Preseason Game 1 KC @ CHI

[adam]

It was really hard to evaluate the team as a whole with so many players injured. On offense, no Monty, Pringle, Jones, Kmet, Reiff, Griffin, O'Shaughnessy, Harry and Patrick. At least 4 starters out.

On defense, no Quinn, Muhammad, Blackson, Smith, Gordon, Vildor, Graham, Jackson, or Cruikshank. At least 5 starters out.

 

Fields, playing against first teamers, didn't turn the ball over. This may not seem like a big deal but no fumbles or INTs is a positive. He looked much better overall, but with so many starters out, the entire offense is a work in progress.  However, the Getsy offense already looks better than the Nagy offense. The Bears and Chiefs both had 63 plays on offense, the Bears outgained them by 80 yards. They had 13 receptions/runs over 10 yards, Chiefs had 6. The Bears also had 4 plays over 25 yards, the Chiefs had none. So the recipe is already cooking: get explosive plays on offense while limiting turnovers and prevent explosive plays on defense and get turnovers. This game was something to build off of.

 

Some guys made the most of their playtime:

• Sharpe is making this team. He made 2 highlight reel catches on his only 2 targets. He compliments Mooney very well. I can see him in the mix as high as WR2, he looked that good.
• Ebner is not only making the 53-man, he may make Monty expendable by the end of the year and will take touches away from Herbert for sure. He can do everything. A 27 yard rush and a 12 yard TD reception. He was the best RB out there from either team AND he was the man KR and had a nice 34 yards return.

For defense:

• Sanborn is going to start at one of the LB positions. He just has a knack for the ball. He had an interception, forced fumble, fumble recovery, TFL, and PD with a team-high 7 tackles. He also makes the Roquan situation much easier to handle. With Morrow, Adams, and Sanborn, they have 3 starting caliber LBs with Joe Thomas as a backup. 
• The Bears may have found a great rotational DT in Trevon Cole. He filled up the stat sheet like a Christmas tree. He had 2 sacks, 3 QB hits, 1 PD, and 2 TFLs. On defense, he may have been the most dominant player on either team. 
• D. Robinson is going to allow the Bears to trade Quinn at the deadline. He had a sack and a TFL and his speed was evident on the sack. With Muhammad and Gipson, Robinson can be the rotational guy with Mario Edwards. 
• Brisker was as advertised, 4 tackles, 1 TFL and 1 PD. He is going to be a stud and perennial Pro Bowler (bookmark this thread and flame me in 2 years).

Hot Takes:

Surprise cut: Khalil Herbert. With Ebner doing KOs and looking much better as a runner and pass catcher than Herbert, he seems very expendable. He is going to need a nice series or two in the next few games to redeem himself. 

Roquan situation: I know it is preseason, but the defense and LBs played pretty good. For a season where they are not expected to go to the Super Bowl, this is probably the worst year to be threatening to hold out when you have zero leverage. I would not be surprised if the Bears pull the offer that they had on the table or reduce it.

[Mongo3451]

Brisker was my star of the day.  And you have lost your damn mind if you think Herbert has a remote chance of being cut.

[AZ54]

1 hour ago, adam said:

It was really hard to evaluate the team as a whole with so many players injured. On offense, no Monty, Pringle, Jones, Kmet, Reiff, Griffin, O'Shaughnessy, Harry and Patrick. At least 4 starters out.

On defense, no Quinn, Muhammad, Blackson, Smith, Gordon, Vildor, Graham, Jackson, or Cruikshank. At least 5 starters out.

 

Fields, playing against first teamers, didn't turn the ball over. This may not seem like a big deal but no fumbles or INTs is a positive. He looked much better overall, but with so many starters out, the entire offense is a work in progress.  However, the Getsy offense already looks better than the Nagy offense. The Bears and Chiefs both had 63 plays on offense, the Bears outgained them by 80 yards. They had 13 receptions/runs over 10 yards, Chiefs had 6. The Bears also had 4 plays over 25 yards, the Chiefs had none. So the recipe is already cooking: get explosive plays on offense while limiting turnovers and prevent explosive plays on defense and get turnovers. This game was something to build off of.

