CHICAGO -- Contrary to popular opinion around Chicago, that cringe-inducing beating last week didn't crush the Bears. A loss to the other Ohio team just might do the trick, though.
The Bears (3-3) are at an important point heading into their game against Cleveland (1-6) on Sunday after dropping two in a row and taking one of their worst thrashings in years last week at Cincinnati. A 45-10 slapdown by the Bengals wasn't quite a knockout blow. It just dropped the Bears to a knee and left them in need of a pick-me-up.
Good thing for them, they're facing the Browns.
"We can't take this for granted," quarterback Jay Cutler said.
The Browns' defense ranks dead last, their offense is the league's second worst, and quarterback Derek Anderson is in one of the worst ruts on record. It's been a sickening season all around for a team that also was hit hard by the flu recently.
"I think we're definitely making progress every week," receiver Brian Robiskie said. "Sometimes you can't see it on Sunday. And that's the frustrating part, is that we definitely know that we're making strides and we're going in the right direction."
They keep getting thrown off, though.
Some of that can be pinned on Anderson, who has been horrible since replacing Brady Quinn as the starter in Week 3.
A Pro Bowl pick in 2007, he has a league-low 40.6 rating that ranks as the third worst through seven weeks in this decade, and a completion percentage over the past three games that's the lowest in more than 20 years.
According to STATS LLC, only Ryan Leaf (34.5 in 2000) and Kerry Collins (37.5 in 2006) had lower ratings through the first seven weeks in this decade. Anderson completed just 32.9 percent of his passes (23 of 70) the past three games against Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Green Bay -- the lowest percentage by a quarterback with at least 70 attempts since the Los Angeles Raiders' Steve Beuerlein (31.9) in 1988.
Not that Chicago doesn't have a few issues of its own.
The Bears surrendered the most points in their five-plus seasons under Lovie Smith while allowing a season-worst 448 yards against the Bengals. They gave up touchdowns on the first four possessions and watched as former teammate Cedric Benson ran wild, going off for a career-high 189 yards and a touchdown.
"It's happened to the best of us," defensive tackle Anthony Adams said. "Learn from our mistakes. We've still got a lot of football left to play. Just got to make a run."
Eight teams in the NFC have winning records and only six will make the postseason, so the Bears aren't exactly in the center of the playoff picture.
It helps that six of their remaining 10 games are at Soldier Field even if the schedule is not quite a breeze. They still have two left with Minnesota, which at 6-1 is on top of the NFC North. That makes a wild card look like the Bears' best bet, and wins over Arizona, Philadelphia and Green Bay could go a long way toward getting it.
Of course, all this is a wasted exercise if the Bears don't solve the problems on the offensive line; if Cutler continues to run for his life; and Matt Forte if finds nowhere to run. It would help, too, if the Bears found their pass rush after two sackless games, which means they need DT Tommie Harris to rediscover at least some of his old Pro Bowl form.
It's been missing for a few years due to a chronic knee left knee problem, but at least he's practicing now. He didn't do that last week, so coach Lovie Smith benched him against the Bengals. Whether Harris would have made a big difference is another matter, considering he has only nine tackles without a sack and has not consistently been a disruptive force.
The Bears' problems go beyond one player or one area, and although coach Lovie Smith bristled when asked about possible changes, general manager Jerry Angelo told the team's Web site changes are in order. He's frustrated, a feeling the Browns know well.
"I think that anytime you're coming off a loss or a tough loss, we all have the same approach," coach Eric Mangini said. "We want to get it corrected. We want to get the things fixed that we need to fix. We want to create and be consistent with the style of play. I'm sure they weren't happy with the result last week, like we weren't happy with the result last week."