The Cincinnati Bengals hosted the Bears in week fourteen, holding a 6-4 lead in the series against Chicago. While the Bears won the most recent meeting in 2013 21-13, the Bengals dominated the last game in Cincinnati, a 45-10 victory in 2009. As the Bengals defense was struggling to contain opposing running attacks, allowing 170 carries of at least four yards, the most in the NFL, while the Bears had 141 of such attempts (15th in the league), Jeff Joniak wrote the Bears should effectively utilize Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen, while also reducing the number of negative runs (with 50 entering week fourteen). On defense, the Bears had to play without players like  Pernell McPhee, Leonard Floyd, Eddie Goldman, Willie Young, Mitch Unrein, Jerrell Freeman, Adrian Amos, and Quintin Demps, all of whom were sidelined due to injuries. Joniak took note of Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton's struggles under pressure, being sacked 19 times on third down in 2017, while the Bears led the league in third-down sacks with 17 sacks, including at least one sack in every game in 2017. As a result, Joniak stressed the importance of providing a heavy blitz. Joniak also added taking advantage of a Bengals special teams unit that was ranked 27th in average return yards allowed with 10.7, including four 20+-yard returns and a return touchdown. After a physical game against the Steelers in week thirteen, Joniak expressed the possibility of the Bengals being "flat", and "f so, the Bears should pounce on the opportunity and prove they are still playing for pride and the future." After the Bengals punted on their first drive, the Bears scored on their opening series for the first time in 2017, doing so on Howard's 21-yard touchdown run. However, Mike Nugent, who was signed earlier in the week to replace an injured Cairo Santos, missed the extra point as the kick hit the right upright. The Bengals responded late in the first quarter when Dalton threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Brandon LaFell, who evaded Deon Bush for the score. Early in the second quarter, Mitchell Trubisky threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Cohen, but it was nullified by Tom Compton's holding penalty; the Bears were eventually forced to settle for Nugent's 34-yard field goal to retake the lead. Nugent added a 27-yard field goal with 2:15 remaining in the half to give the Bears the 12-7 lead at halftime. Following punts on the first two drives of the second half, Trubisky scored on a four-yard touchdown run. On the ensuing drive, Dalton's pass to A. J. Green was deflected and intercepted by Eddie Jackson, which resulted in Trubisky's one-yard touchdown pass to Adam Shaheen. Jackson forced another takeaway when he pulled the ball away from Green's hands and recovered; Chicago once again capitalized via Howard's eight-yard touchdown run to put the Bears up 33-7. Neither team was able to score for the rest of the game. The 26-point victory marked the largest blowout for the Bears since a 51-20 win over the Tennessee Titans in 2012. It was also Chicago's highest-scoring game since the team scored 37 against the St. Louis Rams in 2015. The Bears offense ended the game with a season-high 482 total yards, nearly 200 more than in the Bears' last two games, along with 232 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Howard recorded 167 rushing yards, resulting in a season total of 1,032, and he became the first running back in Bears history to have 1,000-yard rushing seasons in his first two years in the NFL.. How many rushing yards did Howard have on the season before entering this game?