Sometimes, too much confidence is a bad thing. And there's a lot of it in the Chicago Bears in Week 15.
Sure, the Bears are 9-4 and, as of a week ago, were the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. Their loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 14 dropped them to the 7th seed, but the point remains. Meanwhile, the Browns are 3-10 and fresh off a loss to arguably the worst team in the NFL, the Tennessee Titans .
But after throwing for 364 yards and three touchdowns last week, Browns QB Shedeur Sanders has sparked at least a flicker of fear that he could pull off the unthinkable and upend the Bears in a classic trap game the week before Chicago's rematch against the Green Bay Packers. Indeed, that is probably unfounded. The Bears have been significantly better than the Browns on offense in just about every major statistical category.Chicago ranks 8th in points per game . The Browns are 29th . The Bears' average of 217 passing yards per game ranks 14th, while the Browns' 174 yards per game ranks 29th. There's no contest in the running game, either. Chicago ranks second with 153 rushing yards per game. Cleveland is 27th . Defense is a slightly different story, however. The Browns rank 17th in points allowed per game , while the Bears are 25th . Cleveland boasts the top pass defense in the NFL, averaging just 165.2 yards per game. The Bears are 21st . And, yes, the Browns' run defense is better. It ranks 13th in the NFL ; the Bears are 27th . Week 15 will come down to the Bears' offense carrying the load -- literally. Expect a heavy dose of D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai in a ground-and-pound attack that should ultimately make those 97% percent of experts look smart.Bryan Perez founded and operated Bears Talk, a Chicago sports blog. Prior to that, he covered the Bears for USA Today’s Bears Wire and NBC Sports Chicago. In addition to his Chicago Bears coverage, Perez is a respected member of NFL Draft media and was a past winner of The Huddle's Mock Draft competition. Bryan's past life includes time as a Northeast scout for the CFL's Ottawa Redblacks.Shedeur Sanders Made Intriguing Comments on Future After Being Named Browns Starter
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