This is best remaining chance to win

Mathematically, the Browns have two chances to avoid going 0-16.

Realistically, if they are going to escape tying the 2008 Detroit Lions for futility, they better win on Dec. 24 in Chicago, because they finish the season, poetically on the final day of 2017, in Pittsburgh in a game the Steelers might have to win for a firstround bye.

The Bears are 4-10 — a record that should make the Browns envious — but they have lost six of their last seven games. They have scored two or fewer touchdowns in six of their last eight games.

The Browns have something else going for them. They’re due. Due as in Christmas Eve is their time to shine.

The Browns won for the only time last year on Christmas Eve when they beat the San Diego Chargers, 20-17, at FirstEnergy Stadium.

“I remember winning,” Coach Hue Jackson said. “That was the only one we had, and we’re in a similar situation. “It’s right before Christmas. It would be a great holiday present not just for everybody in this organization but for the city, for our fans and for everybody.”

The matchup favors the Browns in one regard: The Bears like to run the ball and the Browns are among the best in the league at stopping the run. The Browns want to force rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky to pass. Trubisky has thrown only seven touchdown passes, but also only seven interceptions. The Mentor High graduate is 3-10 as a starter.

The Browns had a similar plan against Packers quarterback Brett Hundley. They wanted to stop the run and make him throw the ball. Hundley ended up throwing three touchdown passes while completing 35 of 46 passes for 265 yards in a 27-21 overtime stunner. He was content to throw the ball quickly for 10yard completions before the pass rush could get to him. The Bears could use a similar strategy.

“I know (defensive coordinator) Coach (Gregg)

Williams is going to have a good game plan going into it for us,” Trubisky said on a conference call. “We just need to execute on our side of the ball. I need to do a good job of identification because they do a good job of disguising the back end and bringing different looks and blitzes, especially on third down.”

Bears second-year running back Jordan Howard has rushed 245 times for 1,069 yards and seven touchdowns. He’s having the kind of season Isaiah Crowell wanted to have, but it isn’t working out that way for the Browns running back.

Crowell has rushed for 788 yards on a team that has had to play from behind most of the season. He rushed for 59 yards on one play last week — the longest gain of the season for the Browns — and ended up carrying five times for 72 yards.

“Nobody really says anything to me about it, but I know football,” Crowell said. “Sometimes when we’re behind the sticks and it’s late in the game and we’re down big, I understand what’s going on. I really don’t need him to come and tell me anything about what’s going on, but if I feel like we have a chance and know we’re in the game, it’s a one-possession game or whatever, it’s a different story.”

The game at Soldier Field is between two teams going nowhere, so maybe Crowell will get his wish and it will be close in the fourth quarter.