NFL Sunday Football early games on the schedule include the Cincinnati Bengals taking on the Chicago Bears. The Bengals are coming off yet another early Playoff exit to extend their winless Playoff appearances to nearly a quarter century, while the Bears are hoping a new coach and key pieces will get them back into the postseason. The start time is 1pm EST, with online live streaming link is at the end of the article.
The Bengals are no stranger to the Playoffs having been there two of the past three seasons under head coach Marvin Lewis. Unfortunately, they have yet to find a way to win an elimination game and start yet another season wondering what it might be like to advance past the wild card game or first round.
Not much has changed for the Bengals as they paid several free agents to stay and Lewis returns for his eleventh season running the team. The biggest addition to the team would have to be free agent linebacker James Harrison who came over from Pittsburgh. He joins a squad that was already ranked seventh in the league in total defense, so expectations for the Bengals to smother opposing offenses run high.
While the Bengals’ team composition is similar to last year, the Bears start this new season with first time NFL head coach Marc Trestman taking over for fired Lovie Smith and Brian Urlacher retiring after being let go. Although the Bears had the same 10-6 record as the Bengals last season, Chicago did not make the Playoffs and Smith paid for the miss with his job.
Trestman is expected to spread the offense out more with quarterback Jay Cutler looking at more targets than his favorite two from last season, Brandon Marshall and running back Matt Forte. Cutler is expected to look more at his tight end Martellus Bennett as well as the young receiving corps playing alongside 1,500 yard receiver Marshall.
This is a game that can go either way. Since the Bears play well at home on opening day, I predict they will win by no more than four points.
The NFL week one football game pitting the visiting Cincinnati Bengals against the Chicago Bears in the windy city will get underway at 1pm EST /10am PST in high definition (HD) on CBS. There is unfortunately no free live online streaming option offered by CBS Sports to watch this game. If you want to watch a free online live streaming version, the always popular NFL Sunday Ticket here will work and has a free trial option to watch any NFL game via Max on a TV or mobile device including iPad, cell phone, laptop or computer.
