Cleveland Browns: Week 16 predictions against the Chicago Bears

Changes are ongoing within the Cleveland Browns’ organization. Does that mean a win?

The Cleveland Browns travel on the road for a 1 PM contest with the Chicago Bears on Sunday. Cleveland is two games away from (im)perfection, sitting at 0-14. Chicago has not fared much better: they are 4-10 on the year.

Last week, the Browns suffered a 27-10 home loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Outside of a brief 7-3 second-quarter lead, the game was not close. The day before, the Bears fell on the road to the Detroit Lions 20-10.

Without further ado, here are this week’s predictions.

1. Quarterback DeShone Kizer is benched after multiple turnovers.

Last week was a major struggle for Kizer. He turned the ball over three times and threw for less than 150 yards. Even worse, his performance caused head coach Hue Jackson to call him out after the game. Jackson told reporters via Ohio.com the following: “That’s a fair question, if he will ever get it.”

Kizer will still start on Sunday, but that does not mean he will survive a possible benching. The Bears are a top-10 pass defense in the NFL, allowing just 216 yards per game. Chicago also has the sixth-most sacks in the league with 39 through 14 games. All of those stats are via NFL.com.

What are the two things Kizer has struggled most with this year? Yes, that’s right: interceptions and sacks.

According to pro-football-reference.com, the rookie from Notre Dame has 19 interceptions and nine fumbles this year. The Browns also have allowed the fifth-most sacks in the NFL. A poor offense against a stifling defense does not bode well for Kizer on Sunday.

Coach Jackson has benched Kizer before, so there is no reason he will not consider it again. Based on the two units on the field – the Browns offense and Bears defense – Kizer is bound to struggle.

Jackson is desperate for a win, so any form of struggle from Kizer is likely to lead to Kevin Hogan seeing some action.