O’Donnell: What’ll be colder Sunday — Soldier Field or Cleveland’s iced dice?
FOR MOST OF THE PAST THREE DECADES, being a fan of the Cleveland Browns has meant never having to say that you're optimistic.
That tribal buzzkill should continue Sunday when the struggling Browns make a rare visit to frosty Soldier Field (noon, Fox; AM-1000).
Arctic air, polar bears, Frigidaire — the only thing Ben Johnson and his heat-seeking homies have to fear is themselves.
THEY LOST A WINNABLE GAME at Green Bay last weekend. They reload against the visiting Packers next Saturday night. NFC North supremacy will be hovering above the Fox holiday lights.
Into the interim strolls Cleveland (+7½), an outfit with one spot of menace, pockets of youthful promise and an unshakable habit of disappointing one of the most trod-upon fan bases in the NFL.
Headlining the Browns (3-10) is sack master Myles Garrett. He runs up big numbers taking quarterbacks down but has been influencing wins just a little more often than the ghost of Jim Brown.
Garrett's most prolific day of the season came Oct. 26 at New England when he recorded five QB takedowns. But the Patriots sidestepped the edgy damage and breezed to a 32-13 victory.
NEW NO. 2 ON THE CLEVELAND HIT LIST, with a bullet, is rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders. The son of “Prime” will be making his fourth consecutive pro start. He's 1-2 so far.
Last Sunday he accounted for 364 passing yards passing, 29 yards rushing and four TDs. But again the Browns reverted to type and lost to the Titans 31-29.
Buttressing the youth corps are tight end Harold Fannin Jr. — Sanders' favorite bailout — running back Quinshon Judkins (from Ohio State's 2024 national champs), LB Carson Schwesinger and DT Mason Graham, who starred on Jim Harbaugh's 2023 CFP titlists at Michigan.
ALL GREAT FOR THOSE LOOKING to chase the Browns in some sort of 2027 futures market. But Sunday, as they say at race tracks, tab for later.
The Bears (9-4) could close the day back atop the NFC North if they win and the Packers (-2½) lose at Denver (3:25 p.m., CBS).
The strategic mantra for Johnson and defensive boss Dennis Allen should be “simple, simpler, simplest.”
THE BEARS RUN THE BALL WELL, so do so. And run at Garrett, to allow some aggressive blocking let him know he's not launching unencumbered from the sneaky weeds.
As for Allen, his blitz schemes at Green Bay were generally useless. When Allen sent extra bodies, Jordan Love was 8 for 11 for 126 yards and 2 TDs.
ON A DAY PERFECT FOR IGLOO POP-UPS, the less Johnson calls on Caleb Williams to pass, the better. The Bears sophomore has an off-target throwing number of 15.3%, the poorest in the league.
Winning formula for Chicago: Pound the iced spheroid, patience by air and keep the defense at home. Thaw, repeat and let the Browns implode.
THERE HAS BEEN A DIVINE HAND pushing the current Bears. They are favored for only the fourth time this season and should be.
Optimism is good for the soul.
But allowing the percentages to play out inside the Chicago ice house would be even better.
STREET-BEATIN':
Speaking of Ben Johnson, some seasoned Bears media are praising the first-year head coach for holding Q-and-As before rather than after practices. They say it makes for smarter exchanges. (Matt Nagy did it the other way and too often tried to semantically dance around spiritless workouts.) …
The latest Nielsen Audios again underscored the sheer Cubs dependency of WSCR-AM (670). The bare-boning Audacy outlet had a gradual rise in audience through October and then lost close to 30% of listeners in the most recent survey. But the station at least has numbers to present to advertisers. ESPN-AM (1000) doesn't pay to subscribe so remains reliant on the kindness of patrons (who must not listen to the must-flee daytime drivel). …
The decision to pair Dick Vitale and Charles Barkley as analysts on ESPN's coverage of the Indiana-Kentucky men's game was an inspired one. Even better was evidence that the venerable Vitale can still summon some of his over-the-top vigor after a series of health issues. The Hall of Fame duo is slated to work another game during the NCAA's “First Four” next March. …
A power outage hit the studios of WBEZ-FM (91.5) at Navy Pier Wednesday, forcing the NPR outlet to ditch much of its sparse remaining local content for close to 16 hours. The station's marriage to the Sun-Times under the Chicago Public Media umbrella has been a fiscally challenging one. Reliable Cheryl Raye-Stout remains the main sports contributor at 'BEZ. …
Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Wednesday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.