CHICAGO — The Cleveland Browns entered Sunday's game in Chicago facing a tough Bears team, and in the 31-3 loss, it looked exactly that in all three phases for Cleveland in the worst way—tough.
Special teams lapses have continued to plague the Browns and, like clockwork, on the opening kickoff, the Bears returned a ball caught on the 1-yard line 52 yards after blowing through an open, unblocked lane. Sound coverage has been hard to come by for Cleveland and that didn't change Sunday against the Bears.
The Browns' defense was able to force a three-and-out on Chicago's opening drive, but unlike the Browns' special teams unit, the Bears came to play.
Bears punter Tory Taylor booted it inside the 10, downed by Josh Blackwell on the 1-yard line. There was uncertainty if he touched the ball while on the goal line and Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski opted to challenge the ruling, hoping for an overturn and touchback call. Unfortunately for the Browns, the challenge was unsuccessful, costing Cleveland a timeout and keeping them at the 1-yard line.
What began as a poor start for special teams leaked into another phase and pinned against the goal line, the opening offensive drive saw the Browns called for a false start and a too-many-men-on-the-field penalty, forced to punt after three plays.
Cleveland's defense has been the team's only saving grace all season, but on Sunday, the unit was gashed on the ground and in the air. A six-play touchdown drive saw the Bears get 42 yards downfield, heaving on the run game with D'Andre Swift with some short passes mixed in for chunks, too. It was Swift who punched in the first score of the game on a six-yard rush.
With a 7-0 lead, the Bears forced another three-and-out on a drive that saw the Browns add another penalty to their collection, called for delay of game to start the drive. Sanders tried to keep the drive alive with a scramble out of pressure, but didn't stretch out the ball and was brought down just shy of the sticks.
Chicago took over possession and continued their run game with Swift and Kyle Monangai, also mixing in explosives through the air, including a 24-yard pass from Caleb Williams to Colston Loveland and a 40-yarder to Luther Burden III. A short pass to DJ Moore in the end zone made it a 14-0 game near the end of the first quarter.
Entering the game with injuries across the offensive line—Ethan Pocic, Jack Conklin and Wyatt Teller all out—protecting the pocket was going to be a test. It proved at points to be a test the Browns weren't quite up for, with Sanders sacked for a loss of eight on their next drive, Bears linebacker D'Marco Jackson untouched on his way to Sanders. Playing behind the sticks put the Browns in position to punt for their third straight possession.
What felt like an inevitable trip to the end zone for the Bears after picking up four first downs was stopped short courtesy of a tackle for loss from linebacker Mohamoud Diabate and more domination from defensive end Myles Garrett. Garrett not only had a TFL of his own, but got another step closer to breaking the single-season NFL sack record, notching number 21 on a third-down takedown of Williams.
Holding the Bears to a field-goal attempt, the Browns caught a break after Cairo Santos' 35-yard kick was not good, hitting the right upright and doinking out. That kept it a two-score game with less than five minutes to go in the half.
Amid the frigid temperature was a spark of heat from the offense on their next drive, with Sanders going deep, placing a perfectly placed ball 42 yards downfield into the arms of Isaiah Bond. With the ball on the 25-yard line, the offense went stagnant again, gaining just two yards before being stalled out after Sanders was sacked for a loss of nine. Cleveland, at the 31-yard line, opted out of a 48-yard field goal attempt from Andre Szmyt, punting it away instead.
The first half ended uneventfully. The Browns offense, starting behind the sticks again after a false start penalty on the first play of the drive, went three-and-out. The defense forced the Bears to punt once more and then kept them from scoring on their final possession of the half.
Not much changed for the Browns coming out of the locker room. Getting the ball to start the third quarter, the Browns went three-and-out after a no-gain rush from Quinshon Judkins and two incomplete passes.
Cleveland did capitalize on a turnover on downs, thanks to a fourth-down stop by Alex Wright, who sacked Williams for his fourth of the season. After putting the ball back in the offense's hands, the Browns started to thaw out, getting their second first down of the game thanks to a pass from Sanders to tight end Harold Fannin Jr., all while Sanders was wrapped up by a Bears defender.
The play was the last movement of the drive, and after three more unsuccessful attempts to drive the ball, the Browns put Szmyt's foot to the test after all. The Browns' kicker grew up in a suburb of Chicago, and the cold and wind didn't faze him as he knocked down a 50-yard kick to make it a 14-3 game.
However, things took a turn on the Browns' next possession. On the first play of the drive, Sanders attempted to pass the ball to Fannin over the middle, but his pass was batted down and caught by Jackson, who gave the Bears the ball back at Cleveland's 22-yard line.
It didn't take much for Chicago to capitalize on the turnover, with their first play a 22-yard pass from Williams to Moore to make it 21-3.
Sanders entered the next possession looking to make a play. He was able to do just that with another deep shot to Bond, this one a 47-yarder. With the end zone in sight, Sanders made a pass in an impossibly small window, perfectly placing the ball in the basket for wide receiver Jerry Jeudy. However, Jeudy's season of struggles continued as the ball passed through his hands, hit off his chest and fell into the arms of Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson.
While the Bears took over on the 20-yard line, driving 80 yards posed no issue to them. Exploiting the Browns' struggling run defense, Chicago made it down the field in nine plays, capped by a 17-yard touchdown run by Swift, increasing the Bears' lead to 28-3.
Another three-and-out saw Sanders sacked for the third time in the game, swarmed by three Bears defenders. Another third was on the way for Sanders, a short time later, as the rookie quarterback threw his third pick of the game on their next possession, a shot to Fannin short and taken away.
The only silver lining of the rest of the game was Garrett getting a half-sack closer to the single-season record.
Chicago scored one more time off the foot of Santos, who made a 41-yarder to drive the score up 31-3, which is where things ended on the scoreboard.
The Browns' loss to the Bears marked their lowest scoring game of the season and moved their record to an abysmal 3-11.
Another tough task awaits the Browns next week as they're set to host the Buffalo Bills inside Huntington Bank Field in Week 16.
