Bears and Browns In-Game Blog

Fourth Quarter

Evans breaks off a first-down run and that's the game. Bears 21, Browns 20
A few other stray stats besides the big night by Justin Fields. ... David Montgomery nine runs for 28 yards and 13 of those came on one run. Cole Kmet three catches, 36 yards. Dante Pettis three catches 37 yards.
TWO-MINUTE WARNING!!!!
Luke Getsy decides there will be no comeback. Calls play-action deep and Isaiah Coulter catches a dying pass sitting on his rear end, then fumbles it but recovers it. First down.
Evans back out there after Tuggle fumbled and nearly cost them the game. He gets 3 and Browns take timeout with 2:26 left.
The Browns go for two and again Stroman knocks it away from Wims. Bears 21, Bears 20

From half a yard he does make it on a sneak. Looked on replay like his knee hit short of the goal line. But they give it to him.
Rosen tries to sneak. I can't think of a QB who is less likely to score on a QB sneak from a full yard. Hackson came around and grabbed his legs to stop him a half-yard short.
Wasn't close. His rear end hit the ground short of the goal line. However, it appeared he did get the first down at the 1.
Mike Harley with a 10-yard TD catch beat Stroman. Didn't appear he actually got in the end zone. But they are reviewing.
Browns at Bears 10.
Tuggle fumbles on first down inside his own 20 trying to fake out Browns trying to get an extra yard. Terrible mistake. Violation HITS principle.
Wims can't haul down the back shoulder at the goal line with Stroman in tight coverage. Gets a pass breakup on that one.
Seven Bears jerseys around the ball on third down run and it's a TFL. Browns face fourth-and-6 at the Bears 15. Sanborn leading that charge.
A rare Bears blitz and Rosen completes a short toss over the middle. Third-and-4.
Facing second-and-9 from the Bears 18,
Rosen has Browns at Bears 28 after a 6-yard scramble. The Browns are headed for that tying TD.
Wims with a big first-down catch from Josh Rosen along the sidelines over Harris at Bears 34.
Browns facing fourth-and 1 at their own 46.
Check that Stroman roster comment. He just got beat for what should have been a tying TD bomb but it was overthrown.
Harris breaks up a check down and Browns punt.

Again Sanborn glued to a receiver and it's incomplete. There are a lot of scouts who missed the boat on this kid, saying he couldn't play pass defense.

Harris misses a tackle and allows a first-down play. Another young player letting his job chances slip away at cornerback. That's going to be a tough call. It wouldn't be a shock if Greg Stroman makes it now based solely on this performance tonight even though coaches like to stress practice over preseason games.

On third-and-13 at the Bears 22 Peterman actually has Webster come free for the first down and throws it into the dirt. Bears punting and Browns with chance to tie or lead.

Peterman on at QB for Siemian completes a short flip to Kevin Shaa for the first down on third-and-3 but Bears are called for a hold on Simmons.

Dobbs scrambles for the two points after Kamara misses the sack. Bears 21, Browns 14

Shelley falls down in coverage and Dobbs gets a TD pass to TE Miller Forristall. Browns going for two.

Sanborn peels off coverage and forces Dobbs to throw hurried for incompletion at the goal line. in coverage. Jackson knocked it down.

Third Quarter

On first and goal it was an incompletion in the end zone into tight zone. Joshua Dobbs QB on this march. Quarter ends with Browns on the Bears 6.
Kamara with unnecessary roughness. Need a replay on that one because nothing was obvious. Did nothing wrong on replay.
Now it's Alexander missing the tackle. Browns have a first down completion to the Bears 22.
Snowden around the edge tips a pass. Second strong rush from his side on the right defensive end.
Jackson misses another tackle but Alexander cleans it up for him. Not a good night so far for a guy trying to make the roster.
Bears shifting linebackers around and the Browns mess around looking at it and get hit with delay of game.
Browns third-and-1 at Bears 41 and QB sneak for the first down at 39.
Interesting situation. Jon Alexander arrived and could have stopped a first down but went for the ball as they have been instructed in the HITS principle. Didn't get the ball and didn't prevent the first down. But he did go hard for the ball. What's more important, giving up that first down or going for the ball? If you take Eberflus at his word, then Alexander played it right even though he gave up the first down.
CB Lamar Jackson burned for the first down pass at the 40. He can't afford to give those up fighting for a roster spot.
Charles Snowden with heavy rush off the edge, made a QB hit and forced an incompletion and drew a hold besides. Eberflus declined it. Third-and-11 at the Browns 21.
Kamatra and Gates follow with a TFL.
DeMarcus Gates knocks down third-down pass but Gates was called for a hold.
Short pass and no one loafing on that. Everyone flowing to the ball and three players involved in the tackle. HITS principle applied.
Siemian tried to throw back shoulder to Nsimba Webster, who is too short for a back shoulder throw and after an incompletion Bears punt.
Finke drops a long throw. Easy catch. So much for the Slippery Fox.
Lachavious Simmons playing left guard. He's been a tackle since arriving in Chicago but it always seemed he might be better built for guard.
First-down toss to former Notre Dame receiver Chris Finke keeps the chains moving. Threw under the sticks and he ran to the first down at the sideline.
Check-down flip by Siemian out to Darrynton Evans and then Evans makes a cut running left and is down on the field. Looks like he's all right. They need him on the field because Trestan Ebner is still injured.
Cleveland punts to the Bears and Pettis trips in the dirt. He's much better at fielding punts than Dazz Newsome but it's hard to believe he had nine punt return TDs in college because he never generates speed and goes anywhere.
Browns first-down catch negated by a good strip from Sanborn and Duke Shelley.
Former Bear Javon Wims skipping and dancing because he made a big catch against his old team but he didn't realize they were holding on the play. I remember one long pass he didn't catch and no one was skipping and dancing then.
Rare roughness penalty is flagged on Riley Reiff. Not sure what they saw from him but it looked like a block late but barely late. Looked like Jean Delance actually committed that if there was one. Matt Eberflus marking that flag down on his HITS notebook. Bears forced to punt.
Ryan Poles says Roquan Smith suffered pregame tightness. That's why he didn't play. Tightness?

