Bengals-Bears Preview

With the healing of Joe Burrow in Lake Forest, Illinois (AP) quarterback, the Cincinnati Bengals have entered the season, believing they are in a position to improve in the disastrous 2020.

They are off to a good start. The Chicago Bears can’t say the same thing.

Barrow and Bengals try to build on the victory of the season opener, but Bears hopes to recover from the defeat when the two teams meet in Soldier Field on Sunday.

Cincinnati Safety Jesse Bates III said, “We are excited about another opportunity to get out there and prove to the world what we are doing.” “It has to be in good shape throughout the season, not just the first week.”

The Bengals defeated Minnesota 27-24 in overtime last week, making it a promising opening for the team that finished 4-11-1 in the AFC North area.

Barrow threw 261 yards and two touchdowns. The 2019 Heisman Trophy winner and the 2020 draft No. 1 completed 20 of the 27 passes, scoring a career record of passer rating (128.8) and yards per trial (9.67). Did. It’s not a bad opener for a quarterback who suffered a serious left knee injury in the 11th week of last year.

What about Bears?

The 34-14 bang by Rams in Los Angeles was not a good start. Andy Dalton did little to silence Justin Fields’ call for his debut in Chicago, and the defense was unable to contain Matthew Stafford.

Dalton was intercepted on the opening drive of the game. He threw 206 yards, but no more than 19 yards were complete against the league-leading defense in 2020.

“I didn’t get a lot of opportunities in the downfield,” Dalton said. “Looking back, I think I wanted to do a little more with that game. I think we understand that, we understand how we want to play.”

Now Dalton opposes his previous team for the second time.

The three-time professional bowler led Dallas to victory in Cincinnati last season after spending his first nine years in Bengals. They released him after drafting Barrow.

More field time?

A field that impressed me with my short debut.

The draft was 11th overall and he only played 5 times. But former Ohio State University stars made the most of them. He completed both passes in 10 yards and scored from 3 in a single run.

“He was very calm,” said recipient Allen Robinson. “But again, he was like that.”

No defense

Bears claim that their defenses remain strong. Midway monsters didn’t show it last week.

They were shredded by Stafford. Stafford threw 321 yards, three touchdowns, a rating of 156.1, and was fired only once. Safety Eddie Jackson and Tashawn Gypson made a big rant at Van Jefferson’s 67-yard touchdown reception and couldn’t put their hands on the receiver when they reached the ground near 15 after pulling on a long pass. .. Instead, Jefferson stood up and ran into the end zone. Chicago has also given up a 56-yard touchdown pass to the wide open Cool Park.

Go for it

Bengals continued to attack Minnesota three times, four downs on the field last week, converting two of them. The big one worked overtime when Barrow checked out a 4-inch quarterback sneak from Cincinnati 48, completed a 32-yard pass to tight-end CJ Yuzoma and set a field goal to win the game.

Zack Taylor said this is expected to happen even more, especially as he has full confidence in Barrow and is confident in his defense this season.

“If you want to do great things here, you have to get it,” he said.

LINEMEN DOWN

The Bears were further smashed with a left tackle after starter Jason Peters (quadriceps) and rookie backup rally Borom (ankle) were sent off in the third quarter of last week.

This is in addition to losing the second round draft topic, Teben Jenkins, before the season. He suffered a back injury requiring surgery, and Bears signed 39-year-old Peters (two allpros) in mid-August.

Bears went with Elijah Wilkinson after Peters and Borom left the opener.

Right mix

After losing most of last year to a leg injury, Bengals ran back to Joe Mixon, rushing 29 times at 127 yards and entering his fifth season with a touchdown to the Vikings.

“It was fun to see,” Taylor said. “And it’s a great weapon to have. There was a lot of well-blocked play. It’s good to regain his energy. He’s playing with confidence now.”

Execution continues

The Bears, who are back in David Montgomery, are off to a good start following last season’s strong finish.

The third year pro ran 108 yards and 16 touchdowns. Montgomery finished the season at 1,070 with 598 yards in the last six games of 2020.

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AP sports writer Mitch Stacy contributed to this report.

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Other APNFLs: https: //apnews.com/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP-NFL

Bengals-Bears Preview

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