Chicago Bears Podcast: Meet the Cincinnati Bengals

The Chicago Bears’ embarrassing 34-14 loss to the Los Angeles Rams doesn’t get much better with time. The defense’s blown coverages are still perplexing to understand. The offense’s complete abandonment of downfield throws still doesn’t make sense. And Justin Fields’ five snaps still leaves Bears fans clamoring for more.

However, the Bears and their fans must move on from the Week 1 loss. The good news for the Chicago Bears is that every other NFC North team lost in Week 1 and that basically evens the playing field. Moving on starts with preparing for Week 2’s opponent: the Cincinnati Bengals.

Chicago Bears meet the opponent: Cincinnati Bengals

On Sunday afternoon at Paul Brown Stadium, the Bengals defeated the Minnesota Vikings, 27-24, in the first overtime game of the 2021 NFL season.

After Vikings running back Dalvin Cook fumbled with just two minutes left in overtime, the Bengals took over on their own 39. Then, seven plays later, kicker Evan McPherson kicked the game-winning 33-yard field goal.

Second-year quarterback Joe Burrow finished the game 20-of-27 for 261 yards and two touchdowns. But it was Burrow’s last pass of the game that helped the Bengals get into range to kick the winning field goal. The former No. 1 overall pick audibled on a 4th-and-1 play and completed a pass to C.J. Uzomah for 32 yards.

To help Bears fans understand this Bengals team, Will DeWitt and I are joined by The Athletic’s Bengals beat reporter and host of Hear That Growlin’ podcast, Jay Morrison.

In the episode, Morrison discusses what the Bengals’ offensive identity could look like, how Cincinnati’s front 7 performed against the Vikings and what the keys are for the Bengals to come away with a victory at Soldier Field.

As always, the guys at The Chicago Audible, have you covered.

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