The Chicago Bears will travel to Baltimore this weekend to take on the Ravens in Week 5.
It will be just the third time the team will play in Baltimore since Art Modell moved the Browns to Baltimore to become the Ravens in 1996.
A recurring theme for the Bears in the two games played there and might prove as a bad omen on Sunday is that the offenses have not performed well there.
It was all the way back in 2001 when the Bears made their first trip to Baltimore since football returned in 1996. The 2001 Bears drew the unfortunate task of opening the season against the defending Super Bowl Champ and had to face a defense that was considered one of the best ever.
The Bears featured Shane Matthews, James Allen, Marty Booker, and Marcus Robinson at the skill positions on offense. The Raven’s defense featured such Pro Bowl players as Ray Lewis, Rod Woodson, Peter Boulware, and Sam Adams.
Going into the game there were many that gave the Bears little chance of winning let alone making it a competitive game.
The team proved many pundits wrong as they did provide the Ravens a competitive game and even led 6-3 midway through the third quarter as well. The Bears did lose 17-6 as their offense did not score a touchdown and a late turnover set up a Raven’s score that put the game out of reach.
Although they drove 74 yards on their first drive of the game, the offense only finished with 189 yards of total offense.
The next time the Bears would venture to Baltimore was in 2009 for a week 15 matchup that was played following a massive blizzard that hit the city initially changing the start time of the game from noon to a three o’clock start. The Bears headed into the game with a five and eight record and were already eliminated from the playoffs, but were looking to play the role of spoiler against the playoff contending Ravens.
The Ravens dominated from the beginning of the game as they intercepted Bears quarterback Jay Cutler on the team’s first two offensive possessions. The Bears offense as a whole committed five turnovers and had less than 200 yards of offense as well. The only touchdown the team scored came on special teams as punt returner Earl Bennett scored on a 49-yard punt return touchdown.
The final score was 31-7 and nearly cost then head coach Lovie Smith his job as many wondered if his team had quit on him with their performance.
Mitchell Trubisky will make his first road start and will lead an offense that has struggled to make big plays throughout the season. The 2017 Bears offense has yet to have a pass play over 30 yards or more and their longest scoring play of the season is a 19-yard touchdown pass. Furthermore, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh has never lost a game against a rookie quarterback, putting together a record of 8-0.
On Sunday, the Bears will try to pick up their first win in the city of Baltimore since 1965 back when the Colts played in Baltimore. Many things can be brought to an end with a Bears win against the Ravens as the team has lost their last 10 road games as well. If the Bears are to win in Baltimore, the offense will have to perform well which hasn’t happened so far this season and has not happened in Baltimore either.
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