Bears vs. Cards

[AZ54]

Had good seats for tonights game here's my observations. I tried to key on some players throughout the game. Watching the TV broadcast (which just started) will give me a different perspective.

 

We owned half the stadium tonight. I was surprised at how many Trubisky jerseys were being worn. All the talk back in the summer of all Bears fans hating that draft pick don't appear to be true. I don't think they all got purchased this past week.

 

Offense:

 

Glennon sucks. The play calling was clearly designed to get him, and perhaps the entire offense, into a comfort zone early on with some positive plays. It was disappointing to suffer through that. Once Glennon got to throwing beyond the LOS it is clear he's just not that accurate of a passer and he never looked comfortable out there going through progressions. The INT was just a horrible read as the double coverage was obvious as soon as he was looking that way. In fact I expected he pivot over to his next option. He also has a problem in that he likes to pat the football once he's about to throw. That does two bad things: It delays the timing of the throw and CBs and S are going to be all over this once they see it on film. IMO there is zero chance he stays our starting QB all season.

 

Sanchez: In warmups Zach Miller looks like the better QB, and he probably is.

 

Trubisky: The talent was still noticeable but tonight he didn't have much help. I also think it was clear that he still has a ways to go before he's ready to take over. On the deep pass play to Gentry the WR never had separation and ran a poor route (or it was very good defense depending on your point of view). The ball was placed in the right spot if Gentry had been able to hold his route further off the sideline as he should. IMO Trubisky needs to be playing with the 2nd string. He needs some NFL talent around him to properly develop and we must show some patience to allow that process to happen.

 

Cohen: Everyone who likes football will know his name by the end of the season. He makes something out of nothing in a way we haven't seen in a long time. On the way home we listened to Cards post game show on the radio. They were complaining about all the missed tackles by the first team defense. We are going to have a great RB combo this season and I can't wait to see him as a slot WR.

 

Kevin White: Didn't do much but Glennon won't even look his way. On one play Glennon rolled out left and actually threw right over a wide open White into triple coverage 10 yards behind him. You gotta be stupid to make that decision or you just don't like that WR. In the 2nd quarter I think they we're force feeding passes towards White. He can play and while he didn't look great there were a few moments where his speed still showed up. When Trubisky gets time with White I think we'll see some good things.

 

Cunningham: He is not as fast as I expected but he's a good versatile player. I won't be surprised if we keep 4 RBs and Langford isn't one of them.

 

Defense:

 

Bullard is the real deal. He looks good. I know he left the game with an injury and I hope it isn't serious. He was alternating with Jaye Howard (good to see Jaye getting significant reps).

 

Dline overall looked very solid. Tough to run on these guys.

 

Floyd looked much better than last year. It's going to be fun watching him. I still think he needs another offseason to add strength before we see the full repertoire. Once he develops a good bull rush he'll be close to unstoppable. You know Willie Young is working with him on that.

 

Roy Robertson-Harris. I decided to focus on him late in the game. Early on he was playing too high and getting pushed around. Somebody must have gotten in his ear because later in the game he was playing with better leverage and then he just started making plays. On one series the Cards had the ball around 20yd line and he either made or caused all three stops in a row. Even with the added bulk he can still run pretty fast and he has the strength to anchor well on run plays. It will be interesting to see how they use him in the next game. If he's in consideration for the 53 I expect he'll see snaps with the 2nd string. Maybe with Bullard injured he'll get a few with the ones. If he can continue to progress the long term outlook with him, Bullard, and Floyd in pass rush on 3rd-and-long looks pretty good. That still might be next year but he's worth developing.

 

Kyle Fuller: meh He made good play on a screen but otherwise his coverage ranged from ok to bad.

 

Marcus Cooper: He's another ok cover guy.

 

Demps: I like how he plays the game. Coming in for the strip on tackles and seems to be in the right spot. Hopefully his leadership helps bring a little more attitude and discipline among the DBs.

 

Eddie Jackson: He stands out in a very positive way when he is in deep coverage. If he played it right with his steps he likely makes an INT in the end zone. Nonetheless knocking down that deep pass was something we haven't seen from a safety in a long time. He needs to quit spinning around on punt returns or he's going to get another broken leg.

 

 

 

[Stinger226]

Had good seats for tonights game here's my observations. I tried to key on some players throughout the game. Watching the TV broadcast (which just started) will give me a different perspective.

 

We owned half the stadium tonight. I was surprised at how many Trubisky jerseys were being worn. All the talk back in the summer of all Bears fans hating that draft pick don't appear to be true. I don't think they all got purchased this past week.

 

Offense:

 

Glennon sucks. The play calling was clearly designed to get him, and perhaps the entire offense, into a comfort zone early on with some positive plays. It was disappointing to suffer through that. Once Glennon got to throwing beyond the LOS it is clear he's just not that accurate of a passer and he never looked comfortable out there going through progressions. The INT was just a horrible read as the double coverage was obvious as soon as he was looking that way. In fact I expected he pivot over to his next option. He also has a problem in that he likes to pat the football once he's about to throw. That does two bad things: It delays the timing of the throw and CBs and S are going to be all over this once they see it on film. IMO there is zero chance he stays our starting QB all season.

 

Sanchez: In warmups Zach Miller looks like the better QB, and he probably is.

 

Trubisky: The talent was still noticeable but tonight he didn't have much help. I also think it was clear that he still has a ways to go before he's ready to take over. On the deep pass play to Gentry the WR never had separation and ran a poor route (or it was very good defense depending on your point of view). The ball was placed in the right spot if Gentry had been able to hold his route further off the sideline as he should. IMO Trubisky needs to be playing with the 2nd string. He needs some NFL talent around him to properly develop and we must show some patience to allow that process to happen.

