The Bears (4-3) will look to rebound from last weekend's loss to the Ravens when they visit the Bengals (3-5) Sunday at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati.

Prior to falling 30-16 in Baltimore, the Bears had won four straight games over the Cowboys (31-14), Raiders (25-24), Commanders (25-24) and Saints (26-14).

Cincinnati opened the season 2-0. But star quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a toe injury in the second game that required surgery and is sidelined indefinitely. The Bengals have dropped five of six since losing Burrow but have improved significantly in three contests after trading for veteran quarterback Joe Flacco.

The past two weeks, Cincinnati snapped a four-game losing streak with a 33-31 Thursday night win over the Steelers Oct. 16 before relinquishing a 38-24 fourth-quarter lead in a 39-38 loss to the previously winless Jets last Sunday.

When the Bears have the ball

The Bears will have to overcome the absence of running back D'Andre Swift, who has been ruled out of Sunday's game with a groin injury that prevented him from practicing all week. It's the first contest that Swift will miss since joining the Bears last year. The sixth-year pro has rushed for a career-high average of 66.3 yards per game this season, including 92.3 yards in the last three contests.

Swift has also scored four of the Bears' last six touchdowns dating back to their Sept. 28 win over the Raiders in Las Vegas.

"It's really been a chronic thing for a while now," coach Ben Johnson said of Swift's injury. "We're just doing our due diligence to make sure that we're getting the best version of Swift to help this team, for him and his individual success. We just want to make sure that we have him in a good spot for the whole season."

Rookie Kyle Monangai is the next man up. The seventh-round pick from Rutgers has rushed for 186 yards and one TD on 42 carries, a 4.4-yard average. With running back Roschon Johnson also sidelined with a back injury, third-year pro Brittain Brown on Saturday was elevated from the practice squad. The only other running back on the roster is veteran Travis Homer, who has contributed primarily on special teams since joining the Bears in 2023.

Injuries impacted the receivers as well this week. But Rome Odunze (heel), DJ Moore (hip/groin) and Olamide Zaccheaus (knee) all practiced in full Friday and were not given injury designations for Sunday's game after sitting out Wednesday and being limited Thursday. Rookie Luther Burden III, however, will miss the game with a concussion.

Caleb Williams quarterbacks a Bears offense that ranks 15th in the NFL in scoring at 24.0 points per game and 12th in total yards, 10th rushing and 10th passing. He has thrown for 1,636 yards with nine TDs, four interceptions and a 90.2 passer rating. His 104.7 rating on third down is fourth best in the league.

Williams entered the season focused on greatly reducing the number of sacks he takes, and that objective is being achieved with his average sacks per game plummeting from 4.0 in 2024 to 1.7 this year.

"It's extreme focus," Williams said. "I don't want to be one of those guys in Year 6 where I'm one of the highest sacked ever in history. I've got a great group in front of me, running backs, tight ends and all that. It's just us all being on the same page.

"The other part is, from my side, just being more comfortable and confident within the offense, being more comfortable with being able to deliver a good ball, and the guys snapping the eyes around, knowing where the guy's going to be. And I think that's something that's going to keep growing throughout my career."

The Bears enter Sunday's game determined to improve their red-zone offense and limit penalties, especially pre-snap infractions.

After scoring touchdowns on 6 of 7 trips inside-the-20 in their first three games, the Bears have reached the end zone on just 5 of 16 red-zone possessions in their last four contests, including 1 of 3 last Sunday in Baltimore.

They will face a Bengals defense that has allowed at least 27 points in seven straight games and ranks last in the NFL in points (31.6), total yards (407.9) and rushing yards (151.9) per game. Cincinnati has also permitted the most red-zone TDs (26) and red-zone possessions (37) in the league.

Key matchup: Bears receiver Rome Odunze vs. Bengals cornerback D.J. Turner

Odunze will look to build on his second 100-yard game of the season last Sunday in Baltimore against Turner, a 2023 second-round pick from Michigan who has two interceptions and leads the NFL with 13 pass breakups while also compiling 19 tackles. After catching five TD passes in the first four games, Odunze has been held out of the end zone in the last three contests.

When the Bengals have the ball

After not generating a takeaway last Sunday in Baltimore for just the second time this season, the Bears defense will look to revert to the form it displayed when it forced 15 turnovers during the team's four-game winning streak.

The Bears bolstered their depleted secondary Wednesday when they signed defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson. The seventh-year pro will play nickel back in place of Kyler Gordon, who is on injured reserve with calf and groin issues.

Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson also is expected to play Sunday after missing the Ravens game with a shoulder injury.

The reinforcements come at an ideal time given that the Bears will be facing one of the NFL's top receivers in Ja'Marr Chase, who leads the league with 99 targets and 70 receptions and ranks second with 720 yards receiving.

"You talk about a complete problem, he is that," Johnson said. "I don't know how much you can slow him down. I don't know anything he doesn't do well. I turned on the run tape and he's down there blocking down the field for the runners.

"He's a complete receiver. It's all-hands-on-deck to try to slow him down. We've got to do a great job marrying up our rush and our coverage and making things as difficult as we possibly can for this offense."

The biggest question looming over Sunday's game is who will start at quarterback for the Bengals. Flacco was limited Thursday and did not practice Wednesday and Friday with a shoulder injury he sustained in last week's loss to the Jets. He is listed as questionable and told reporters Friday that he "feels good."

In Flacco's three games with the Bengals, he has passed for 784 yards—the fifth most in the NFL—with seven TDs, no interceptions and a 100.1 passer rating. He has targeted Chase 54 times—completing 38 passes for 346 yards and two TDs—including 42 targets in Cincinnati's last two games versus the Steelers (23) and Jets (19).

The Bengals running game also has flourished since Flacco's arrival, increasing its average yards from 57.0 in its first five contest to 126.0 in its last three outings. Running back Chase Brown leads the team in rushing with 383 yards and two TDs on 97 carries.

"They have gone through the quarterback carousel, but since Flacco has been there, they've looked like a different team," Johnson said. "They're scoring points. Their running game has come alive over the last couple weeks."

If Flacco is unable to play, the Bengals would turn to Jake Browning, who has appeared in four games with three starts this season, completing 64.5% of his passes for 757 yards with six TDs, eight interceptions and a 70.5 passer rating.

When Burrow was injured in 2023, Browning went 4-3 as a starter and led the NFL with a 70.4 completion percentage, passing for 1,936 yards with 12 TDs, seven interceptions and a 98.4 rating.

Key matchup: Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson vs. Bengals receiver Ja'Marr Chase

Stevenson boasts size, physicality and play-making ability and will need all three of those traits against Chase. While the Bengals star has caught 38 passes in the last three games, none has been for more than 19 yards.

Fun facts

• The Bears entered Week 9 leading the NFL with 16 takeaways and a plus-10 turnover differential.

• The Bears have won the last three matchups over the Bengals, winning 24-21 in 2013 in Chicago, 33-7 in 2017 in Cincinnati and 20-17 in 2021 at Soldier Field.

• Bears defenders Montez Sweat, Andrew Billings and T.J. Edwards all will be playing in their 100th NFL regular-season games Sunday.

• Bears pass game coordinator Press Taylor is the younger brother of Bengals head coach Zac Taylor.

• The Bengals are 1-3 over the past two seasons when scoring at least 38 points. The rest of the league is 57-4-2.