Fields returns to Ohio as the Bears visit Cleveland and Joe Flacco on Sunday at noon.
Cleveland is 6-1 at home and 8-5 overall but only +17 on the season with 3 huge blowout wins and a whole bunch of 1-3 point wins. And they also got spanked by the Broncos, Rams and Ravens while splitting the season series with the mediocre Steelers. This is a good team, but nothing special. The defense is stout, leading the league in yards/game by 20 (and the Bears by 50). The bears don’t gain a whole lot of yards either, but they are basically even with Cleveland’s offense.
the difference in this game should be the Bears defense. A mediocre effort has been turned around, the additions by Poles have begun to payoff and might actually save Eberflus’s job.
They can’t finish over .500 without running the table, and a win in this game doubles up last seasons win total.
As for the question, relax, it’s a meme. Ask your kids about it. No, he’s not elite. He hasn’t even hit 2,000 yards passing yet this season. (He’s thrown for half as many as Stroud) and sits more than a thousand yards below Derek Carr, Jordan Love, Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield. He is a special talent you can win with in the short term and better than a bunch of garbage guys currently playing in the league of attrition.
Anyway, this is a winnable game if Fields wants to remain an NFL starting Qb. The bears are 3 point dogs, and probably would be 8+ if they hadn’t turned a corner following the Chargers debacle. People realize this team is dangerous and capable. But the Lions are the only truly good team they’ve beaten under Eberflus, depending on how you feel about a Trey Lance led 49ers team in a monsoon.
The Lions game is being called a “signature win”, but a victory in Cleveland might throw a whole bunch of analysis out the window.