Bears vs Browns Week 16: Bears finish their sweep of AFC North; swat down Brown hopes in 20-3 win

It was an up and down game for the Bears, but they did enough to beat an inferior team. Number details can be found here.

The offense started out failing to impress on seemingly endless offensive opportunities in the first half, but eventually those opportunities led to some exciting plays from Trubisky, Cohen, and Howard to help us Bears' fans still watching build up hope about the future of this offense. The Bears pass defense carried this team against a mistake-prone rookie quarterback who seemed to start the game playing on tilt.

Anybody remember when interior offenisve line was a strength?

Bradley Sowell and Hronis Grasu started this game alongside Whitehair playing out of position at guard. It showed on the first drive, with Browns getting penetration into the backfield quickly on both running and passing plays, leading to a TFL, a sack, and a punt.

Biscuit reminds us he's got legs

And they go all the way to the ground. He took advantage of the Browns defense on a couple man coverage plays and made some crucial gains when the Bears ground offense had been otherwise stagnant so far in the first. Kizer tried to do his best impersonation but fell short.

Bears secondary gets their paws on lots of balls

And in classic Bears form, knocked most of them to the ground. Prince Amukamara stood out from the crowd by holding on to a pass. Unfortunately it was out of bounds. It was up to Kyle Fuller to pull down a beautiful over-the-shoulder pass that sailed flawlessly into Kyle's breadbasket.

Bears not ready for Gregg Williams' blitz attack

And the Browns earned themselves a snow angel celebration out of it. Trubisky has continued to progress in his blitz recognition and response throughout the season, and had a couple nice plays against the Blitz. But some sacks came too fast and strong. Trubisky has struggled in particular with taking blind-side hits with no awareness and it happened again today. Trubisky got a literal crash course in blitz response today, and I have no doubt he'll milk it for all the experience it's worth.

Browns won the line of scrimmage

Trubisky was clearly the better quarterback today, which is the reason they won despite the Browns running game being much more consistent than the Bears. The Bears offensive line had plenty of excuses, but I was hoping to see more from Akiem Hicks and Eddie Goldman in the run game. Would you believe me if I told you the Bears are really missing Mitch Unrein?

Bellamy continues his stretch of catching balls that hit his hands

I'm still not used to it, and I still don't believe it, but I'll continue to appreciate it while it lasts. Bellamy can get open. If he can catch too, that kind of makes him a valuable receiver.

Jordan Howard makes the most of limited opportunities

The Bears have had a dissapointing running game for the last two weeks (and of course many more throughout the season). The majority of runs went for less than 3 yards and many went for loss, but as soon as Howard got within smelling distance of the end-zone, he was destined to smosh his way in for 6.

Trubisky never looks discouraged

And this might be the most encouraging thing about him. I admit I was feeling down about the Bears' first half exercise in offensive futility, but Trubisky continued to give relentless effort and started to make great things happen, starting the second half 8/8 with a rushing touchdown. Trubisky clearly has the mental toughness necessary to come back from mistakes and win difficult games. This is a different quality to measure, and you won't see it on a stat line, but it's incredibly valuable if you want to win consistently.

The Bears can notch one more in the win column. John Fox will not go down as winless when favored and won't be the losingest coach in Bears' history. The Browns on the other hand, continue their march towards a lionesque 0 and 16 season. The Bears gain some pride at the cost of draft position, and I get slightly closer to winning my sushi bet that the Bears will beat their 5.5 win projection.

Ultimately, it's better than losing. Congratulations Bears fans, and merry Victory Monday eve!