11 takeaways from the Bears’ 20-3 win against the Browns

Thoughts and observations after watching the film and going through the stats of the Bears’ 20-3 win against the Browns on Sunday.

1. Cornerback Kyle Fuller had an outstanding game. Facing Browns rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer certainly helped — that was an awful interception in the second quarter — but six pass breakups are six pass breakups. According to STATS, Fuller set a new high this season for pass breakups in a game.

1b. The most impressive aspect of Fuller’s performance was that it occurred in the snow. In most cases, offensive players have the advantage in bad conditions because they know where they’re going. Defensive players have to react to them.

1c. I’ve said it before here: the Bears must consider using the franchise tag on Fuller. The Bears might have lingering questions about him, but he’s earned a longer look.

2. Certain stats suggest that the Bears’ offensive line didn’t play well. Running back Jordan Howard ran for 44 yards on 22 carries, and rookie Mitch Trubisky was sacked five times.

But context matters.

The Bears didn’t have Pro Bowl guards Kyle Long (injured reserve) and Josh Sitton (ankle) or top reserve Tom Compton (concussion).

The Bears’ reshuffled line — one that featured center Cody Whitehair at right guard and Bradley Sowell and Hroniss Grasu at left guard and center, respectively — played well enough to win against the blitz-heavy Browns.

3. Whitehair, in particular, was impressive. He handled defensive tackle Danny Shelton on Howard’s two-yard touchdown, got to linebacker James Burgess Jr. on Howard’s 16-yard score and then stood up defensive tackle Trevon Coley on Trubisky’s four-yard touchdown run.

Whitehair also opened up running back BennyCunningham’s 22-yard gain on a screen by reaching and blocking linebacker B.J. Bello.

3b. How valuable is Whitehair? It’s telling that Trubisky said that he wanted to hand him the ball if he scored to let him spike it in celebration. Whitehair is a building-block player with Pro Bowl potential.

4. I was expecting more from Browns rookie defensive end Myles Garrett. Of course, Garrett’s near pick-six would have changed that, but it was called back because defensive end Carl Nassib lined up offside.

Garrett, though, didn’t exactly change the game beyond that. He had one sack that was aided by a blitz. After that, he only had one tackle and one quarterback hit, according to press-box statistics.

Garrett obviously has different responsibilities when the Browns blitz as much as they do, but he’s the first overall selection — more should be expected of him, too.

5. Considering Garrett’s lack of production and Kizer’s struggles, do you think the Browns regretted passing on Trubisky as the game played out?

6. The Bears won the game in the third quarter, and it started with the quarterback play. After three quarters, Kizer completed 12 of 24 passes for 150 yards, an interception and a 52.4 passer rating. Trubisky completed 14 of 19 passes for 192 yards and a 105.6 passer rating and also had seven carries for 44 yards and a four-yard touchdown.

7. Over the past four games, Trubisky has completed 71 percent of his passes and has a 90.45 passer rating.

8. Afterward, some fans on Twitter bemoaned the Bears’ win because it ruined their draft position. That’s the wrong mentality to have. Wins — even one against the Browns — are important because the development of Trubisky is important. Part of that is seeing his hard work turn into victories.

9. After the game, Trubisky took solace in knowing that Garrett’s interception was the right throw on his progressions.

“I just felt because I was doing the right thing, that it just came back in our favor in the end,” he said.

But Trubisky still won’t like seeing his throw to Howard on film. It was low and his fundamentals could have been better. All of it made for an easy tipped pass by defensive tackle Trevon Coley.

10. Speaking of the draft, the Browns locked up the No. 1 pick for the second consecutive year. But here’s what coach Hue Jackson thinks about it: “Oh wow, that’s nice. I guess. Honestly, I could care less about the No. 1 overall pick. I’m more so about that locker room. Those guys fight their tails off for me, they work hard, they do everything I ask. Like I told them, my disappointment is not getting them to winning. And that’s unfortunate. We’re not making enough plays to do it. That’s kind of where we are.”

11. Other than Fuller, several other Bears defensive players stood out against the Browns, including linebackers Nick Kwiatkoski and Danny Trevathan (seven tackles each), nickel back Bryce Callahan (interception, flip-over tackle on running back Duke Johnson) and outside linebacker Sam Acho (five quarterback hits).