Cleveland Browns

The Bears entered Week 15 with a record of 9-4.

The Browns were 3-10.

In a performance fit for both teams’ records, Chicago had little trouble taking care of Cleveland for a 31-3 victory.

The Bears’ defense made it particularly tough for rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders, picking him off three times. With little run game to speak of, the Browns did not reach 200 yards of offense until there was a minute left in the fourth quarter. And then they lost that mark when Sanders took two late sacks, finishing with 192 total yards.

Offensively, Chicago took an early 14-0 lead that seemed insurmountable — because it was. D’Andre Swift rushed for a 6-yard touchdown midway through the first quarter. Caleb Williams followed that with a 3-yard touchdown pass to DJ Moore late in the period.

With frigid conditions in Chicago, Bears kicker Cairo Santos missed a 35-yard field goal wide right to keep the score 14-0 at halftime.

While Andre Szmyt connected on a 50-yard field goal to make the score 14-3 early in the third quarter, the Browns weren’t able to do much else.

Moore’s 22-yard touchdown after a Sanders pick made the score 21-3. Swift added a 17-yard TD late in the third quarter and Santos nailed a 41-yard field goal to close out the scoring.

Williams finished the contest 17-of-28 for 242 yards with two touchdowns. Swift had 18 carries for 98 yards with a pair of TDs.

Sanders ended the game 18-of-35 for 177 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions.

Notably, Browns defensive end Myles Garrett got even closer to the single-season sack record. He brought down Williams 1.5 times in the game, giving him 21.5 sacks on the season — 1.0 sacks off of the record shared by Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt.

The Bears now have 10 wins for the first time since 2018 — Matt Nagy’s first year as the club’s head coach. Chicago will host Green Bay next Saturday night for a game with huge postseason implications.

At 3-11, the Browns are playing out the string. They will host Buffalo next Sunday afternoon for a battle of Lake Erie.

Chicago’s defense put on a clinic in the first half of Sunday’s matchup with Cleveland, as the Bears hold a 14-0 lead over the Browns at halftime.

Cleveland managed just one first down in the half with 57 total yards. Most of Cleveland’s offense came from just one play, as Shedeur Sanders connected with receiver Isaiah Bond for a 42-yard deep shot in the second quarter.

Sanders finished the first half 4-of-10 for 54 yards.

The Bears scored touchdowns on their second and third possessions. D’Andre Swift ran one in from 6-yards out while Caleb Williams tossed a 3-yard touchdown to DJ Moore later in the first quarter to put the Bears up by a pair of touchdowns.

Williams finished the first half 12-of-18 for 190 yards with a touchdown. Williams did appear to limp off the field at the end of the second quarter.

Browns defensive end Myles Garrett got a step closer to setting the single-season sack record, bringing down Williams on third-and-goal in the second quarter. He now has 21.0 sacks this season, 1.5 off the record shared by Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt.

The Browns will receive the second-half kickoff.

So far, the Bears are having little trouble with the Browns on a frigid day in Chicago.

With Caleb Williams’ 3-yard touchdown to DJ Moore, the Bears are up 14-0 late in the first quarter.

D’Andre Swift got the Bears on the board first with a 6-yard touchdown run. Chicago had great field position after a Cleveland three-and-out deep in its own territory.

Then the Bears got on the board again with a seven-play, 80-yard drive. The club faced third-and-2 and converted with a 24-yard pass from Williams to Colton Loveland. Then Williams found Moore on third-and-goal from the 3 to cap the drive.

Playing without receiver Rome Odunze, who aggravated his foot injury during pregame warm-ups, Williams is 5-of-7 for 83 yards with a touchdown so far on Sunday.

The Bills will be missing a key defensive piece as they try to keep the Patriots from clinching the AFC East in New England on Sunday.

Cornerback Christian Benford is inactive for the game. Benford was added to the injury report on Thursday with a toe issue and he missed practice on Friday before being listed as questionable.

Benford had a big hand in each of the Bills’ last two wins. He returned a fumble for a touchdown and had an interception to help them beat the Steelers in Week 13 and he returned an interception for the go-ahead score against the Bengals in the fourth quarter last Sunday.

