Week 9 Official Game Thread - CHI @ CIN, Nov 2nd, 12PM CST, CBS, CHI -1.5

[adam]

The Bears open up as 1.5 favorites on the road against the Flacco-led Bengals.

The Bengals just lost 39-38 to the lowly Jets, which followed allowing 31, 27, 37, 28, 48, and 27 since Week 2. So no team has scored less than 27 against the Bengals since the Browns in Week 1. 

So this has to be the breakout game for Williams. Anything less than 27 pts on offense and a solid passing game overall, will be a failure. 

I am losing faith in the defense that allowed 30 to Huntley, but think the defense rebounds enough for a Bears win 31-20.

 

[ASHKUM BEAR]

37 minutes ago, adam said:

The Bears open up as 1.5 favorites on the road against the Flacco-led Bengals.

The Bengals just lost 39-38 to the lowly Jets, which followed allowing 31, 27, 37, 28, 48, and 27 since Week 2. So no team has scored less than 27 against the Bengals since the Browns in Week 1. 

So this has to be the breakout game for Williams. Anything less than 27 pts on offense and a solid passing game overall, will be a failure. 

I am losing faith in the defense that allowed 30 to Huntley, but think the defense rebounds enough for a Bears win 31-20.

 

The 2023 Browns Flacco took care of the Bears.  With little pass rush and 2-3rd string DBs, Chase and Higgens could have a huge game. 

[Pixote]

I think Huntley proved just how bad our secondary is now, with the injuries taking out all of our top CBs.

Flacco cannot be dismissed.

With Chase and Higgins against our CBs, if they play as badly as they did against Baltimore, Flacco could easily give us another loss.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

1 hour ago, Pixote said:

Flacco cannot be dismissed.

This. 

FWIW, Flacco led the Browns to defeat the Packers on week three of this year.  Flacco was traded to Cincy 5 days and made the starter before he met the Packers again but wasn't able to pull of the win (losing 18-27).   I'd make the case the Cincy's offense is better than Baltimore's - position wise.

It appears the Bengals and Ravens may have swapped out on who has the worse defense. Right now Cincinnati is ranked 32nd overall, 31st against the pass and 30th against the run.  

 

[DABEARSDABOMB]

29 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

This. 

FWIW, Flacco led the Browns to defeat the Packers on week three of this year.  Flacco was traded to Cincy 5 days and made the starter before he met the Packers again but wasn't able to pull of the win (losing 18-27).   I'd make the case the Cincy's offense is better than Baltimore's - position wise.

It appears the Bengals and Ravens may have swapped out on who has the worse defense. Right now Cincinnati is ranked 32nd overall, 31st against the pass and 30th against the run.  

 

Especially with two elite wide ups going against our preseason #5-7 dbs (JJ/Gordon/Stevenson/Smith out). Hopefully Stevenson somehow is back and healthy. 

[adam]

I would hope they would make some adjustments, and not having to worry as much about the scrambling QB, so the LBs can drop back deeper into the zones should help.

 

[jason]

No real pass rush and 3rd string DBs is likely to make Flacco look like Brady. We’ve seen this movie many times over, where a journeyman is initially doubted, then torches the Bears for one of his best games of the year, and the people say, “Wow! Look at Player X! What a great day he had!” 

Whenever I expect good things from the Bears my heart is broken. So, I expect Flacco goes for 300+, puts up better numbers than Williams, and the Bears likely lose in excruciating fashion. 

In reality, Williams should have a breakout day, with 3+TDs - or passes that set up a few short running TDs - and make us all think he is still the man on which this franchise should rest its shoulders. 

[Mongo3451]

53 minutes ago, jason said:

In reality, Williams should have a breakout day, with 3+TDs - or passes that set up a few short running TDs - and make us all think he is still the man on which this franchise should rest its shoulders. 

He should and probably will, but I won't hold my breath on continued success for him unless he humbles himself to embrace the position on a professional level.

[ChileBear]

54 minutes ago, jason said:

No real pass rush and 3rd string DBs is likely to make Flacco look like Brady. We’ve seen this movie many times over, where a journeyman is initially doubted, then torches the Bears for one of his best games of the year, and the people say, “Wow! Look at Player X! What a great day he had!” 