Second Quarter

Vildor breaks up a toss to the end zone but actually could have picked it off as it was underthrown. Bears 21, Browns 6 Half after a 46-yard York field goal.
Cleveland uses its last timeout and faces third-and-11 after a short completion to the 28.
Vildor and AJ Thomas both could have had a pick and Thomas a pick-6 on an overthrow incompletion.
Holding was rampant on a play and officials detect one of them. Cleveland marched back to the 37.
Stefanski has them run for the first down on third-and-4 and they burn their second timeout at the Bears 27.
Siemian coughs up the ball on a sack and Browns at the Bears 38 with 42 seconds left in the half.
All week Eberflus and Co. wanted to get Fields on the field for a two-minute drill and they have 1:25 left but they just took him and the first team offense off the field and Trevor Siemian is on with backups.
Pass coverage from Brissett shuts down a third-and-9 pass that was short of the sticks anyway. Cleveland tries 57-yard field goal and York makes this one. Bears 21, Browns 3
Browns borrow a page from the Matt Nagy Bears. They waste a timeout during the two-minute drill trying to get a play off.
AJ Thomas comes up to prevent a big running play and Browns have scond-and-9 at Bears 39
TWO-MINUTE WARNING!!!!!
Browns get a first-down completion in the middle of Bears zone, taking advantage of Sanborn but then commit illegam motion. Browns at Bears 44, first-and-15.
Browns move it briefly again but Justin Jones bats down second-down pass and it's third-and-10 at the Browns 47.
Field 14 of 16 for 156 yards, 3 TDs. A 146.9 passer rating.
Boot pass, Fields waits and waits, could have taken the first down. Instead he waits for Kmet to clear wide open on blown coverage and it's a TD. Bears 21, Browns 0
Herbert on a pitch gets 5. Fourth-and-12 play and Bears go quickly with a sneak and it works better than any sneak they've run in 5 years. First down.
Kmet fights for 4 on second down. Gets all 4 with three players draped on him.
Fields two nice throws from the poceket to Isaiah Coulter and Nsimba Webster gets the ball to Cleveland's 49. Then a screen to Khalil Herbrert catches Cleveland blitzing and the Bears are in scoring range. Herbert needed a nice play in the passing game because he had struggled there.
Stroman with the interception of Brissett at the Bears 39. His receiver fell and Stroman came around behind where he had been standing. Stroman looked like a sure cut victim as he hadn't done anything all camp and had some injuries. But he's making a stand.
Kamara now in at defensive end with the first team .
Elijah Hicks getting plenty of time on the field and now also Jack Sanborn with the first team. Brissett with a couple of completions put the Browns across the 50.
Trenton Gill took forever to get the punt off and Anthony Bell should have blocked it.
On third-and-6 from Bears 40, Browns blitz and a slow-developing screen to Montgomery comes up a yard short. That could have sprung if Fields could have gotten the ball to Montgomery quicker. But the rush was in the way beofre that throw.
Montgomery still in and finding little running room, but it's keeping Browns occupied.
Fields scrambles from trouble and finds Pettis at the 36 for the first down on third-and-8. It would have been a first down anyway as Cleveland was flagged for illegal contact.
Bears start at 22 after the punt. Fields with his first really bad decision. Overthrew into coverage incomplete. Ends streak of seven straight completions.
Kyler Gordon with his best play and breaks up a pass with a dive. Browns interfered on the play, too. Browns to punt. Cleveland now 0-for-5 on third down. The Bears third down defense has been dominant in preseason, whether it's first team, second team or third team. In last two games teams are 4-of-24 on third down conversions against them.
Browns finally start working the ground game and get to second-and-1 but Kindle Vildor stuffs a screen pass for a loss and Browns are in trouble again at third-and-4 at their 30.
Bears have second down and 10 at the Browns 12. Pettis works near the sideline wide open and Fields hits him in stride for the TD. Completely beat Greedy Williams. Greedy not so greedy there. Pretty generous in coverage. Bears 14, Browns 0