Bills at Patriots

Bills: CB Christian Benford, LB Terrel Bernard, WR Gabe Davis, S Darnell Savage, OL Tylan Grable, DT Phidarian Mathis, OL Chase Lundt

Patriots: LB Bradyn Swinson, OL Marcus Bryant, DT Eric Gregory, TE C.J. Dippre, WR Efton Chism, QB Tommy DeVito

Ravens at Bengals

Ravens: WR Rashod Bateman, CB Keyon Martin, OL Joseph Noteboom, DT Aeneas Peebles, QB Cooper Rush

Bengals: WR Tee Higgins, QB Jake Browning, S PJ Jules, DT Jordan Jefferson

Jets at Jaguars

Jets: QB Tyrod Taylor, QB Justin Fields, WR Tyler Johnson, EDGE Braiden McGregor, DL Mazi Smith, TE Mason Taylor, LB Kiki Mauigoa

Jaguars: LB Yasir Abdullah, OL Walker Little, TE Hunter Long, DL Emmanuel Ogbah, DL Austin Johnson

Chargers at Chiefs

Chargers: WR Quentin Johnston, S Elijah Molden, WR Derius Davis, CB Nikko Reed, LB Kyle Kennard, OL Trey Pipkins, WR Dalevon Campbell

Chiefs: CB Trent McDuffie, WR Hollywood Brown, OT Jawaan Taylor, TE Jared Wiley, G Trey Smith, RB Elijah Mitchell, DT Zacch Pickens

Cardinals at Texans

Cardinals: CB Max Melton, WR Marvin Harrison Jr., S Jalen Thompson, S Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, OL Evan Brown, OT Paris Johnson, WR Xavier Weaver

Texans: OL Jarrett Kingston, WR Braxton Berrios, RB Nick Chubb, QB Graham Mertz, CB Ameer Speed, LB E.J. Speed, DE Solomon Byrd

Browns at Bears

Browns: CB Denzel Ward, RB Dylan Sampson, G Zak Zinter, G Wyatt Teller, T Jack Conklin, TE David Njoku, DT Adin Huntington

Bears: QB Tyson Bagent, RB Travis Homer, WR Jahdae Walker, LB Ruben Hyppolite, DE Dominique Robinson, DT Jonathan Ford

Commanders at Giants

Commanders: QB Jayden Daniels, DE Drake Jackson, OL George Fant, CB Jonathan Jones, OL Trenton Scott, RB Chris Rodriguez

Giants: EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux, WR Ryan Miller, P Jamie Gillan, OL James Hudson, WR Gunner Olszewski, DL Rakeem Nunez-Roches, QB Russell Wilson

Raiders at Eagles

Raiders: QB Geno Smith, CB Greedy Vance, RB Zamir White, OL Jordan Meredith, TE Ian Thomas, WR Alex Bachman, DL Leki Fotu

Eagles: LB Josh Uche, QB Sam Howell, CB Mac McWilliams, RB A.J. Dillon, OT Lane Johnson, DT Jalen Carter

The Bears may not have backup quarterback Tyson Bagent available for Sunday’s game against the Browns.

The team announced on Sunday morning that Bagent is considered questionable to play because of an illness. He was not on the injury report this week.

If Bagent is unable to play, the Bears will move Case Keenum up to the No. 2 role behind Caleb Williams.

Bagent signed a two-year extension with the Bears this summer. He has appeared in three games this season and is 3-of-4 for 47 yards in that action. Keenum has not played in a regular season game since the 2023 season.

Cornerback Kyler Gordon was ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Browns and the Bears won’t have him for any of their other three remaining regular season games either.

The Bears announced that they placed Gordon on injured reserve due to the groin injury he suffered in warmups during Week 14. Gordon will miss the final four weeks of the regular season, but the team hopes he will be able to return for any postseason games they may play.

This is Gordon’s second injured reserve stint of the year. He missed five games with groin and calf injuries during the first stint and he also missed the first four games of the season while recovering from a hamstring injury.

The Bears also announced that they have elevated running back Brittain Brown and linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin from the practice squad for Sunday’s game.

The Browns signed offensive lineman Garrett Dellinger to the active roster from the practice squad, the team announced Saturday.

The Browns waived wide receiver Jamari Thrash in a corresponding move.

The team also elevated safety Christopher Edmonds and defensive tackle Maurice Hurst from the practice squad.

The Browns also announced they downgraded offensive guard Zak Zinter (back) to out for Sunday’s game against the Bears.

Dellinger is a rookie out of LSU, whom the Ravens selected in the seventh round.