Whenever I expect good things from the Bears my heart is broken. So, I expect Flacco goes for 300+, puts up better numbers than Williams, and the Bears likely lose in excruciating fashion. 

In reality, Williams should have a breakout day, with 3+TDs - or passes that set up a few short running TDs - and make us all think he is still the man on which this franchise should rest its shoulders. 

Alas, spoken like a true Bear fan. We all feel the pain of past f**kups. Can Ben flip the switch? I will forever be hopeful.

[adam]

Flacco is nursing an injury, they may have to go with Browning, who has looked absolutely terrible in his recent starts.

[BearFan PHX]

On 10/27/2025 at 10:21 AM, Pixote said:

I think Huntley proved just how bad our secondary is now, with the injuries taking out all of our top CBs.

Flacco cannot be dismissed.

With Chase and Higgins against our CBs, if they play as badly as they did against Baltimore, Flacco could easily give us another loss.

Totally agree, we need to step up.

[adam]

Swift, Roschon, Burden, and Robinson out for Sunday. Looks like Monangai gets the start with Homer as the only other RB on the roster?

[BearFan PHX]

2 minutes ago, adam said:

Swift, Roschon, Burden, and Robinson out for Sunday. Looks like Monangai gets the start with Homer as the only other RB on the roster?

I must be missing something - but to me Brittain Brown looked pretty good in the preseason, admittedly against second and third stringers, but I would expect them to call him up. I mean Homer is no great back.

But anyway, this is Monanagai's moment to get the majority of the carries, let's hope he does well and makes the case for himself. He's been very good with limited carries int he backup role, and they say good HBs get better with more carries in a game. So, bring it Monangai!

[adam]

2 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

I must be missing something - but to me Brittain Brown looked pretty good in the preseason, admittedly against second and third stringers, but I would expect them to call him up. I mean Homer is no great back.

But anyway, this is Monanagai's moment to get the majority of the carries, let's hope he does well and makes the case for himself. He's been very good with limited carries int he backup role, and they say good HBs get better with more carries in a game. So, bring it Monangai!

Swift's lack of carries following back to back 100 yard games now makes more sense. However, he extends his streak of never having a 3rd good game following back to back 100 yard games. 

I would assume Moore will get a few extra carries as well. I don't want Homer to touch the ball unless he has to.

[Pixote]

I just read that Hendrikson is listed as doubtful. I really didn't want to see him lined up opposite Theo. 

I was also pleased to hear Stevenson is starting. This quote from BJ published on SI.com makes me smile. 😉

Quote

Bears coach Ben Johnson not only sees something different with Tyrique Stevenson after missing last week's game with a shoulder injury, he hears it.

“I would say the first thing I notice, not just about Tyrique but about the whole secondary, is they're a little bit louder right now," Johnson said.

"Between (Jaquan) Brisker and C.J. (Gardner-Johnson) and Tyrique out there all at the same time, I hear them. “

The chirping is priceless. It means confidence and communication.

"He looks good,” Johnson said of Stevenson. “He looks like his normal self. Excited to see that group compete here this weekend."

 

[Pixote]

i was also happy to see the NFL fined Baltimore 100K for playing games with Lamar Jackson's Injury status before our game.

[BearFan PHX]

1 hour ago, Pixote said:

I just read that Hendrikson is listed as doubtful. I really didn't want to see him lined up opposite Theo. 

I was also pleased to hear Stevenson is starting. This quote from BJ published on SI.com makes me smile. 😉

 

Amen! I hope CJ terrorizes the Bengals receivers, but not enough to get any penalties

[Stinger226]

I suspect Monangai gets (20) carries, DJ (6) . Caleb (5). and Homer the rest.  I also think this is a breakout game for Loveland. Bengals have a terrible run defense so you will see us exploit that and Caleb throwing  out of play action a lot. They dont get to the QB a lot with only 11 sacks. Henderson is not playing ahd he had 4 sacks.  This will resemble the Dallas game a lot. 31-23. Bears.