The Chicago Bears are set to travel to First Energy Stadium to take on the Cleveland Browns in the final week of the preseason. Chicago is coming into the game with a preseason record of 2-0. The Bears are hoping to continue the hot streak against Cleveland who are 1-1 in the preseason. This is set up to be a close matchup, although both teams are going to heavily limit their starters.
Cleveland Browns Attempts to Bounce Back From Close Loss
The Cleveland Browns have had a roller coaster of an offseason. Since their last regular season game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland has made a trade for Deshaun Watson, traded Baker Mayfield to the Carolina Panthers, and received a ruling from the NFL that Watson would be suspended for the first eleven games of the season. In trading for Watson, they have become one of the most scrutinized and hated franchises heading into the regular season.
With nowhere else to go but up, the Browns have focused on making the most of the beginning of the season with Jacoby Birrsett as the team’s starting quarterback. So far in the preseason, they have won in their week one matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and lost in a close game against the Philadelphia Eagles in week two.
While it has not been announced that the Browns will be resting their starters this game, it is likely they will not play much. With Cleveland still hopeful they can put together a playoff run this season, they would not want to risk their hopes being put to rest due to an injury in a meaningless preseason game. As a result of this, Josh Dobbs could be seeing a majority of the snaps at quarterback for the Browns.
Dobbs put on a show last week against Philadelphia. He finished the game throwing for 141 yards with a completion percentage of 70%. Along with this, he made some plays with his legs totaling 47 yards and a touchdown on four carries. Along with this, the Browns may take this opportunity for younger players like Jerome Ford to have the spotlight.
Chicago Bears Shooting to Light a Spark
The Chicago Bears are projected to be one of the worst teams in the NFL this season and some are even calling for them to go 0-16. Despite this, they have gotten off to a hot start in the preseason, taking down both the Kansas City Chiefs and the Seattle Seahawks. Chicago is hoping to keep this spark alive and to carry it with them into the regular season.
The Bears are a very young and inexperienced team. While there is some potential to work with on the roster, there is not a lot of it. Along with this, there is a lack of much veteran talent on the roster as well. With all of this working against the Bears, this win against the Browns and going undefeated in the preseason may end up being their “Super Bowl” for the year and there is a good chance they could pull it off.