Edmonds is officially in his first NFL season out of Arizona State. Originally signed by the Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2024, Edmonds has appeared in seven career games, including five this season.

Hurst, who is in his eighth season, entered the league as a fifth-round pick of the Raiders in 2018. He has appeared in 63 games with the Raiders (2018-20), 49ers (2021) and Browns (2023-24). Hurst has totaled 116 career tackles, 10 sacks, 10 passes defensed, two interceptions, a forced fumble and three fumble recoveries.

He appeared in eight games with the Browns last season.

The Bears list Rome Odunze as questionable to play against the Browns on Sunday, but Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that the team is optimistic the wide receiver will play.

Odunze has a foot injury that kept him sidelined for the Bears’ 28-21 loss to the Packers last week.

He was limited for all three practices this week.

Odunze initially went on the injury report with a heel issue in Week 9, and he said at the time that the injury was “not a simple fix.” But last week was the first game he missed in his career.

He leads the team with 44 catches, 661 receiving yards and six touchdowns this season.

On Thursday night, Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins did it again to the Buccaneers, beating them for the third straight time since signing with Atlanta. And it was another Thursday night masterclass, following last year’s franchise-record 509 passing yards with 373 and three touchdowns in a 29-28 win.

The latest string of Cousins starts wasn’t supposed to happen. He returned to the role of QB1 after the Falcons lost Michael Penix Jr. for the season. And while Cousins’s performances in seven 2025 games have been mixed, there’s something to be said for showing up under the lights against a team that is trying to win the division crown.

Here’s the question for Cousins and the Falcons. What happens next year?

Under the four-year deal Cousins signed in 2024, the Falcons owe Cousins $45 million in 2026. Already, $10 million of it is fully guaranteed.

It’s widely believed he’ll be released. With the guaranteed payment subject to offset, Cousins will likely make more than $10 million on the open market. Especially after Thursday night, during which he showed he still can perform at a high level. That would allow the Falcons to avoid the extra $10 million they’re already required to pay him on the fifth day of the 2026 league year.

He has already earned a bronze bust in the broken-bank Hall of Fame, with $321 million in career earnings through 2025. And he has proven to be a shrewd businessman, even though his first foray into free agency was unavoidable; the Commanders were willing to tag him twice, but they weren’t inclined to offer him a commensurate long-term deal.

Cousins opted for the Falcons in large part because they put multi-year financial security on the table, with $90 million fully guaranteed over two seasons. (The Vikings wanted to go year to year.) With the Falcons unlikely to pay him another $45 million, which would push his three-year haul to $135 million, he’ll likely be a free agent, for the third time.

Cousins will be hitting the market at a very good time. The supply of veterans with starting experience won’t meet the demand. Someone will consider making a run at the 37-year-old.

Teams that will (or at least could) be looking for a potential QB1 include the Jets, Steelers, Browns, Bengals (if Joe Burrow’s recent comments portend an exit from Cincinnati), Colts, Raiders, Saints, and Cardinals.

Then there’s the Vikings, who need a viable veteran alternative to J.J. McCarthy, in the event the cork never comes out of the bottle for him. Would they want to bring Cousins back? Would he be inclined to return?

It’s also possible he’ll stay in Atlanta under a reworked contract, especially with the jury still out on Penix, the eighth overall pick in the 2025 draft.

However it plays out, Cousins will likely get paid out another sizable contract. While it surely won’t be market level, Justin Fields got $20 million per year from the Jets in 2025. That should be the floor for Cousins, who may eventually creep toward $400 million in career earnings.

The chance of snow on Sunday in Chicago is very low. The chance of cold is very high.

Currently, the forecast high temperature at Soldier Field for the Week 15 game between the Browns and Bears is 14 degrees, with a low of minus-2. Winds from seven to 14 miles per hour with gusts of up to 27 mph will make it feel even colder.

The freezing conditions could make it much harder for Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders to duplicate his Week 14 performance, during which he had 364 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, and a rushing touchdown against the Titans.

If he does, Sanders will be the first rookie quarterback in NFL history to have consecutive games of 300 or more passing yards and three or more total touchdowns.

In that same game, Browns defensive end Myles Garrett needs 3.0 sacks to break the single-season sack record of 22.5.

For the Bears, the goals are team-related. Currently the No. 7 seed in the NFC — and closing out the season with games against the Packers, 49ers, and Lions — a loss will make it harder to parlay a 9-3 start into a postseason berth.