By Gene Chamberlain Sports Illustrated Chicago Bears News, Analysis & More Radio:
ESPN AM-1000, FM-100.3 (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Jason McKie), SiriusXM (channel 83 or 381)Spanish Radio: Latino Mix 93.5 (Omar Ramos, Miguel Esparza)The limit: brown with 3 (older/less than 38 years old)The matchup:
Armed with their first winning streak since 2021, the Bears look to snap their first three-game winning streak in four years and return to the playoffs behind a surging defense with 11 points in their last three games.
The Browns have won two straight with veteran QB Joe Flacco and named him the starter for the rest of the season as they try to improve on the fifth seed they now own in the AFC playoffs as a wild card.
The Series: The eighteenth game of a series that began in 1951 when the Browns, Colts and 49ers came to the NFL via a merger with the All-American Football Conference.
The Bears have won three of their last four, but Cleveland won their final home game of 2021, 26-6.
The coaches: Bears coach Matt Eberflus is 8-22 in his second season and hasn’t met the Browns. Browns coach Kevin Stefanski is 34-29 in his fourth season and 1-0 against the Bears.Last week:
The Bears broke a 13-13 tie in the third quarter when Justin Fields hit wide receiver DJ Moore on a free play, a 38-yard TD bomb after an offsides flag had been thrown, then beating the Detroit Lions 28. -13.
They held the Lions scoreless in the second half, ripping the ball away three times and putting it away with an 11-yard touchdown scramble by Fields and a 28-yard Cairo Santos field goal in the fourth quarter.
Flacco hit wide receiver David Bell with a 51-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to extend Cleveland’s lead to 28-14 and the Browns recorded a 31-27 victory on a Dustin Hopkins field goal from 55 yards in the fourth quarter.
In Flacco’s first start since coming off the practice squad, he finished 26 of 45 for 311 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.
Notes: In the last game between the teams, the Browns had nine sacks and Myles Garrett had 4 1/2. Since Week 6, the Bears defense has allowed 282.6 yards per game, the best average in the NFL.
They were also No. 1 in the league in rushing defense during that span, averaging 74.6 yards per game. Since Wee 9, they have limited their opponents to a passer rating of 70.7.
He is number 1 in the championship. The Bears held Jared Goff to his two lowest passer ratings this year, 54.6 last week and 68.3 in Week 11.
The Bears continue to lead the NFL in most rushing attempts of 10 yards or more with 57. Fields surpassed 2,000 career rushing yards last week and has 2,021, the second-most total highest for a QB in Bears history. … T.J.
Edwards’ total of 129 tackles is the Bears’ second-most ever through thirteen games, trailing only Roquan Smith (130, 2021). Moore needs 122 receiving yards to surpass his career-high 1,193 yards in 2020.
Since Montez Sweat joined the Bears, their total of 11 points is the second-highest in the league.. .. S Jaquan Brisker had 17 tackles against the Lions, the third-most in Bears history.
The Browns got two touchdowns from David Njoku last week, marking his first game with more than one touchdown.
He ranks second in team history in touchdown receptions among tight ends with 23, behind only Ozzie Newsome (47). … Flacco’s victory as a starter last week gave him a 10-2 victory in Cleveland, but the other starts came with other teams.
Hopkins is 8 of 8 on 50 or more yards on field goals this year and his 31 field goals are the most in Browns history in a season.
