Bears Finish 3-0 in Preseason

Justin Fields enjoyed his second trip to play the Cleveland Browns a little more than his first one.

Playing the entire first half Saturday against a Cleveland defense that included several starters, Fields went 14 of 16 for 156 yards and three touchdown passes in a 21-20 Bears victory that allowed them to finish preseason unbeaten for the first time since 1994.

"I just think he's getting better," Bears coach Matt Eberflus said. "Like I said the other day, he's a young player and he needs experience. And I think this was game-like experience that he needed to have and he took a big step forward for him and our football team and just in getting comfortable, just operating the offense and doing his thing."

Fields had been sacked nine times in his first performance against the Browns, his first career start in 2021, which ended in a 26-6 loss.

"I was of course thinking about that," Fields said. "Glad 95 wasn't playing today."

That's Myles Garrett and he was one of several key Browns starters who sat. He had 4 1/2 of those nine sacks of Fields. The Bears also had key players sit, including Robert Quinn, Eddie Jackson, Jaylon Johnson and Roquan Smith. Matt Eberflus said after the game Smith had "tightness" before the game so his debut as weakside linebacker has been delayed until the opener.

Fields hit tight end Ryan Griffin for a 22-yard TD pass with 6:13 left in the first quarter. Then, 1:11 into the second quarter he threw 12 yards to Dante Pettis for a TD.

Finally, he waited out on a bootleg pass until Cole Kmet cleared coverage and found his tight end for a 24-yard strike. The Bears led 21-0 with 3:35 left before halftime then, and the subs nearly squandered that lead in the second half.

The effort did not surprise Fields.

"I kind of had a feeling beforehand," Fields said. "Sometimes you're just feeling good going into the game and stuff like that, just feeling confident. Hopefully we can go into every game feeling like that."

Despite the big lead, the Bears needed cornerback Greg Stroman to break up a two-point conversion pass intended for former Bears receiver Javon Wims at the back of the end zone late in the fourth quarter to win it.

Now Chicago (3-0) can turn to preparing for the 49ers and the regular-season opener with a positive feeling.

"I think we're continually getting better each and every day and just kind of building off the previous day," Fields said

The Browns (1-2) had field goals of 57 and 46 yards by Chris York and ultimately had the chance to tie it because Josh Dobbs threw a 6-yard TD pass to tight end Miller Forristall, and Josh Rosen snuck in for a 1-yard TD in the fourth quarter.

The Bears defense continued to stand out on third downs, holding the Browns to 33% (6 of 18) after they allowed 4 of 14 in the game with Seattle.

A pair of lost fumbles, one by backup QB Trevor Siemian and the other by running back De'Montre Tuggle didn't please Eberflus as they pressured the defense. However, they forced a field goal after Siemian's and escaped on Stroman's end zone play to win after the Tuggle fumble.

Siemian's set up a field goal but Tuggle's gave the ball to the Browns at the Bears 10 and set up the possible winning two-point try that Stroman broke up.

The Bears had turned Stroman's interception at their 38 in the second quarter into Fields' third TD pass.

"We got the takeaway and we went and scored—that's complementary football," Eberflus said. "And then we ended up giving the ball away and we ended up stopping them and holding them to three points. So that was a good swing of four points there for us. And that was probably what helped us win the ballgame."

Again the Bears won the penalty flag battle although they had two silly unsportsmanlike penalties. They had five penalties for 48 yards and Cleveland 10 for 75.

David Montgomery saw his first action of preseason and gained 28 yards on nine carries.

The tightness Smith felt might be a concern, and Johnson had similar problems that started last week. Jackson has an injury which is day to day.

The Bears now move on to final roster cuts by Tuesday's deadline but teams could start making them as soon as Sunday.

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