 

Cohen: Everyone who likes football will know his name by the end of the season. He makes something out of nothing in a way we haven't seen in a long time. On the way home we listened to Cards post game show on the radio. They were complaining about all the missed tackles by the first team defense. We are going to have a great RB combo this season and I can't wait to see him as a slot WR.

 

Kevin White: Didn't do much but Glennon won't even look his way. On one play Glennon rolled out left and actually threw right over a wide open White into triple coverage 10 yards behind him. You gotta be stupid to make that decision or you just don't like that WR. In the 2nd quarter I think they we're force feeding passes towards White. He can play and while he didn't look great there were a few moments where his speed still showed up. When Trubisky gets time with White I think we'll see some good things.

 

Cunningham: He is not as fast as I expected but he's a good versatile player. I won't be surprised if we keep 4 RBs and Langford isn't one of them.

 

Defense:

 

Bullard is the real deal. He looks good. I know he left the game with an injury and I hope it isn't serious. He was alternating with Jaye Howard (good to see Jaye getting significant reps).

 

Dline overall looked very solid. Tough to run on these guys.

 

Floyd looked much better than last year. It's going to be fun watching him. I still think he needs another offseason to add strength before we see the full repertoire. Once he develops a good bull rush he'll be close to unstoppable. You know Willie Young is working with him on that.

 

Roy Robertson-Harris. I decided to focus on him late in the game. Early on he was playing too high and getting pushed around. Somebody must have gotten in his ear because later in the game he was playing with better leverage and then he just started making plays. On one series the Cards had the ball around 20yd line and he either made or caused all three stops in a row. Even with the added bulk he can still run pretty fast and he has the strength to anchor well on run plays. It will be interesting to see how they use him in the next game. If he's in consideration for the 53 I expect he'll see snaps with the 2nd string. Maybe with Bullard injured he'll get a few with the ones. If he can continue to progress the long term outlook with him, Bullard, and Floyd in pass rush on 3rd-and-long looks pretty good. That still might be next year but he's worth developing.

 

Kyle Fuller: meh He made good play on a screen but otherwise his coverage ranged from ok to bad.

 

Marcus Cooper: He's another ok cover guy.

 

Demps: I like how he plays the game. Coming in for the strip on tackles and seems to be in the right spot. Hopefully his leadership helps bring a little more attitude and discipline among the DBs.

 

Eddie Jackson: He stands out in a very positive way when he is in deep coverage. If he played it right with his steps he likely makes an INT in the end zone. Nonetheless knocking down that deep pass was something we haven't seen from a safety in a long time. He needs to quit spinning around on punt returns or he's going to get another broken leg.

There was many things to like about last night. I think glennon is a non exciting backup, what he has been all his career. Does not flash but he will just be very average, but will start the season as the starter. Tribusky will end up being the starter by the end of the year. He still has some things to learn and not starting him right away will be smart.

A lot of people here complained about the draft but this will end up being outstanding. Cohen will be a Tyrek Hill type and see 10 to 12 touches a game . He is worth the ticket by himself, every play can be exciting.

On defense, Bullard, Freeman, and Jackson played very well. Floyd is going to be a stud, I agree one more year will help him a lot but he still will have 10 to 12 sacks this year.

I think we are okay with our first sting DBs, but the backups seem to have a lot to be desired.

Demos and Jackson will absolutely cause TOs. Once we scheme on defense and put more pressure on the QB , we will be in play for more TOs. Another thing is our run defense played well going against David Johnson. I have said we will be a top 10 defense and it looks more and more like that will happen.

 

White needs to show more but I think there is such a expectation with him , he feels pressure and it is clear who Glennon likes, Meridith.

[jason]

The second preseason game, unfortunately for the front office, probably showed why Glennon never should have been signed. There were other, cheaper options that could have been used as a bridge until Trubisky, who the Bears were clearly willing to sell the farm for, was ready to start.

[AZ54]

The second preseason game, unfortunately for the front office, probably showed why Glennon never should have been signed. There were other, cheaper options that could have been used as a bridge until Trubisky, who the Bears were clearly willing to sell the farm for, was ready to start.

 

The fact they aggressively went after Trubisky in the draft means they knew all along Glennon was never going to be the answer. Cutler hands down would have been a better and cheaper stop gap option but they clearly wanted him out of the locker room. How many times can you explain the multi-INT games to the rest of the team? Hoyer would have been a better option as well but leaving him as the starter would have clearly signaled Pace's intentions to draft a QB. I think with more reps Glennon can get to the same efficiency level Hoyer played at but he'll never truly threaten a defense. Was Glennon's signing nothing more than a big bluff ahead of the draft? Right now it appears that way.

 

We're now built to run the ball well with Howard and Cohen. The TEs we brought in with Sims and Shaneen are both good inline blockers. I know Shaheen needs more reps but he was moving some guys around last night. Quietly we ran several 1st team plays last night with a FB (Burton) in front of Cohen. I think this is what our offense will be early in the season with Glennon's main job to be handing the ball off and running the occasional play action fake. Glennon can be ok against an 8-man front (3 Lbs) where there is more room to hit WRs. Last night he showed that he'll quickly go to the RB covered by a LB. This type of offense will be the perfect setup for Trubisky to take over mid-season when he's ready.

 

Looking at the schedule there is no doubt that having Trubisky start after the bye would be perfect. I don't think we'll make it that far with Glennon. I estimate Trubisky's first start to be either Wk 5 Vikings at home, or Wk 6 Ravens on the road.