 

Some guys made the most of their playtime:

• Sharpe is making this team. He made 2 highlight reel catches on his only 2 targets. He compliments Mooney very well. I can see him in the mix as high as WR2, he looked that good.
• Ebner is not only making the 53-man, he may make Monty expendable by the end of the year and will take touches away from Herbert for sure. He can do everything. A 27 yard rush and a 12 yard TD reception. He was the best RB out there from either team AND he was the man KR and had a nice 34 yards return.

For defense:

• Sanborn is going to start at one of the LB positions. He just has a knack for the ball. He had an interception, forced fumble, fumble recovery, TFL, and PD with a team-high 7 tackles. He also makes the Roquan situation much easier to handle. With Morrow, Adams, and Sanborn, they have 3 starting caliber LBs with Joe Thomas as a backup. 
• The Bears may have found a great rotational DT in Trevon Cole. He filled up the stat sheet like a Christmas tree. He had 2 sacks, 3 QB hits, 1 PD, and 2 TFLs. On defense, he may have been the most dominant player on either team. 
• D. Robinson is going to allow the Bears to trade Quinn at the deadline. He had a sack and a TFL and his speed was evident on the sack. With Muhammad and Gipson, Robinson can be the rotational guy with Mario Edwards. 
• Brisker was as advertised, 4 tackles, 1 TFL and 1 PD. He is going to be a stud and perennial Pro Bowler (bookmark this thread and flame me in 2 years).

Hot Takes:

Surprise cut: Khalil Herbert. With Ebner doing KOs and looking much better as a runner and pass catcher than Herbert, he seems very expendable. He is going to need a nice series or two in the next few games to redeem himself. 

Roquan situation: I know it is preseason, but the defense and LBs played pretty good. For a season where they are not expected to go to the Super Bowl, this is probably the worst year to be threatening to hold out when you have zero leverage. I would not be surprised if the Bears pull the offer that they had on the table or reduce it.

You are putting Herbert behind Evans and I don't see that happening if for no other reason for his return ability.  I didn't see anything with Evans to make me think he outperformed Herbert either.   If it's cap space you are after then Evans is a little higher than Herbert (1m vs. 800k).   

OTOH I do agree that the combination of Herbert and Ebner could mean they don't give Montgomery a new deal.  I want to see that play out over the course of the season because  1) I think Ebner is better fit as RB3/ 3rd down specialist.     2). I'm not sure Herbert is able to carry load for 20 carries a game.   We saw last year after a few games as a starter he wasn't as effective.  

[Alaskan Grizzly]

2 hours ago, adam said:

Sanborn is going to start at one of the LB positions. He just has a knack for the ball. He had an interception, forced fumble, fumble recovery, TFL, and PD with a team-high 7 tackles. He also makes the Roquan situation much easier to handle. With Morrow, Adams, and Sanborn, they have 3 starting caliber LBs with Joe Thomas as a backup. 

Agreed.  The kid looked exceptionally sharp. Yea I know it was mostly against 2nd and 3rd stringers but you make the most of the opportunities you’re given.  And he did just that.  Agree that he might just be able to play in the same spot as Roquan.  He was like this in college too.  

 

[AZ54]

Sanborn doesn't have Roquan's speed but he does have his intensity.  

On a different note ... we have a good punter.  Gill had some impressive kicks and his ability to dead-drop the ball inside the 10yd line is going to help this team.  We saw that on his college highlights but he should just get better at it as a pro.  

[Stinger226]

I think Ebner put himself in line for more touches but I don't think he took over second place just yet.

Sharpe will end up being our #3 WR , Newsome had some highlights to. 

Sanborn won't be starting unless Roquan holds out but definitely will get more playing time. 

Their not trading Quinn , Robinson has a long way to go , but makes the roster.Flus likes fresh players and will do alot of rotating .

Coley has some game , definitely becomes a rotation player. 

Oline has lots of competition and potential. Jenkins wasn't bad and Braxton will end up starting .

I liked the play calling , Getsy mixed the plays well. Everything didn't work but seemed to fine a rhythm to it.

 

 

[AZ54]

1 hour ago, Stinger226 said:

I think Ebner put himself in line for more touches but I don't think he took over second place just yet.

Sharpe will end up being our #3 WR , Newsome had some highlights to. 

Sanborn won't be starting unless Roquan holds out but definitely will get more playing time. 

Their not trading Quinn , Robinson has a long way to go , but makes the roster.Flus likes fresh players and will do alot of rotating .

