybody has a breaking point. The Bears come in with lots of momentum. Their defense is considerably better than the one Cleveland faced last week against Jacksonville. Joe Flacco tends to give the ball away more than you’d like. Chicago has forced 11 takeaways in their last three games. If they put him under pressure, the streak will continue. The bigger challenge is the Browns defense.
It is #1 in the NFL this season, riding the shoulders of superstar Myles Garrett and a talented secondary. However, the loss of Delpit hurts that situation; Okoronkwo was also their second-best pass rusher. Cleveland isn’t quite as good against the run, surrendering at least 100 yards in four of their last five games. Last but not least, they figure to see a motivated Justin Fields on Sunday. He undoubtedly has revenge on his mind after the humiliating beatdown Cleveland gave him two years ago when they sacked him nine times.
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
If the Chicago Bears play like they did against Detroit, it’s hard to see the Browns beating them.
Flacco is a statue at this point in his career. If we can get pressure up the middle, he will be in trouble. Their losses on D will hurt them, but Schwartz is a great coach. He will have that D ready to play. It’s gona be a close, tough game. Can’t fk’n wait!!!
Amazing how just 2 games can change how my views of watching a game on Sunday and thinking the team I’m rooting for actually has a shot to win.
Any given Sunday. I think Bears will be trying to run the ball and Cleveland knows it.
So while Cleveland’s O might score few points, it will more likely come down to how smart the Bear Offense gets over the wall of their good D.
Bears should be thinking run game and 24 points on O. Bears can ask the D to hold Cleveland to less, + get some turnovers. Scoring early and often are huge for da Bears.
This is bad news for the Bears. They need to evaluate Fields against a good defense in which he never beatin a top 15 defense. I want their defense at their best so everyone can see if he actually improved.
After Justin Fields destroys the Browns defense, Tom Waddle Told Ya will be up in saying it doesn’t count because Cleveland was down their starting safety. I’m already mentally preparing myself for it.