Bears Look to Rebound Against Browns

It’s already Week 8, and this will be just the third home game for the Chicago Bears. Winning their previous two contests at home, the Bears (3-3) will be hoping to continue that trend when they face the Cleveland Browns (1-6) Sunday afternoon.

Things can only get better for Jay Cutler and the rest of the Chicago offense after the horrible showing in last week’s lose to the Cincinnati Bengals. Overall, the Browns are statistically the worst team in the NFL in defense, giving up an astounding 414.9 yards per game. Cutler is the type of quarterback that should have no problem exploiting a Browns defense that is ranked 24 th in the league in pass defense, giving up an average of 244.3 yards per game. In addition, this could possibly give Devin Hester, who is starting to come into his own as an NFL receiver, his second career 100-yard game. An even more interesting match-up will be Cleveland’s run defense, which is surrendering 170.6 rushing yards per game (31 st in the league), going up against Chicago’s inconsistent running attack that is averaging only 80.7 yards per game. If the Bears’ offensive line can start acting as if they have two perennial Pro Bowlers blocking, Matt Forte just might record his second 100-yard rushing performance of the season.

> Find Chicago Bears jerseys & hats online through Pro Football Fans for all your team gear!

The Bears will be facing a Cleveland offense that is just as bad as their defense. The Browns’ 31 st ranked offense (225.4 ypg) will have to deal with the return of defensive tackle Tommie Harris to the lineup. Chicago’s front seven will have more of an advantage in trying to stop Cleveland’s 24 th ranked running game (97.1 ypg.) with Harris, even though the Bears are suffering from major injuries to their linebacking corps. Chicago’s secondary, which have been struggling to defend the pass over the past few seasons, will definitely welcome the fact that Browns quarterback, Derek Anderson, only has two touchdown passes, accompanied with seven interceptions and a passer rating of 40.6 (the worst rating in the league).

Even though the Chicago Bears are not ranked at the top of any category in the NFL, statistically the Bears should have a field day competing against a Cleveland Browns team that isn’t ranked no higher than 24 th in any major category (offensively or defensively) when it comes to yardage. This game could be a very important one for the Bears, because if they can’t dominate a team such as this, then there is a great chance that Chicago won’t be much of a threat against anyone for the rest of the season.

By Clyde Speller
ProFootball-fans.com Chicago Bears Correspondent