Collins was signed by Chicago a little over a week ago as insurance for injured backup QB Caleb Hanie, who suffered a shoulder injury in the preseason opener against San Diego. Hanie is not expected back until the regular season begins, so Collins will get a good look here against the Browns before giving way to rookie Dan LeFevour.
Despite an impressive performance in last week’s 14-9 home loss to Arizona, LeFevour is likely headed to the practice squad regardless of how he performs. He completed 10-of-12 passes for 100 yards and a touchdown against the Cardinals. That was still better than Cutler, who connected on 10-of-20 for 129 with no touchdowns and two interceptions. Cutler ends his preseason by completing 19-of-37 passes for 275 yards with one touchdown and two picks.
In addition to Cutler, the Bears are also expected to rest running back Matt Forte, center Olin Kreutz, linebacker Brian Urlacher and defensive end Julius Peppers. Keeping this in mind, you can expect the money to continue shifting in Cleveland’s favor as kickoff draws closer.
The Browns have scored nearly twice as many points (71) as Chicago in the preseason so far, but that is not saying much considering only Carolina (30) has totaled less than the Bears (36). Cleveland has gotten much better production from the quarterback position, as Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace have looked very good at times.
Delhomme completed 38-of-48 pass attempts in the first three games for 345 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions while Wallace was 13-of-26 for 230 yards with three touchdowns and one pick, but neither are expected to play against Chicago. Instead, rookie Colt McCoy will log most of the action under center for the Browns in hopes of turning things around.
McCoy has struggled this preseason but has been assured that he will make Cleveland’s 53-man roster after final cuts are announced on Saturday. He completed 5-of-10 passes for 25 yards and two interceptions in a 27-24 win over Green Bay in the preseason opener and has gone 10-of-16 for 76 yards in two games since then. The NCAA’s all-time winningest QB is expected to play half the game with fellow reserve Brett Ratliff seeing the other half in hopes of making the team.
Other Browns battling for key roster spots include running backs James Davis and Chris Jennings and linebackers David Bowens and David Veikune. Rookie running back Montario Hardesty will also make his debut after battling a knee injury throughout training camp. Hardesty is hoping to be the team’s starter this season but will need to prove he is healthy enough to win that job on Thursday night.
This game looks tough to call from a side or total perspective but we do have a handful of NFL picks ats as well as ncaa football picks on the Thursday card from our expert handicappers.
