The Chicago Bears will head back on the road once again Sunday. They’ll play their second straight road game and the third game of their last four on the road when they play the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium.

Chicago will have a lot of different things to prove against Cincinnati. The Bears managed to get away with some mistakes during their four-game winning streak. But Chicago’s Week 8 loss to the Baltimore Ravens showed what can happen when a team plays with fire too much.

Cincinnati (3-5) should give Chicago (4-3) a good chance to clean some of these things up. Quarterback Caleb Williams and the offense will try to turn things around against one of the worst defenses in the NFL. Meanwhile, the defense will have a chance to go against another backup quarterback with Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow out with an injury.

Sunday afternoon’s game kicks off at noon on CBS. Here are the top five storylines to watch.

Can Caleb Williams lead the way?

Williams and the offense struggled to make winning plays to beat the Ravens. They’ll get another good chance against the Bengals this weekend.

Cincinnati’s defense hasn’t had much luck stopping offenses, primarily in the passing attack. The Bengals have allowed the second-most passing yards (2,048) heading into Week 9 and have the third-highest average passing yards in a game (256).

Williams has shown glimpses of playing up to his talent in his first season under head coach Ben Johnson. He threw four touchdowns against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 3 and then led back-to-back game-winning drives on the Bears’ final possession against the Las Vegas Raiders and Washington Commanders. But Williams and the offense have struggled to gain consistency at times, including against the Ravens.

Sunday should give Williams a good opportunity to make plays like he did against the Cowboys and be the reason why the Bears win.

“We’re in a great spot as a team,” Williams said. “I know we lost this last game, and we were in positions to win or score touchdowns to get ahead early, and that didn’t happen. Like I said, we find solutions and we’re in a great spot as a team, a locker room, a coaching staff. We still have that belief, that known factor of us going out there and winning these games.”

Opposing quarterback uncertainty, again

For a second straight week, the Bears won’t be entirely sure who they’ll face at quarterback Sunday. Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco’s status for Sunday might come down to a game-time decision.

Flacco started the last three games for Cincinnati since they traded for him from the Cleveland Browns. But he sprained the AC joint of his throwing shoulder against the New York Jets on Sunday. Flacco missed practice Wednesday but practiced Thursday and Friday and was ruled questionable for Sunday.

If Flacco can’t play, the Bengals will rely on Jake Browning. He came in at Week 2 and started the following three games after Burrow suffered turf toe and was ruled out for three months. Browning threw for 757 yards, six touchdowns and eight interceptions in four games, while Flacco threw for 784 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions in three games with the Bengals.

The Bears went through the same situation last week when they weren’t sure if Lamar Jackson would play for the Baltimore Ravens. They’re preparing for whatever they’ll face Sunday.

“I’ve already watched a bunch of their games,” safety Kevin Byard said. “I’ve watched games with Flacco in there these past three games, and obviously Browning played a few games as well. So I’ve watched all these games. At the end of the day, they’re going to try to get the ball to their receivers.”

Letting the rookie run

The Bears will get a chance to go against one of the worst run defenses in the NFL when they play the Bengals. How healthy their top rusher will be remains to be seen.

Running back D’Andre Swift missed practice all week and was ruled out for Sunday. Johnson said Swift is dealing with a chronic groin injury and they’re handling it on a week-to-week basis.

“He wants to win games, help his team win games. A little bit for us is we got to protect him from himself, too. We talked early in training camp that at some point this season, you’re not going to be feeling good. You got to be able to play at a high level, despite being 80, 85% of how you normally feel, and he’s at that spot right now. So I think he’s gonna pay dividends for us down the stretch here.”

That means rookie running back Kyle Monangai will get a majority of the carries against the Bengals. Monangai has been more involved the past couple of weeks as Swift battled his injury. He rushed for a career-high 81 yards and a touchdown against the New Orleans Saints in Week 7 before rushing for 24 against the Ravens.

Cincinnati will be a good defense to go against without Swift. The Bengals have allowed the highest average rushing yards in the NFL at 151.9.

Limiting Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins

Like Byard said, no matter who the quarterback is, the Bears know he’ll be throwing it to wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

Chase has been on an incredible pace, even for himself, over the past few weeks. The two-time All-Pro was targeted 23 times in Week 7 against the Pittsburgh Steelers and caught 16 passes for 161 yards and one touchdown. Things settled down Sunday against the Jets. Chase earned 19 targets and caught 12 passes for 91 yards.

The Bears’ secondary has dealt with injuries without starting cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon and backup Terell Smith all out with injuries. But cornerback Tyrique Stevenson should return after missing a game with a shoulder injury. Even with the reinforcement of adding C.J. Gardner-Johnson this week, Chase will be a tough matchup with his speed and catch radius.

“He’s an exceptional player, and when you watch the tape, especially over the last few weeks, they’re feeding some targets to him, and there’s times I look on the tape, I’m like there’s two dudes draped all over him and they’re still throwing the ball to him,” Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. “So they got a lot of confidence in what he can do, and he’s an explosive player and somebody that’s gonna be a challenge for us to have to deal with.”

Chicago can’t just focus on Chase, though. Higgins has taken advantage of the attention paid to Chase, catching 25 passes for 360 receiving yards and four touchdowns this season.

Taking advantage of the moment

Sunday’s game will mark the final stretch of the Bears’ “lighter” part of their schedule before things get harder in the final two months. Cincinnati will be one of the last teams the Bears play with a losing record.

Chicago will play the New York Giants (2-6) and Minnesota Vikings (3-4) in the following two weeks after playing the Bengals, and then play the Cleveland Browns (2-6) in Week 15. The Bears’ remaining opponents – the Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles, Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions – have a combined 25-11 record.

“We’re in a great spot as a team. I know we lost this last game and we were in positions to win or score touchdowns to get ahead early and that didn’t happen. Like I said we find solutions and we’re in a great spot as a team, a locker room, a coaching staff. We still have that belief, that known factor of us going out there and winning these games.”

—  Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears quarterback

So far this season, the Bears have taken care of business against teams with losing records. Chicago has gone 4-2 against those opponents and lost their lone game against a winning team, Detroit.

The Bears will need to continue that trend if they want to be in playoff contention by the end of the season. A win on the road in Cincinnati is a good start.