The Chicago Bears lost in Lambeau last week to the Green Bay Packers, but there is still plenty of room for optimism for this team moving forward this season.
The Bears return home this week to welcome the Cleveland Browns in a game that’s going to be frigid temperatures that will certainly impact how this game is played.
To help preview this matchup, we sat down with Chris Pokorny from Dawgs by Nature (SB Nation’s Cleveland Browns site) to get Cleveland’s perspective on this team and this matchup.
1. We have to start with Shedeur Sanders, don’t we? It’s way too early to make any large proclamations with him, but is there any hope that Sanders could finally be the answer for the Browns at QB?
It’s certainly unfair to Shedeur Sanders that we have to accelerate the evaluation of him in a rather short period of time. On one hand, there has to be a reason that so many teams passed up on him five times before the Browns pulled the trigger in the fifth round, and selecting him came with a media firestorm as well. The Browns stuck to their guns and never gave him reps with the first-team offense throughout camp or the regular season, until it was time to make him the starter a couple of weeks ago. The word in the rumor mill is that the Browns had been happy with the progress Sanders was making throughout the year, but because they didn’t feel he was ready early on, they didn’t want to rush him out there just for the sake of doing so, only to ruin him.
The downside of that is now we’re looking at a scenario where the Browns are likely to have a top draft pick or the ammunition to trade up, and select the quarterback they want in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft. However, wouldn’t it be nice if we found out that Sanders could be that starting quarterback we need, and then we draft a top wide receiver and offensive lineman instead, which are the team’s two biggest needs outside of quarterback? Through three starts, my biggest gripe with Sanders is that he is still taking too long to process things and get rid of the ball. On the same note, the degree of improvement he has made in such a short period of time is astounding. In my opinion, he looked better than Cam Ward of the Titans last week, and he’s had a whole rookie season as the No. 1 overall pick. Sanders also has a downfield mindset and has been delivering those throws well, which also opens up those shorter checkdown passes that have suddenly been going for sizable gains. His game against the Titans was very good, even with the excusable rookie mistakes involved. That was the type of big leap I needed to see Sanders make in order for my mind to shift from, “Eh, we probably still have to take a QB next year,” to “Wait a minute…now let’s see how these final four games go.”
2. I’ve always thought Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Berry are a pretty good coach and GM combo, but 6 wins in the team’s last 30 games certainly isn’t good (although DeShaun Watson’s contract certainly isn’t helping them). Do you think they will be fired? Do you think they should be fired?
Kevin Stefanski has earned being fired, if it came down to that. Andrew Berry has had some hot-and-cold moves, but this past year’s draft was perhaps his best one yet, and it was the first one in a long while that he had a first-round pick to work with in (thanks to that Deshaun Watson debacle). Ultimately, I think our owner will want to resist change — the opposite of what he used to do — and stick with the plan for one more year, falling back on the fact that Stefanski is a two-time coach of the year, and that the defense will be in good shape for several years to come. If the offense can be turned around, which the Browns have the draft ammunition to invest in this coming year, I think Haslam will want to give Stefanski and Berry a chance to prove that patience paid off.
3. This Browns defense is certainly stingy, and Myles Garrett appears to be unstoppable. What is the best way to attack this defense to get some points on the board?
Although the Browns had been great at not allowing this to happen for most of the season, the Titans, of all teams, last week did a good job of mixing in running plays in the direction of Myles Garrett when he lined up really wide (or similarly, throwing short passes when he did that). I hesitate to say that should be a strategy for the Bears, though, because it’s one of those things that the defense has cleaned up this year. Cleveland does have some recent injuries on defense, though, with DT Maliek Collins being out, and it coincides with our run defense being a letdown last week. Cornerback Denzel Ward is also battling a calf injury, although it’s too early to know if he’ll play or not. If Ward is out, targeting his replacement would be a wise decision. Usually, though, the best way to attack the defense is through other areas: your defense creating a turnover or a short field, or taking advantage of the Browns’ poor special teams. A couple of weeks ago, against the 49ers, San Francisco could not sustain any normal or long drives if their life depended on it. However, they got the ball deep in Cleveland territory three times, and our defense gave up touchdowns instead of field goals in all three scenarios. More often than not lately, it seems like the defense just gets broken when they see the same song-and-dance again of them battling their tails off, only to see them facing a short field.
4. As a Bears fan, I’ve often said the Cleveland Browns are the AFC equivalent of the Bears. A classic NFL franchise with little to no success for many years, and largely just a poor organization. In Chicago, we are hopeful that the Bears may finally be turning the corner with Ben Johnson. The Cleveland fans are great, but how is their relationship with this franchise?
Browns fans remain loyal, lol. We’re in that sick rinse-and-repeat cycle of trying to buy into the team every year in training camp, knowing full well that we’ll probably be on the couch come January again. For myself, I love the Browns and look forward to watching them every week. The only thing that has changed over the years is that I used to feel a deep pain for at least a day or two with each loss, and now I just let it roll off me like it’s nothing. I’ve become immune to losing as a fan. On the same note, if the Browns ever start digging their way back into consistent contention, I think we can get that feeling back. The fanbase is always at odds with the way the Browns are run, but we’re never going away.
5. How do you think Cleveland does against the Bears on Sunday? The weather on gameday is predicted to be in the single digits with a negative wind chill.
That weather is going to be arctic indeed! With the way the Browns are trending, the offensive line has really been struggling to open holes for the running game, no matter whether it was the starting group or the backups (currently, three backups are in due to injuries). The pass protection has surprisingly gotten a hair better as of late, and with Shedeur Sanders’ breakout performance last week, I think we’re looking forward to him continuing to let loose. As I mentioned in question one, these are games where we don’t care how Sanders can do as a game manager. We want to push the boundaries with him and see what he can do. As for the defense, they are a unit that can shut anyone down, but for a variety of factors, it usually ends up not mattering due to constantly being up against bad field position. I’m expecting the Bears to come out on top, but you never know; I mean, this Browns team did pull off a random win against the Packers earlier this season.
