Defensive questions ran rampant after Week 2 and the Browns took that personally.

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The Bears have never really had a “good” quarterback.

In their only Super Bowl-winning campaign, a historic defense held opponents to just 198 total points combined, 85 less than the closest team. The Bears’ defense also lead the league in yards allowed per game (258.4) and turnovers (54), a triple crown that would not occur again until the Seahawks’ Legion of Boom in 2013.

They also had Walter Payton lead the offense with a 320-attempt, 1500-yard season.

Starting quarterback Jim McMahon had just under 2400 yards that season with an underwhelming 15 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. That’s still better than Steve Fuller, who started five games that season and threw only a single touchdown compared to five interceptions.

A Brian Urlacher-led defense also led the historic team to their only other Super Bowl appearance. You think Rex Grossman made that Bears team a contender?

Since that 2006 season, the Bears have had only one season in which a single quarterback started all 16 games (Jay Cutler, 2009). After a decade of Smokin’ Jay, Mitch Trubisky*, and Nick Foles*, Chicago has yearned for a franchise quarterback to lead them to the NFL zenith once again.

*You know the meme nicknames.

As a result, Justin Fields had the weight of a city as soon as the Bears selected him in the 2021 NFL Draft. Despite not starting in Week 1, it seemed inevitable the Ohio State product would start at some point this season. However, after Andy Dalton suffered a knee injury in Week 2, Fields got the call to start Week 3 against the Browns.

The Browns looked permeable the week prior against fellow rookie Davis Mills. Mills wasn’t the second coming of fellow Stanford grad Andrew Luck, but 8-18 with one TD and one interception wasn’t that bad on short notice.

So, Justin Fields should do decent, right? Right?

The Build-Up

After a few third and long conversions aided by the return of OBJ, the Browns went for it on fourth down in Chicago territory. In what would become a theme for the game on both sides, the Bears sacked Mayfield, and Fields took the field for his first drive as an NFL starter.

After a 16-yard run, the Browns’ defensive line woke up as they stuffed two runs and forced Fields to scramble on the drive’s one designed pass play, holding the Bears to a field goal.

As Mayfield is sacked on fourth again, it’s time to enact some revenge. Immediately, Jadeveon Clowney recorded his second sack as a Brown. A play later, the Browns actually forced a three-and-out in what has been a rare sight this year.

Fields Takes a Vacation to Spain without the “S”

From this point forward, the Bears would have nine more drives. Excluding a questionable pass interference call on safety John Johnson, the Bears would only move forward 15 total yards.


In all but two possessions, the Browns sacked Justin Fields. The tally ended at nine total sacks and six additional quarterback hits.

Formerly a Giants fan, I’ve seen some dominant defensive performances fueled by quarterback pressure, but this was a different beast entirely. This was just bullying.


Of all the information available on Pine, Justin Fields had the second worst completion percentage and passing yards for any quarterback with at least 20 pass attempts. In 1380 database games, he is one of only five players to record a completion percentage under 35. At least he isn’t Brandon Allen.

After every possession, the cameras would pan to Fields on the Bears’ sideline, and he just looked lost. He received, arguably, the worst welcome to the NFL in league history. He just wanted it to end.

The Bears Offense Takes the Same Vacation


Again, in 1380 games, the Bears are the ONLY team to have recorded less than 80 yards of total offense. They would not even eclipse 50 total yards.

In our database, it is also the only time a team has had more total penalty yards than yards allowed. While that is more of a slight on the Browns, it only reinforces that they, and only they, decided this game’s trajectory. If you remove that pass interference call mentioned earlier, the Browns would still have had more penalty yards than the Bears’ offensive yards (47 to 50).

What’s particularly fascinating to me is that all of this happened without a single turnover. The Bears’ offense was not even allowed the luxury of leaving the field early during a possession. Four more plays, every time, in which they could do almost nothing as Myles Garrett and Co. advanced towards them.

Closing Thoughts (And Three More Graphs)


I would be remiss not to shout out Kareem Hunt for guiding the offense and wearing down the Bears' surprisingly solid defense. Early in the game, neither he nor Chubb could get much going. While Chubb’s patient running style was stifled, Hunt exploded for over 150 combined yards with a 20+ yard rushing touchdown.


The Bears also racked up their sack count as well, particularly attacking blindside tackle Jedrick Wills, who is playing through an ankle injury suffered in Week 1. The 14 combined sacks are the largest total in Pine’s database.


Whether this game is a sign of things to come for this Browns defense is yet to be seen, but it is wildly promising. After recording only three sacks in the previous two games, the nine-sack game rocketed Cleveland to the second in sacks per game, only behind the Carolina Panthers. Visiting a Minnesota squad with a resurgent Kirk Cousins will be a much better test, but if Joe Woods can call half a game as strong as this one, it’s going to be madness in Cleveland.