The Bears travel to Cincinnati in hope of getting their first quality road win of the season. The Bengals and the Bears both had their winning streaks come to an end, but only one team will redeem itself from last week.
Bears on Offense
Chicago needs to set the tone early in Cincy, and by Chicago, I mean Jay Cutler. Cutler has carried the offense on his back, and for a QB with few playmakers to work with, he's clearly playing well enough for a contract extension. The Bears average only 89.8 rushing yards a game no thanks to Matt Forte, who, with just 1 touchdown on 3.4 yards a carry, has made fumbling his "forte", coughing up the ball 3 times in 5 games. The Bears need Forte to step up against a much-improved Cincy run D. If he can make the Bengals account for him, it will take pressure off Cutler and free up lanes for the Bears' passing attack. Cutler and co. need to be aggressive and go after the Bengals' secondary, who gave up nearly 400 passing yards last week and made Texan QB Matt Schaub look like Dan Marino. The Bears' receiving corps (which lacks a dominant threat) has to find ways to get open and Cutler should deliver. Cincy's top pass rusher- DE Antwan Odom- went down last week with a torn Achilles. Odom's absence may limit the Bengals' ability to rattle Cutler, who has had 7 picks in 3 away games this season.
Bengals on Offense
Despite getting manhandled at home by the Texans last week, the Bengals are looking good these days. Carson Palmer is taking charge of an offense full of weapons, starring future H.O.F.er Chad Ochocinco. Ocho is having a solid year; somehow, he's been able to incorporate his shenanigans into a routine and still be an impact player. This week, Ocho called out Chicago CB Charles Tillman on Twitter, suggesting that Tillman can't guard him. Well you know what, Ocho's probably right about that. Palmer needs to feed his bigheaded receiver the ball and look for Andre Caldwell, who has become a good 2nd option. Cedric Benson is putting up career numbers- he's 3rd in rushing with 531 yards. Cincy needs to give Benson at least 25 touches to get maximum mileage out of him. And I'd be careless not to mention the added fuel driving Benson this week- he's facing the team that released him just last year, a team he claims spread dirt about him after his release. Even though Benson maintains that Sunday's game is not about revenge, his play on the field might tell you otherwise. One group that will definitely feel Benson's wrath is Chicago's Urlacher-less LBs, who just lost Pisa Tinoisamoa for the season.
Cutler and the Bears will put up a fight despite injuries and lack of road success. But Chicago doesn't have an answer for the Bengal playmakers, who will be the difference in the game. Look for Cincy to patch up their D and Palmer and the boys to get back to playing winning football.
Prediction
Cincinnati 27
Chicago 20
I am currently a senior at Fordham University and studying Economics. I am helping to work on a new sports prediction website called http://superpredictors.com I write articles and provide analysis for the site. I live in New York City.
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