Chicago Bears vs. Cleveland Browns: Live Score, Highlights and Analysis
BY ON DECEMBER 15, 2013
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The Chicago Bears defeated the Cleveland Browns 38-31 on the back of two Jay Cutler touchdown passes in the fourth quarter. He finished the game 22-of-31 for 265 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.
After a very shaky start, Cutler recovered and made his head coach Marc Trestman look like a genius for starting him this week.
More importantly, the Bears improve to 8-6 and are still alive in their push to win the NFC North.
The Browns, on the other hand, fall to 4-10 on the season and will have so many regrets when the year is over. The last three weeks the Browns have let fourth-quarter leads slip away. Their defense, which has been good at times, was exposed as a weak unit down the stretch.
The Bears will travel to Philadelphia next week while the Browns will head to New York to take on the Jets.
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Finally Jason Campbell is able to get the ball to Josh Gordon on a 43-yard strike for a touchdown. There is still 1:02 left in the game and the Browns trail by seven, 38-31.
This is eerily similar to last week except the Browns were in the opposite position. They will now have to get the onside kick as they have no timeouts remaining.
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The collapse is complete. Michael Bush runs 40 yards for a touchdown against a tired and beaten Cleveland defense. The Bears now lead 37-24.
They scored touchdowns on their last three drives and have a commanding lead over the Browns. The Bears have ran for 180 yards today.
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Jay Cutler has found his groove. He threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Earl Bennett and the Bears now hold a 31-24 lead over the Browns with 5:41 to play.
The Browns defense, although ranked near the top of the league, has had epic collapses in the last two weeks and is on the verge of another. If it chokes away a fourth-quarter lead for the third week in a row then there will be a lot of justifiable questions about how good they actually are.
The Bears defense, on the other hand, has done a masterful job of keeping Josh Gordon and Jordan Cameron irrelevant in today's game. They have just three catches for 30 yards combined.
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Jay Cutler exposed the youth of the Browns' replacements in the secondary by throwing up a jump ball into double coverage. Julian Posey and Tashaun Gipson both misplayed the ball and Alshon Jeffrey was able to catch the pass and fall into the end zone.
The game is now tied, 24-24. The Bears defense has held the Browns on their last two drives.
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With Joe Haden out (hip), Jay Cutler is attacking the Browns secondary. He has been successful on this drive. Not because he has completed passes but because the Browns have been penalized twice.
They are now in Browns territory down just seven points, 24-17. He should start heaving passes up to Marshall every play.
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The Cleveland defense strikes again. Billy Winn strips Martellus Bennett and T.J. Ward scoops up the ball and returns it for a touchdown. The Browns now lead 24-17 with 3:40 to play in the third quarter.
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Joe Haden is injured on a Bears run that was called back for an illegal shift. He is now being examined on the bench after laying on the grass for an extended period of time.
He is replaced by rookie Leon McFadden and one would think Cutler will target the youngster.
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The Browns finally show some commitment to running the football and it is successful. Jason Campbell had a run of 17 yards, tight end MarQueis Gray threw in some Wildcat flavor and Edwin Baker capped it off with a two-yard touchdown run.
It was a big answer to the Bears pick-six and the Browns now have the game tied 17-17.
Jay Cutler will take the field for the first time in the second half. Let's see if the momentum of their final drive in the second quarter will carry over.
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Not a good start to the second half for the Browns. Zack Bowman gets his second interception of the day and this time he returns it for a touchdown to make it 17-10 Bears.
The Bears now have a seven-point lead and the Browns offense has shown no signs of life. This is the problem hey have had with Jason Campbell. When he is good, he is very good. When he is bad, the offense can't move the football.
The Browns have just 152 yards of total offense on the afternoon.
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Jay Cutler orchestrated a beautiful two-minute drill and got the Bears in the end zone right before half. Cutler connected with Brandon Marshall twice, the second time for a touchdown and the Bears tie the game 10-10 with 24 seconds to play in the half.
Joe Haden is an elite level cornerback but even he cannot handle the size and strength of Marshall on jump balls or in a tight space in the end zone.
That was a huge confidence builder for Cutler.
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The Bears completely unraveled after a huge Devin Hester kickoff return. They were facing a 4th-and-1 and Marc Trestman decided to go for it. The Bears then had a false start penalty which forced them to try a 46-yard field goal.
They made the field goal but had a holding penalty which moved them back 10 more yards. Finally they just punted the ball away.
The Browns can put some distance between themselves and the Bears if they can score on this drive. This is very similar to last week when the Browns built a big lead at New England only to see it evaporate over the final 2:30.
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Another high throw by Jay Cutler and another interception by Tashaun Gipson for the Browns. This time he returns it for a touchdown and gives the Browns a 10-3 lead.
If Cutler struggles and the Browns get any kind of decent lead, Marc Trestman may have to consider going back to Josh McCown. They need this victory and Cutler could be hurting more than helping.
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The Browns opt to pass on 3rd-and-1 against a team that allows about 150 rushing yards per game and end up throwing an incomplete pass. That is a big stop for the Bears.
I understand the Browns' necessity to show faith in their quarterback, but they should be able to pick up one yard on the ground against the Bears. It seems that Browns offensive coordinator Norv Turner may have overthought that decision.
Cutler, on the other hand, looked entirely out of sync on his last drive. Let's see how he bounces back.
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This time it was the Bears turn to stall out in the red zone. After carving up the Browns secondary, the play-calling got conservative and they settled for a 23-yard field goal. It is now 3-3.
You have to think Cutler's interception on the drive before played into the the fact that they did not attack the end zone more aggressively.
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Davone Bess has been a huge disappointment. His ninth drop of the year (he is second in the NFL in that category) stalls a very good drive and the Browns have to settle for a field goal.
Billy Cundiff hits the 35-yard attempt and the Browns now lead 3-0 with 7:30 to play in the first quarter.
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I thought Cutler might have a few turnovers today as he settles back in. The Browns secondary is very opportunistic.
He did not even need to force in that football. He had all the time in the world.
After a stretch where Cutler threw no interceptions in three out of four games, he has now thrown three in his last three games. He has nine interceptions on the year.
It will be interesting to see how quickly Jay Cutler can get in the groove. I'm sure they will lean on Matt Forte heavily but the Browns are very stout against the run.
Sooner or later Cutler is going to have to toss it around the yard.