From Justin Fields’ readiness to getting Khalil Mack going, here’s what Bears coordinators had to say ahead of Week 2.
The Chicago Bears are gearing up for their Week 2 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, where Chicago will be looking for their first win of the season.
The Bears offense and defense have plenty to prove in their home opener following some disappointing performances. While the offense showed encouraging signs, they need to score more than 14 points to win a game, especially with a declining defense. But running back David Montgomery certainly provides some upside to this offense.
All eyes will be on the defense, who is looking to overcome an embarrassing outing where they allowed 34 points and struggled with missed tackles and blown coverages. They’re going to need to fix things up heading into Sunday’s game, where they’ll face a Bengals offense coming off a solid outing.
Here’s a look at what Bears offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, defensive coordinator Sean Desai and special teams coordinator Chris Tabor had to say during their weekly press conferences with the media.
From David Montgomery vs. Cincy’s run defense to Darnell Mooney vs. Eli Apple, here are four matchups to watch as Bears battle the Bengals.
The Chicago Bears are gearing up for their Week 2 home opener against the Cincinnati Bengals, where there are a slew of matchups that will go a long way in determining whether the Bears can earn their first win of the season.
Following an embarrassing loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 1, there are plenty of concerns on both offense and defense. While the Bears won’t be playing the Rams’ high-powered offense again, they’re going to need to rebound to keep Cincy’s offensive weapons at bay. On offense, we’ll see if Matt Nagy will open things up downfield, where there are opportunities to exploit a weakness in the Bengals’ secondary.
Here are four matchups to watch as the Bears head into their Week 2 game against the Bengals.
The Bears will host the Bengals in Week 2. Can Andy Dalton make it two wins in a row against his former team?
The Chicago Bears will host the Cincinnati Bengals in their home opener, where the Bears will be looking for their first win of the season.
The Bears are coming off an embarrassing 34-14 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 1, where there were plenty of issues on both sides of the ball. Especially on the defensive front.
Believe it or not, the offense wasn’t the worst unit on the field for the Bears, although they were far from productive. The exception was running back David Montgomery, who had 16 carries for 108 yards (6.8 average).
Quarterback Andy Dalton wasn’t terrible in his debut, where his quick release was a strength. But he did throw a costly interception in the end zone that halted an impressive scoring drive to open the game. The offense was able to sustain drives and didn’t have any 3-and-outs, which was an impressive feat for a team that had many in 2020, but they only managed 14 points.
The defense’s struggles was the most shocking thing to come out of the game for Chicago. While many expected the Rams offense to find success, it was a poor outing by the Bears, where there were missed tackles and blown coverages that made it an easy win for Los Angeles. The good news is Chicago isn’t facing the Rams offense for the second straight week.
Meanwhile, the Bengals are coming off an impressive overtime victory over the Vikings, where quarterback Joe Burrow led an impressive passing attack with Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd and rookie Ja’Marr Chase. While Cincy’s defense can be had, they’re certainly not the poor unit from a season ago.
Can Dalton make it two wins against his former team? How will Chicago’s defense rebound following a rough opener? Can the Bears get their first win of the season?
Back in 2013, the Bears rallied from behind to defeat the Bengals in the first game of the Marc Trestman era.
Every Thursday throughout the 2021 regular season, Bears Wire will take a look back at some of the most memorable moments in Chicago Bears history that occurred on or near that given day.
September 8th, 2013: Bears defeat Bengals in first game of the Marc Trestman era
The Cincinnati Bengals are set to make their first trip back to Soldier Field to take on the Chicago Bears since the 2013 season opener. Back then, Andy Dalton (now the Bears quarterback) was considered the franchise savior with the Bengals entering his third season. Meanwhile on the Bears sideline, Jay Cutler was entering his first season with “offensive guru” Marc Trestman as head coach, looking to create an offensive powerhouse for the first time in franchise history.
Chicago wound up striking first, thanks to a Dalton interception to cornerback Charles Tillman. The Bears responded with a touchdown to new tight end Martellus Bennett for the early 7-0 lead, but the Bengals fought back. Superstar wide receiver A.J. Green torched Tillman and the Bears secondary for two unanswered touchdowns to take a 14-7 lead. Chicago did narrow the gap to 14-10 thanks to a field goal from Robbie Gould near the end of the first half, but still trailed the AFC North foe.
Cincinnati expanded their lead again, though, in the third quarter thanks to another long reception from Green, setting up running back Benjarvus Green-Ellis for a short touchdown run to make the score 21-10. Down 11 points, the Bears turned to their biggest playmakers for help.
First, running back Matt Forte punched the ball in the endzone late in the third quarter to once again trim the lead to 4 points. Then, All-Pro wide receiver Brandon Marshall bullied the Bengals defensive backs, eventually catching a 19-yard pass from Cutler to take back the lead.
After an unsuccessful rebuttal from Dalton, the Bears chewed over six minutes on their final drive to preserve the lead and hang on to start the season 1-0. Up until last year’s victory against the Detroit Lions, this was the last season opener the Bears had won.