Coley has some game , definitely becomes a rotation player. 

Oline has lots of competition and potential. Jenkins wasn't bad and Braxton will end up starting .

I liked the play calling , Getsy mixed the plays well. Everything didn't work but seemed to fine a rhythm to it.

 

 

Newsome has a fatal receiving flaw... he's not looking at the ball all the way into his hands.  It can be seen on his muffed punt and again the bobbled ball on his TD reception.  Take a look at the highlights of Mooney's and Sharpe's big catches and ball, hands, and eyes are all at the same spot.  

[Stinger226]

You cant get overly excited about preseason games, but a lot of young players showed some game. It seems the defense has an energy about them. The 7 to the ball and constant fight shows. Flus has changed defenses where ever he coached, and I think his mentality translates this defense into being very good. Brisker is a future all pro. I have no doubt about that. I was one of the bigger bitchers because of our first 2 picks, but both seem to be blue chip players. If you look at all the young players and Poles appears to be able to recognize talent. Coley was a two yr starter in Cleve when he first came in the league and has some game. We have a lot of competition on the field and it can only be a positive with our depth. 

[adam]

I should clarify a hot take is meant to be an extreme over reaction to a small sample size. 

[adam]

8 hours ago, AZ54 said:

Newsome has a fatal receiving flaw... he's not looking at the ball all the way into his hands.  It can be seen on his muffed punt and again the bobbled ball on his TD reception.  Take a look at the highlights of Mooney's and Sharpe's big catches and ball, hands, and eyes are all at the same spot.  

Yeah, Newsome did not have a clean game at all. As a second year player, there are no excuses anymore. He has some work ahead of him to make the roster.

[Mongo3451]

41 minutes ago, adam said:

I should clarify a hot take is meant to be an extreme over reaction to a small sample size. 

It was entertaining and definitely played into my rum buzz...?

[adam]

53 minutes ago, Mongo3451 said:

It was entertaining and definitely played into my rum buzz...?

Prost!

Ebner did look good, and probably should be the 3rd Down back over someone like Evans.

Sanborn may actually make the roster if he keeps that up though. 

[Mongo3451]

On Fields, I don't have a great way to put it, but he looks more composed than I think he should.  It's almost nonchalant.  How do you criticize someone for being too composed?  A couple of examples are:  1) he had a check down on the right flat.  Instead of snapping his turn and firing the ball, it was casual and slow and ended being batted by the DL.  2) he had a designed rollout and he glided instead of sprinting out there.  It allowed the DL to stay in a closer proximity to him.  Fields made the play, but lost some ability to improvise by not separating more.  They are very minute things, but are subtle weapons he needs to hone and maximize his immense talent.

[adam]

3 minutes ago, Mongo3451 said:

On Fields, I don't have a great way to put it, but he looks more composed than I think he should.  It's almost nonchalant.  How do you criticize someone for being too composed?  A couple of examples are:  1) he had a check down on the right flat.  Instead of snapping his turn and firing the ball, it was casual and slow and ended being batted by the DL.  2) he had a designed rollout and he glided instead of sprinting out there.  It allowed the DL to stay in a closer proximity to him.  Fields made the play, but lost some ability to improvise by not separating more.  They are very minute things, but are subtle weapons he needs to hone and maximize his immense talent.

I still think he is in the processing mode and trying to dissect what he is seeing. He is still a little late to react or a little slow.

On the rollout, sometimes I see QBs do that to give them more cushion to the sidelines. If they go full speed they get there too fast and don't leave themselves any options.

He definitely needs to improve, but he needs help from the O-Line and receivers not dropping passes.

[AZ54]

18 minutes ago, Mongo3451 said:

On Fields, I don't have a great way to put it, but he looks more composed than I think he should.  It's almost nonchalant.  How do you criticize someone for being too composed?  A couple of examples are:  1) he had a check down on the right flat.  Instead of snapping his turn and firing the ball, it was casual and slow and ended being batted by the DL.  2) he had a designed rollout and he glided instead of sprinting out there.  It allowed the DL to stay in a closer proximity to him.  Fields made the play, but lost some ability to improvise by not separating more.  They are very minute things, but are subtle weapons he needs to hone and maximize his immense talent.

That nonchalant persona carried over to his press conference which was a little disappointing to watch.