CINCINNATI — There is hope. After the Bengals thrilling week one overtime win against Minnesota last week, there is hope for this team and organization. But now the Bengals have to do what they did last week and repeat it against a similar opponent to Minnesota in the Chicago Bears.
Cincinnati Bengals @ Chicago Bears – 1 p.m. on FOX (Kevin Kugler, Mark Sanchez, Laura Okmin) Radio: ESPN1530, 102.7 WEBN (Dan Hoard, Dave Lapham)
Players to Watch
Bengals on offense – Riley Reiff and Trey Hopkins. The two Bengals offensive linemen had polar opposite performances last week against the Vikings. While Reiff did not allow a single pressure from his right tackle position, Hopkins looked rusty and slow in his first game after tearing his ACL in the 2020 season finale in January.
Reiff will be going up against one of the best pass rushers in the NFL today in Chicago’s Khalil Mack, but the 11th-year right tackle has experience facing Mack from his time with the Vikings. In five games against Mack and the Bears over the last three seasons, Reiff allowed just three sacks in 114 snaps.
Hopkins will have to keep Bears defensive tackle Akeem Hicks at bay to protect Joe Burrow. Hopkins was adamant after watching his quarterback limp off the field following a sack last week that he has to do better and eliminate that. He blamed his mess-ups in the game against Minnesota on his technique and abandoning it in the game. How he holds up against the monstrous Hicks could go a long way to determining the outcome of this game.
Bears on defense – Khalil Mack. This goes without saying. Mack has been one of the NFL’s elite pass rushers since he entered the league as the fifth overall pick in the 2014 draft. He leads the league in forced fumbles since the start of the 2015 season and is one of seven players with 70 sacks since 2014. But it’s this stat that concerns me: Mack has 21 third-quarter sacks since 2015. That means he comes out for the second half with the same high motor he starts the game with.
Bears on offense – David Montgomery. He was the main reason why the Bears had a puncher’s chance in last week’s game at the Rams. His shifty running style could create problems for a Bengals defense that struggles with misdirection and athleticism. NBC’s Cris Collinsworth pointed out multiple times in the Bears-Rams broadcast that the Rams were daring the Rams to run the football, which they did. Will the Bengals defense allow the Bears to establish their run game again today?
Bengals on defense – Germaine Pratt. Pratt was arguably the best defensive player for the Bengals last Sunday against the Vikings with eight tackles and the forced fumble/recovery that led to the Bengals dramatic overtime win. The third-year linebacker was a huge force in stopping the Vikings run game led by Dalvin Cook, and he could be relied upon again today to help slow down Chicago’s David Montgomery.
Frankie’s gameplan to victory
1. Protect. the. Franchise. – This will be the first key to every game, especially Burrow was sacked five times against the Vikings.
2. Tackling – In the Bears week one game at the Rams, quarterback Andy Dalton deployed a quick passing game as he threw most of his passes only 5-10 yards. The Bengals secondary isn’t at the Rams level, but it’s solid. If they force Andy Dalton into throwing only underneath routes, that’s fine. The linebackers just have to be ready to tackle like they were against Minnesota last week.
Where this game will be decided
In the trenches and with the Bengals linebackers. It’s becoming cliché to say the Bengals offensive line’s performance will have a lot of say in this game, but it’s so undeniably true I have to say it. And, as previously mentioned, if the Bengals linebackers, led by Germaine Pratt, are able to be on there on the catch and tackle and stop the Bears ground attack, that will put the Bengals in great position to win the game.
Game pick: Bengals 28 Bears 20
Twenty-eight points might seem like a lot for the Bengals to put up against the Bears defense, but the Bears defense has been on a decline since their impressive 2018 season. And if you watched the Bears defense last week against the Rams offense, you saw how many big plays they gave up. For an offense with Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase and Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins and Joe Mixon, I think there will be chances for big plays. Capitalize on three or four of them, and the Bengals will put themselves to win this game.
Does the Bears offense scare you as a Bengals fan? Does Andy Dalton scare you? The answers: no and no. The Bears offense is potentially predictable. They’ll run the ball, but they didn’t do anything in the passing game last week that can strike fear in a defense. Rookie quarterback Justin Fields is expected to play 15-20 snaps today, and his dual-threat abilities could pose problems for the Bengals defense. But only playing a limited number of snaps, I think the Bengals will be fine defensively considering they will primarily be going up against Andy Dalton.
Let me be Frank and Cut to the Chase 