The calendar is turning to November and it’s time for teams to really separate themselves.
Teams that are going to make a run at the playoffs have to start playing well. The teams that aren’t, are going to shift
into “who do we fire?” and “how high will the draft pick be?” mode.
Thankfully, the Chicago Bears are a step above those teams for a change. Or at least they are now.
Without improvement, the Bears are going to be flirting with and sitting around .500 for the rest of the season. It’s better than where they’ve been, but it’s not where fans want to be.
The goal for the Bears should be to be solidly in the hunt for the rest of the season. At least push for a Wild Card spot, even if it ultimately doesn’t happen.
But the NFL is a thin line between playoffs and high draft picks.
The Bengals came into the year with true playoff aspirations. But a defense that’s made no strides and an injured quarterback have dashed those hopes.
Joe Flacco has turned it around a bit, but the Bengals are still a flawed team. A flawed, but dangerous team. They can win shootouts and put up points.
Let’s dive into the week’s opponent.
Cincinnati Bengals
SB Nation site: Cincy Jungle
Record: 3-5, second in AFC North
Last week: 39-38 loss to the New York Jets
Game day, time, TV: Sunday, noon CT, FOX
Spread: The Bears are 2.5-point favorites over the Bengals
Bears all-time record against: 6-6
Historical meetings: Week 10, 1992. The 3-5 Bengals came to Soldier Field to face the 4-5 Bears.
It was a back-and-forth game with a lot of swings. The Bears took a 21-7 halftime lead with rushing touchdowns from Darren Lewis and Mark Green, while Jim Harbaugh hit Anthony Morgan for a 46-yard strike, too.
In the third quarter, the Bengals struck twice with Eric Ball catching a 35-yard pass from Boomer Esiason and later hitting Craig Thompson for a 1-yard TD. Lewis added a 97-yard kickoff return for Chicago, too.
Carl Pickens caught a 23-yard touchdown from Boomer with 59 seconds left in the game to tie it at 28 and send it to overtime.
Harbaugh got the Bears to the Cincinnati 35-yard line, but Kevin Butler’s 52-yard attempt was no good.
In overtime, the Bears were forced to punt and Eisason drove the Bengals down the field to the Chicago 18, allowing Jim Breech to hit a 36-yard field goal to give the Bengals 31-28 win.
Last meeting: Back in week 2 of 2021, the Bears hosted the Bengals. Andy Dalton hit Allen Robinson in the first quarter to give Chicago a 7-0 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Roquan Smith had a 53-yard pick-six in the fourth to take the lead to 20-3. Joe Burrow finally got going in the fourth, hitting Ja’Marr Chase for a 42-yard touchdown and then Tee Higgins for a 7-yard TD. But the Bears held on for a 20-17 win.
Injury report: The Bengals had five players out of practice on Wednesday.
Did not participate
• QB Joe Flacco (shoulder)
• DE Trey Hendrickson (hip)
• G Dalton Risner (illness)
• LB Logan Wilson (calf)
• CB Marco Wilson (hamstring)
Offense: The Bengals come into this game ranked 21st in points and 29th in yards.
Their passing offense ranks 21st and their rushing offense ranks 31st.
But old man Joe Flacco (64.3 pct. cmp./784 yds./7 TD/0 INT) can still play a little. He’s competent enough to know his limitations and how to distribute the ball and create a functional offense.
He also knows how to get the ball to the weapons of Ja’Marr Chase (70 rec./720 yds./5 TD), Tee Higgins (25/360/4) and Noah Fant (23/192/2).
Chase Brown (25/126/1) is a good all-around back (97 att./383 yds./2 TD) and his backup Samaje Perine (31 att//193 yds./1 TD) are doing the work on the ground.
Defense: The Bengals defense comes in ranked 32nd in points and yards allowed.
They rank 30th in passing yards allowed and 32nd in rushing yards allowed.
They’ve allowed 30+ points four times this year and the least 27 points in all but one game this year (The Joe Flacco-led Browns, actually).
Up front, it’s all about Trey Hendrickson (4 sk/3 TFL/8 QB hits/1 FF/1PD) but he aggravated a hip injury last week. Other guys on their DL playing well are B.J. Hill (1 sk/2 TFL/3 QB hits), Joseph Ossai (2 sk/4 TFL/4 QB hits), Kris Jenkins (1.5 sk/2 TFL/2 QB hits) and Myles Murphy (1.5 sk/1 TFL/2 QB hits).
Elsewhere on the defense, DJ Turner (2 INT/13 PD/2 TFL/19 tkls), Demetrius Knight (62 tkls/1 TFL/2 QB hits/3 PD/1 INT), Jordan Battle (3 INT/58 tkls/4 PD), Geno Stone (1 INT/51 tkls/1 sk/2 PD) and Logan Wilson (46 tkls/4 PD).
Turner leads the league in pass breakups.
Key matchups: This game can simply be boiled down to stopping Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins on defense and getting the passing game going on offense.
Can the depleted secondary slow down the best wide receiver in the NFL and his stablemate, who is probably one of the five or six best No. 2s in the league?
The Bears’ pass-rush is bad, but if they can get after Joe Flacco, they can sack him. He’s 40 years old and wasn’t mobile 15 years ago.
Caleb Williams and the passing offense have to rip off big plays if the game turns into a shootout. Otherwise, use the ground game to go on long, extensive drives that eat up the clock and keep Cincinnati’s weapons on the sideline.
Key stats
- The Bengals have the 25th-ranked passer rating against and have allowed the second-most touchdown passes in the NFL.
- Cincinnati ranks 30th in red zone defense and 31st in third down defense. Opponents score on 70.3 percent of their red zone trips and convert 48.5 percent of their third downs.
- Ja’Marr Chase leads the league in receptions with 70. He is third in the NFL with 90 yards per game.
- The Bengals and Bears are allowing 6.2 yards per play defensively, last in the league.
- The bottom three teams in Net Yards per Pass attempt allowed are the Cowboys, Commanders and Bengals.
- The Bengals’ pressure rate is third-to-last in the league.
Can the Bears win on Sunday? Will the game be a shootout?
