Preseason 1: Broncos @ Bears

[WindyCity]

Re-watched the game and made some notes. 

Obviously we all tuned in to see the QB situation and it went far more drastically than I thought.

Mike Glennon was worse than I could have imagined. I thought he was late on a lot of throws, which allowed DBs to be more involved in the play. I felt he missed a couple of easy throws. The interception was effected by pressure by both Leno and Compton, but Glennon was staring down the route to the point where he didn't even notice the rush. The throw to Meredith, that looked like a drop, was high and late. If he had drilled that into Meredith's chest the DB would have no play on the ball.

Mitch Trubisky was better than I could have imagined. He flashed every single tool you look for in a QB. Athletic ability, arm strength, accuracy, but it was his ability to throw on the run that was special and had me the most excited. Accuracy on the move is a unique trait and having watched Aaron Rodgers for years you can see the weapon it becomes.

It is pretty clear that Jordan Howard, and the Bears, are playing him to not get hurt. I am totally fine with that I an expect he will finish the preseason with almost no production.

Tarik Cohen is an exciting player. His speed is evident, his change of direction is obvious, but his ability to create between the tackles was interesting. I am really excited to see what he does in the passing game, but my guess is that we won't see that until the regular season.

Ka'deem Carey continues to make it really hard for the Bears to cut him. A couple nice runs between the tackles and a couple of tackles on special teams. With Langford injured and having never shown anything on special teams he needs to be worried.

The missing person report that was filed on Kevin White is concerning. Having a good practice when you are pissed off and disappearing is a concern. Now I know that Glennon was only in for 8 passes and he was bad, but I want to see something.

Victor Cruz playing into the 4th quarter was either out of necessity because of injuries, wanting to support Trubisky, or he is in roster jeopardy. I liked what I saw, outside of the 4th quarter drop, and reports have been that he is having a good camp. I am not sure how to read what we saw on Thursday night.

I do not know what to make of Deonte Thompson. He had a really good game, but he cannot make the roster. 

The TE group in general was disappointing. Sims didn't really get much work, outside of a short catch, and Miller was quiet. Shaheen got some targets, but he also had trouble staying on his feet and Daniel Brown had chances to make a couple tough grabs and did not. This is a talented group and I am hoping to see more from them in the next preseason game.

Charles Leno had a couple of bad reps. He needs to be more consistent in his angles and not give up a short corner. I still feel that the Leno haters have unrealistic expectations for what a LT looks like not named Tyron Smith or Joe Thomas.

Bobbie Massie had some nice plays, which was great to see from the slow starting RT.

[WindyCity]

Akiem Hicks is the heart and soul of the defense. His passion and physicality is infectious and sets the tone of the defense. He was dominant on most of his reps and swallowed up the run. The Bears should do what he can to lock him up and show the locker room that performance and buy in is rewarded.

It was encouraging to see Bullard come alive a little and make some plays. Building back his confidence after a bad season is critical. Bullard showed his ability to penetrate, even when he wiffed on the sack. Bullard running with the 1s is something I would like to see more of and especially in obvious passing downs.

Mitch Unrien is someone I do not need to see more of.

C.J Wilson running with the 2s and John Jenkins running with the 3s is interesting.

Roy Robertson-Harris was a bit of a disappointment for me. I wanted to see him make a few more plays in the 4th quarter, but he seemed to engage and stop.

It appears that Nick Kwiatowski has taken a step forward. He was really good against the run. Physical and in the gap that he needed to be. He looked better against the pass, which was hard to see on the TV copy. Kwaitkowski did not appear to be lost in coverage like he was last season.

Leonard Floyd looked good. The hand swipe he used to get the sack could be an unblockable move if he gets it more consistent.

The depth without Lamarr Houston is not good.

The new secondary looked better. Amukamara and Cooper give the Bears professional CBs and I thought both were solid. On the catches they gave up they were contesting and making the tackle.

Kyle Fuller seemed to be back to giving the 10 yard cushion completion.

I am a big fan of Eddie Jackson. He looks like a FS and he showed the range that the Bears have been lacking. Jackson also looked like he had some juice in the return game.

[blkwdw13]

This play made me laugh and is still making me laugh though, it's like me playing Madden and hitting the wrong button on accident.

 

 

[Nads786]

Agree with most of your assessment. I was so impressed by Flloyd's sack and I'm really hoping he takes a big leap next year. I didn't see Eddie Goldman do much of anything in this game so I would like to see if he can take the next step and have a strong year.

Overall this defense looks a bit better than I expected I can see it sneak in to a top 10 defense if we don't sustain a ton of injuries.