What History tells us about Bears and Bengals |
Looking to get that sour taste out of their mouths from an awful week one, the Bears return to Soldier Field for their home opener against the Cincinnati Bengals. A lot is riding on this week's game, and tons of drama surrounding the Bears organization as some coaches feel
Justin Fields is a lot more ready than Matt Nagy leads us to believe. That could cause a catastrophic shift within the organization, especially if things continue to trend the way they are.
Unlike the Rams, the Bears and Bengals do not have a rich history as these two teams have met only 11 times since the Bengals became a franchise. As things sit, the Bengals hold the slight edge with a 6-5 mark, but they have been the ones doing the most damage in recent meetings. Going back to the beginning of this series which started in 1972, you had the Bengals taking the first-ever meeting from Chicago 13-3.
Ironically that was the last time these teams would meet for eight years until the Bengals won again in 1980 17-14. It took 14 years for the Bears to beat the Bengals for the first time, but that time frame only was three meetings given the lack of times the teams played. The Bears made quick work of the Bengals in 1986, depositing them 44-7 on Willie Gault's massive day catching the ball. Gault finished with seven catches for 174 yards and one score.
Three years later saw the Bears even the series 2-2 as they topped the Bengals 17-14 and ended the 1980's with a 2-1 record against them. Following their two wins, the Bengals handed the Bears two consecutive losses in the 1990s, with the first coming in 1992 31-28 in overtime and the second coming in 1995 16-10. Those were the only two times these teams met in that decade as the Bengals downed the 90's decade of this rivalry.
Moving to the 2000s, and the Bears got off on the right foot in 2001 when they won 24-0. Led by a defense that allowed 264 yards in that game, the A-Train Anthony Thomas gashed the Bengals for 188 yards on the ground to go with one score. Following that win, the Bengals responded with two more wins, with one coming in 2005 by a score of 24-7 and the other coming in 2009 when Carson Palmer torched the Bears secondary for five touchdowns in a 45-10 beat down.
Ironically, that was the last win for the Bengals against this team, as they have now gone 12 years without a win against Chicago. Considering that they don't play each other that frequently, those 12 years have spanned two meetings, with the Bears taking the last two to pull within 6-5 in this series. The Bears ended a rough stretch where they lost three of four to the Bengals in 2013, picking up a hard-fought 24-21 win.
Jay Cutler was the quarterback for the Bears during that game as he faced off with now Bears starter Andy Dalton. Cutler played well, tossing for 242 yards to go with two scores and an interception, while Dalton had 282 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. In that meeting, A.J. Green had a monster game for the Bengals, topping 160 yards receiving and both scores, while Brandon Marshall led the way for Chicago with eight receptions for 104 yards and a touchdown.
The last meeting between these teams came in 2017 when the Bears traveled to Paul Brown Stadium. Once again, Dalton led the show for the Bengals as he was roughed up, finishing with 141 yards passing before being replaced by AJ McCarron. Mitch Trubisky, on the other hand, had a phenomenal game going 25 -32 for 271 yards and one score. Trubisky was backed by Jordan Howard, who gashed the Bengals defense for 147 yards and two scores on just 23 carries while Kendall Wright hauled in 10 catches for 107 yards.
That leads us to the next installment of this series on Sunday as the Bears will look to even things up. A lot has changed since the last time these teams met apart from Dalton. Outside of being on the Bears as opposed to the Bengals, this will be Dalton's third game as a starter in this series-tying him for the most with Jim McMahon.
Neither team has dominated at any point apart from the Bengals winning three of four at one point. Take that away and usually, you see each team win two games in a row and then lose two games in a row. If we are going off history, that would mean the Bengals would win this time around as the Bears have won the last two games.
History or not, Chicago is a better team, and they should win, but will coaching allow that to happen, or will fans continue to see more of the same. The Bengals are now riding high, coming off an OT win against the Vikings and seeing Joe Burrow play well in his return from a torn ACL. Sunday will be a fun day in Chicago as this will be a better game than many think.
