The matchups in this game certainly don’t favor the Cleveland Browns but the Bears showed some cracks in the defense last week.  But the Browns are only averaging 225.4 yards per game on offense and 10.3 points per game so they likely don’t have the weapons to exploit the weaknesses that the Bears do have.  I have a feeling that the Browns are going to unleash the Wildcat Formation a lot this week against the Bears.  Josh Cribbs will be working from the shotgun ala Walter Payton when all three of the QBs of the Bears were hurt.  Just like Payton, look for Cribbs to take off running the ball a lot in this game as he and Jamal Lewis will likely be the focal point of the offense against a Bears’ D that is allowing 109.5 yards rushing per game and 4.0 yards per carry. 

The Chicago Bears would likely be smart to come out throwing the ball against the Browns to attempt to get the Browns out of their gameplan on offense.  If the Bears get a early led through the passing game then they can grind this game out on the ground with Matt Forte.  The Browns are allowing 170.6 yards rushing per game and 4.9 yards per carry so Forte should have by far his best game of the year just like Ryan Grant of the Packers did last week.  The Bears will also likely kick the ball away from Josh Cribbs who is the best player on the Browns.

PREDICTION:  BEARS 30, BROWNS 13

Teams have been foolish so far this season as they have challenged Josh Cribbs a lot and they have paid for it.  Cribbs has returned 25 kickoffs for 723 yards (28.9 avg) with a TD return this season and he has also returned 18 punts for 295 yards (16.4 avg) with a TD.  The Browns have only scored 72 points this season and 14 of them were scored by Cribbs so maybe opposing teams should be more careful with him back to return kicks and punts.  Not to mention that Cribbs has set up a lot of short fields for the offense to work on.  Kicker Billy Cundiff has done a excellent job in filling in for Phil Dawson who has been injured.  Cundiff has made all six of his field goal attempts and he has converted all four extra points this year for 22 points.  But, punter Dave Zastudil is probably the 2nd best player on the Browns (behind Cribbs) and that really says something about the quality of the roster.  He has punted the ball 43 times for 1,916 yards (44.6 avg) this season.  Zastudil has 5 touchbacks this season (11.6%) and he has pinned the opposition inside their 20-yard line 25 times this season for an alarming 58.1%!  Zastudil and Cribbs should be representing the Browns in the Pro Bowl this season if they stay healthy and continue to play at their current level.

32-year old inside linebacker Eric Barton was one of Eric Mangini’s guys from the Jets that he brought over.  He has played in all 7 games for the Browns this season and he has 56 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and he has defensed 2 passes.  Barton will probably lead the Browns in tackles this season as long as he stays healthy with D’Qwell Jackson out for the season.  Barton is one of only a couple of sure tacklers for the Browns but the D-Line doesn’t keep him too clean causing him problems.

The Browns scored first in this game and that seemed to piss off the Packers who destroyed them the rest of the way.  Derek Anderson was terrible again completing 12 of 29 passes for 99 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 INT.  The Packers ganged up on Jamal Lewis in this game as he rushed for 47 yards on 15 carries (3.1 ypc).  Jerome Harrison didn’t get much action in this game as he carried the ball 3 times for 7 yards (2.3 ypc).  He also caught 4 passes for 23 yards (5.8 avg) in this game.  TE Michael Gaines added 2 catches for 30 yards in his first game with the Cleveland Browns.  The Browns finished up with only 139 total yards on offense (58 rushing, 81 passing) in this game as they only had possession of the football for 24:06!

DE Robaire Smith probably had his best game ever for the Browns with 12 tackles including 1 tackle for a loss.  LB David Bowens pitched in with 8 tackles for the Browns yesterday.  The Packers finished up with 460 total yards on offense (202 rushing, 258 passing) in this game.  The Browns are now 1-6 on the season after this pathetic performance.

23-year old Clay Matthews wanted the Browns to draft him in the first round last April so that he could wear his dad’s old number that he wore 16 years for the them.  But, the Browns passed on him twice in the NFL Draft so he will be determined on Sunday to prove that the Browns made a big mistake.  Matthews has played in 5 games for the Packers this season and he has 12 tackles, 3 sacks, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble and he has defensed 3 passes.  He has also scored a TD on defense this season.  No doubt he would have looked good wearing the orange and brown with the #57 on his back.

Clay Matthews #1 played 16 years for the Cleveland Browns at outside linebacker.  He played in 232 games (216 starts) in which he amassed 1,430 tackles, 62 sacks, 14 interceptions (1 TD return), 24 forced fumbles and he has recovered 14 fumbles (one he returned for a TD).  I hope that Clay Matthews Sr. gets introduced at the game on Sunday and it would be classy of the Browns’ fans to give one of their old heroes a standing ovation.