3 Things to Watch for when the Chicago Bears Face the Cleveland Browns
By Todd Welter
The Chicago Bears are officially in the playoff hunt. They can fall right out of it with a loss to the Cleveland Browns this Sunday.
That is because the Bears are currently 13th in the NFC with a 6% chance of making the playoffs. Chicago has to vault over the Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, and New York Giants in the standings.
That means the Chicago Bears must win down the stretch and have those teams go 2-2 to get into the playoffs. It would also help if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers go 2-2 in case they fall out of the NFC South Division lead. It would not hurt to have the Minnesota Vikings go 1-3.
You can see the Bears’ playoff hopes are slim and nearing none.
That does not mean the team should not give up hope and tank for the best draft pick possible. Plus, the franchise does not need to tank as they own the rights to the Carolina Panthers’ first-round selection. That is trending towards being the No. 1 overall pick.
The team is facing its toughest test of the season since having to travel to Kansas City and have Taylor Swift watch the Chiefs slaughter the Bears around.
The Browns are 8-5 with an outside chance of winning the AFC North. They are doing with this an old Joe Flacco at quarterback and a banged-up defense.
There are three things you should pay particularly close attention to when these two franchises meet up on the banks of Lake Erie.