After using the bye week to evaluate what ails them, the Chicago Bears look to get back on the winning track against the winless Buffalo Bills on Sunday in Toronto.
The Bears (4-3) were one of the league’s most pleasant surprises after opening the season with three consecutive wins. That bubble has since been burst with three losses in four games and quarterback Jay Cutler getting battered and bruised.
Cutler threw six touchdowns against two interceptions and was sacked just eight times in season-opening wins over Detroit, Dallas and Green Bay.
He was sacked 19 times in his last three starts – losses to the New York Giants, Seattle and Washington – in which he threw one touchdown against five interceptions and suffered a concussion in the first half of the Giants game. The 27-year-old was picked off by Washington cornerback DeAngelo Hall four times, with one going back for a touchdown in a 17-14 loss two weeks ago.
Chicago’s lone victory in the stretch was a 23-6 win over the Carolina Panthers that Cutler sat out. Backup Todd Collins threw for just 32 yards in that game.
With the offensive line struggling to protect the quarterback, Chicago will probably try to run more with Matt Forte, even though the Bears are 29th in rushing at 87 yards per contest.
Buffalo (0-7) has been gouged for 220 rushing yards per game the last five weeks, and its 189 yards per game average and 5.0 per carry are worst in the NFL. That is a big reason Buffalo is last in scoring defense (30.1), although the Bills are hoping the signing this week of linebacker Shawne Merriman will help down the road.
Forte is averaging 3.9 yards per carry and leads NFC backs with 774 reception yards since the start of ’09.
With back-to-back three-point overtime losses to Baltimore and Kansas City, Buffalo is three straight losses away from matching its 0-10 start in 1984 and four losses shy of the worst start in franchise history in 1971.
The latest demoralizing loss came when Kansas City’s Ryan Succop booted a 35-yard field goal as time expired in overtime, stamping the 13-10 loss and keeping the Bills as the league’s only winless club. It was their fourth loss by eight or fewer points this season.
Two pleasant surprises for Buffalo have been quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and wide receiver Steve Johnson. Fitzgerald has thrown 12 touchdowns against five interceptions with a 91.1 passer rating.
Johnson has tied the franchise record with a touchdown catch in five consecutive games, including a 4-yarder from Fitzpatrick last week that tied the game with 2:17 left. Buffalo got the ball in Kansas City territory with a chance to win with one minute left, but Fitzpatrick was intercepted by Eric Berry.
Chicago has the edge in special teams. Devin Hester is averaging 16.7 yards per punt return – best in the NFL – and has returned two for scores. Kicker Robbie Gould has made 55 straight field goals inside 40 yards, the longest current streak in NFL
The Bears lead the all-time series 6-4 and won the last meeting 40-7 in 2006. Cutler has passed for over 300 yards in the two games he’s faced the Bills while he was with Denver.