First Quarter

EQ with a completion of 18 yards as quarter ends. Fields had forever to throw.
First team offense still in. I was wrong. Montgomery burrows forward for 5 but Bears get an extra 5 for defensive holding.
Morrow with tight coverage breaks up third-down throw. Browns bring in Cade York and he misses a 58-yard field goal wide left with 37 seconds left in the half. Bears in great field position at their 48.
Harris prevents a first down by stacking up the blocker on second down and it's third-and-1 at the Bears 40.
Browns with a couple of short passes are working under the Bears zone and are at the Bears 44.
They are using first-team defenders but the mix is at cornerback. Eberflus is looking to see who are the players that are stepping up to take those last two cornerback spots. One should be Tavon Young but he hasn't been practicing.
Now a group of third-team DBs are in. So much for playing the starters through the half. I would be willing to bet Fields is done for the day. Davontae Harris with a nice tackle to stop the first down on a catch but it allowed the Browns only a yard for the first down and they went for it from their own 30 and got it with a completion.
Trevon Coley again. Gets in and trips up Brissett on first down but the Browns were holding anyway and are glagged. Brissett got the throw off as he threw to the ground and it was incomplete anyway.
It's amazing what some good run blocking did for the Bears. The 5-yard run by Montgomery started the drive and they had more good blocking on the play when Griffin held and Montgomery broke away. But the runs were occupying the defense's attention and they did plenty off play action or RPO on the drive.
Bears have first and 5 after penalty. Griffin makes up for his penalty with a touchdown catch of 22 yards. Right from the pocket. A play Luke Getsy wants to see with Griffin between the safety and corner. First TD by the first-team offense this preseason. 6:08 left in quarter. Bears 7, Browns 0.
Cornerback Grant Delpit injured on the play for the Browns and the trainers are tending to him.
Boot pass opens up wide for Kmet and he stops and fights off three players for a first down. He could have made it easy on himself by just going down low for the sticks right away.
Fields on the kind of pass the Bears want to see. A pass on time out of the pocket to the 36 to Pettis.
Montgomery knifes for 24 cutting across the field but officials flag the Bears for holding by tight end Ryan Griffin. He's supposed to be a good blocker and he had a jersey.
Cheap shot by Browns Jacob Phillips on a slide by Fields while scrambling and the officials flag this. About time. That was the kind of hit that should have been an ejection.
Mooney ran around a block by EQ for 5 on a short pass. It was the kind of play that should go for more.
Bootleg pass to fullback Khari Blasingame goes for the first down and 3 more. Blasingame with nice hands on that.
Montgomery cuts back a toss and gets 6. That's what I'm talking about.
It would be good to see some good running plays by the Bears just to know the first team line can do this.
Backups out there on defense now in the secondary. Greg Stroman and DHC. Overthrow on third down and overkick on fourth. Its a touchback and Bears have it at the 20.
Browns from their 32. A hole was there but closed fast as strong side linebacker Matthew Adams got there. Giain of 4, and then a screen for 3 yards that Mike Pennel stopped. Pennel being in with starters is a good chance for him. He had been down with third team all week.
Fields thrown down as he throws, incomplete. Looks like he's all right but was kind of grabbing at his side as he came off. It may have been just his jersey pulled out because he's fine on the sidelines.
David Montgomery is one starter who did get to play but he lost a yard on first down and the Browns blew up his blocking on second down for another yard loss. Not a good effort so far by Bears O-line.
Dante Pettis with a beautiful 16-yard punt return. Former college return man who had nine TD returns on punts, an NCAA record.
Bears get no pass rush on third-and-12 and the completion is short of the sticks so Bears get the ball anyway.
Jacoby Brissett the QB for now in Cleveland and his first pass is dropped. Dane Cruikshank on for the Bears on second down in coverage but Justin Jones wipes out a run on a TFL. First big play we've seen from him in a game.
Bears kick off is not returned and Browns take over at the 25.
Michael Woods II, Daylen Baldwin, Ronnie Harrison Jr., A.J. Green and Chase Winovich among Browns not playing besides Clowney and Garrett.

#Bears WR Darnell Mooney revealing that he was injured all year last year with a groin injury. said he didn’t feel 100 until after OTA’s this year. @WBBMNewsradio
— Mark Grote (@markgrotesports) August 27, 2022

Jalen Hurts is not playing tonight but he is taking lots of time to sign autographs for all the Eagles fans here. Lotta Birds fans here at Hard Rock Stadium pic.twitter.com/kFwGV83xfo
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) August 27, 2022

Ready, set, go 💨 pic.twitter.com/teodabsowg
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) August 27, 2022

Per Tom Thayer the Bears never changed their snap count vs the Browns. That alone was a fireable offense.

I don’t expect Getsy to do the same. pic.twitter.com/s0zPEiFCwo
— illwill (@79illwill) August 27, 2022

Building a nice-looking stadium on the city’s lakefront. What a concept. https://t.co/PSFyhhvzZu
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) August 27, 2022

#Bears GM Ryan Poles on Roquan Smith.

“We are going to pause right now on negotiations, and let him play, and go from there.” @WBBMNewsradio
— Mark Grote (@markgrotesports) August 27, 2022