Bears-Bengals Preview

 

VIDEO PLAYLIST

• Countdown Daily Recap: Bears-Bengals

SCOUTING REPORT

Bears-Bengals: 10 observations After breaking down film of both teams, Scouts Inc. offers 10 things to watch in this week's Bears-Bengals matchup. 1. Chicago needs to take care of the ball: The Bears have missed many opportunities because of turnovers in 2009. They have been poor at taking care of the ball -- especially in the red zone -- and will need to emphasize that part of the game going forward to be successful.

· Full Scouting Report

Matchup
	W-L	PF	PA	HOME	ROAD	DIV	CONF
CHI	4-6	206	225	3-2	1-4	1-1	2-5
CIN	7-3	215	167	3-2	4-1	5-0	5-3
· Complete Standings

Individual Leaders

Chicago Passing   CMP% YDS TD INT Cutler 61.7 2524 15 18 Hanie 50.0 3 0 0

Cincinnati Passing   CMP% YDS TD INT Palmer 61.5 2217 14 8

Chicago Rushing   CAR YDS AVG TD Forte 157 516 3.3 3 Cutler 26 122 4.7 1

Cincinnati Rushing   CAR YDS AVG TD Benson 205 859 4.2 6 Scott 50 214 4.3 0

Chicago Receiving   REC YDS AVG TD Hester 52 614 11.8 3 Bennet... 40 511 12.8 0

Cincinnati Receiving   REC YDS AVG TD Ochoci... 50 735 14.7 5 Coles 29 355 12.2 3

Full Player Stats: Chicago | Cincinnati

TEAM AVERAGES & NFL RANKS
TEAM OFFENSE	TEAM	PER GAME AVERAGE
Total Yards	CHI	329.0
	CIN	336.0
Yards Passing	CHI	240.0
	CIN	207.8
Yards Rushing	CHI	89.3
	CIN	127.8
TEAM DEFENSE	TEAM	PER GAME AVERAGE
Yards Allowed	CHI	320.1
	CIN	310.5
Pass Yds Allowed	CHI	197.8
	CIN	226.2
Rush Yds Allowed	CHI	122.3
	CIN	84.3

HEAD TO HEAD MATCHUPS (SINCE 2001)
Cincinnati leads 2-1
Sep 25, 2005	CHI 7, @CIN 24
Oct 21, 2001	CHI 24, CIN 0

When the Chicago Bears selected Cedric Benson with their first-round pick four years ago, they envisioned he could join Walter Payton and Gale Sayers as one of the best running backs in franchise history.

They didn't anticipate him blossoming into one of the league's elite backs for another team.

Benson, who claims he's not out for revenge, faces his former team for the first time Sunday when the Cincinnati Bengals host the Bears at Paul Brown Stadium.

Chicago (3-2) selected Benson with the fourth overall pick in 2005, but the standout from Texas never amounted to much with the Bears.

After holding out, missing training camp and becoming the last first-round pick to sign, Benson wasn't particularly popular with his teammates and believed that the defensive players were hitting him excessively hard in practice.

He shared time in the backfield with Thomas Jones his first two seasons in Chicago, and as a starter in 2007, he rushed for 674 yards and four touchdowns in 11 games before a season-ending ankle injury.

Benson had two alcohol-related arrests following the 2007 season, and the Bears eventually released him last June. He then felt Chicago tried to prevent him from joining another team before he signed with the Bengals last September.

Now, in his first full season with Cincinnati, Benson is flourishing.

Benson is third in the league with 531 rushing yards and has helped the Bengals (4-2) to a first-place tie with Pittsburgh in the AFC North. He is paired with quarterback Carson Palmer and wide receiver Chad Ochocinco, giving Cincinnati a well-balanced offense featuring three playmakers.

"Dreams are coming true," said Benson, who has totaled four touchdowns and averaged 4.2 yards per carry. "It's a wonderful feeling and I will promise you that I will take full advantage of it all the time."

Benson struggled through his worst performance of the season last Sunday, rushing for 44 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries in a 28-17 loss to Houston. The defeat snapped the Bengals' four-game winning streak.

It could for tough for Benson to get back on track against his former team.

The Bears are sixth in the NFL against the run, allowing an average of 88.4 yards per game. They held Atlanta running back Michael Turner to 30 yards on 13 carries last Sunday night, though Chicago still fell 21-14.

Benson's former teammates won't make it easy on him, either.

"I know he's had this date circled for a long time," Bears linebacker Lance Briggs said. "He was a little worried we were cheap-shotting him. Now he can get revenge on everyone who he thought cheap-shotted him in our training camp."