Now with Dalton on the opposite sidelines, will he be able to find the Bears’ big playmakers for substaintal gains like he did back then? Or will we see another safe gameplan from the coaching staff. The Bears and Bengals kickoff at noon CT on FOX.
Here’s a look at the Bears’ injury report from Wednesday’s practice, where Eddie Goldman and Jason Peters were limited and Larry Borom DNP.
The Chicago Bears released their first injury report ahead of Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals, which featured both left tackles Jason Peters and rookie Larry Borom on the injury report. Peters was limited while Borom didn’t practice.
Here’s a look at the full injury report from Wednesday’s practice, which included the return of nose tackle Eddie Goldman to practice in limited fashion.
From the top rushers in the NFL facing off to Eddie Jackson’s past success, we’re previewing the Bears’ Week 2 matchup vs. Bengals.
The Chicago Bears will host the Cincinnati Bengals in their home opener, where Chicago will be looking for their first win of the season in Week 2.
The Bears and Bengals haven’t faced each other that often, playing just 11 times dating back to 1972. But this 12th matchup will go a long way in showing exactly what these two teams are made of following some surprising Week 1 outcomes.
Here are seven things to know ahead of the Bears’ Week 2 game against the Bengals:
The Bengals have a ton of talent on their roster, from Joe Burrow to Tee Higgins. But which player would you want to steal for the Bears?
The Chicago Bears will host the Cincinnati Bengals in their home opener in Week 2, where the Bears will be looking to rebound following an embarrassing 34-14 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in prime time.
While Chicago’s offense had their own issues — starting with scoring only 14 points and a lack of a downfield passing attack — they weren’t the biggest concern coming out of the Week 1 loss.
That honor belongs to the Bears defense, who were blown out by Matthew Stafford and the Rams, giving up 34 points and exposing a weakness in the secondary. While they were playing arguably a top offense in the league, it certainly raised plenty of concerns for a declining defense.
Meanwhile, the Bengals are coming off a stunning overtime victory over the Minnesota Vikings, where their offense found some success. But the offensive line did allow five sacks on Joe Burrow, which could set up a big day for Chicago’s pass rush on Sunday.
The Bears are early 2.5-point home favorites against the Bengals. And following their brutal Week 1 loss, it’s not hard to see why there’s not a lot of confidence in Chicago to turn things around against Cincinnati.
But there’s also plenty of talent on the Bengals’ roster, which starts with their loaded offense with Burrow and his weapons running back Joe Mixon and receivers Tee Higgins, Ja’Marr Chase and Tyler Boyd, and continues on defense with defensive end Trey Hendrickson and safety Jessie Bates.
So, which Bengals player would you want to steal for the Bears?
Following a so-so performance in the Bears’ Week 1 loss to the Rams, here’s where Andy Dalton’s leash stands heading into Week 2.
The Chicago Bears dropped their season opener 34-14 to the Los Angeles Rams, where quarterback Andy Dalton was far from the problem. But he also wasn’t the solution either, which could spell the beginning of the Justin Fields era much sooner than expected.
Dalton survived Week 1 with his health and starting job in tact. But there certainly appears to be an expiration date on his time as starter. It’s going to be sooner rather than later when Fields gets his chance to start in place of Dalton. We just don’t know when, exactly.
While we wait for Fields to get his starting chance, we decided to have some fun with our Andy Dalton Leash Watch, where we take a weekly look at how short — or long — Dalton’s leash is heading into a given week, until it’s inevitably pulled.
Whether it lasts for three weeks six weeks or longer remains to be seen. But we’ll be following along the entire way.
On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the shortest and 10 the longest leash, here’s where Dalton’s leash stands heading into Week 2.
The Bears will host the Bengals in their home opener, where Chicago is early 2.5-point favorites in Week 2.
The Chicago Bears will host the Cincinnati Bengals in their home opener on Sunday at Soldier Field, but it won’t be a cakewalk against a Bengals offense that was impressive in their season-opening win.
The Bears are coming off a brutal 34-14 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams, who abused Chicago’s defense for the entirety of the game. Despite only scoring 14 points, the Bears offense showed signs of encouragement, led by running back David Montgomery’s 108-yard outing and Rookie Justin Fields’ brief stint in a small package of plays.
With the season opener in the rearview mirror, Chicago is now on to Cincinnati, where the Bears have opened as 2.5-point home favorites against the Bengals, according to Tipico Sportsbook. The over/under is set at 44.5 points.
The 2.5 points doesn’t suggest much confidence in Chicago, as the home team is usually afforded 3 points. It’s not really a surprise following an embarrassing performance by the Bears’ once-vaunted defense, where they allowed 34 points. Now, they’ll be tasked with contending with Joe Burrow and his cast of weapons.
Last season, the Bears were favored in just three of 16 games against the New York Giants, Detroit Lions and Jacksonville Jaguars. Chicago were big 7.5-point underdogs in Week 1 against the Rams.
Can the Bears rebound following a brutal Week 1 loss? Or will the Bengals make it 2-0 against the NFC North? We’ll see when the Bears and Bengals kick things off Sunday at Noon CT on CBS.
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