Benson insists revenge isn't on his mind.

"It has some significance for me personally just because I was there, the kind of history I had and the way things went down," he said. "Besides that, it's as important as any game. ... I'm definitely not looking for revenge."

While Chicago's defense limited the high-powered Falcons to a season-low 253 yards last week, the offense fell apart in key situations, scoring once in four possessions inside the Atlanta 20.

The Bears had a chance to tie the score late, but Jay Cutler's pass bounced off tight end Desmond Clark's arms on a fourth-and-six from the 11-yard line with 29 seconds left.

"We had a lot of opportunities to win this football game," coach Lovie Smith said. "You can't make those kind of mistakes. When you get the ball in the red zone, you need to get points."

Cutler was responsible for one of those missed chances, throwing an interception at the Atlanta 9 in the first quarter. He threw another pick in the second quarter, and has been hit-or-miss through his first five games with Chicago.

Cutler, who agreed to a two-year contract extension that runs through the 2013 season Tuesday, has completed 71.0 percent of his passes for 624 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception in the three wins, while completing 55.7 percent of his passes for 577 yards, three TDs and six picks in the two losses.

He'll try to bounce back against a Cincinnati defense coming off a disappointing performance.

After allowing a season-low 257 yards in a 17-14 win at Baltimore in Week 5, the Bengals yielded season highs in points and yards (472) last Sunday. Texans quarterback Matt Schaub picked apart the Cincinnati secondary for 392 yards and four touchdowns.

Hoping to do the same, Cutler should have more time in the pocket following a season-ending injury to Bengals defensive end Antwan Odom (torn Achilles' tendon). Odom was Cincinnati's top pass rusher, tied for the league lead with eight sacks -- half the team total.

Cutler last faced the Bengals as a rookie in 2006 while playing for Denver. He was 12 for 23 for 179 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

This will be the first meeting between Chicago and Cincinnati since Palmer threw for three touchdowns in a 24-7 win at Soldier Field on Sept. 25, 2005.

FBO: Week 11 Quick Reads

Football Outsiders apply their metrics to Week 11. Findings: Even when Wes Welker doesn't find the end zone, he's historic; Mark Sanchez isn't ready; DeAngelo Williams needs the rock more; and T.J. Houshmandzadeh may have saved Minny's season.

Isaacson: Bears' defense comes up short

The Bears' defense came up short when the team needed it most.

Greenberg: Bears don't deserve national stage

If they hadn't already made it clear, the Bears don't deserve national stage.

Waddle: Bears-Eagles report card

ESPNChicago.com's Tom Waddle hands out his grades for Bears-Eagles.

Former coach sings praises of new Bears LB

Former St. Louis Rams defensive coordinator and Northwestern head coach Rick Venturi never questioned Pisa Tinoisamoa's toughness, but Venturi may have doubted the linebacker's sanity at one point.

Bear facts

LAKE FOREST, Ill. Bears coach Lovie Smith answers email questions from fans: I was so happy to see you thinking out of the box and taking over play-calling duties on defense.

Tinoisamoa signs deal; Bears look at punters

The latest addition in Jerry Angelo's busy offseason arrived Monday at Halas Hall.

Call it signings of the times

In a frenetic day of wheeling and dealing at Halas Hall, the Bears signed a likely starter for their defense, locked up a versatile lineman for two seasons and secured almost all of their draft picks.

Bears hoping Cutler can help get running game in gear

Fact or fiction? Jay Cutler had no running game last season in Denver. Reading through comments left here over the last few days, it looks like the widely held opinion is that the Broncos were running in the slow lane in 2008, you know, when Cutler wasn't chucking it.

Chad Ochocinco: I will be at Bengals minicamp

Besides warmer weather, what is another sure sign that Bengals minicamp is drawing closer? Talk about a wide receiver not at the team?s OTAs starts to dominate the conversation.

Palmer: We still need Chad

Carson Palmer has always been about loyalty, which is why during the past two weeks he has talked about the progress of the receivers who are participating in the Bengals offseason program.

Bengals' Hall pleads guilty to reduced charge in DUI case

Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Leon Hall pleaded guilty to a reduced charge in his drunken-driving case Monday, allowing him to avoid jail time.

Odom: I know I have to play better

You would expect when someone adds 28 pounds, that it would slow a player. Not in the case of Antwan Odom.

Bengals counting heavily on Henry

This time last year, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry was entering a dark period of his NFL career.