Preseason Game 2 CHI @ SEA

[adam]

With the shortened week, this is more about seeing what a few guys can do. Gordon and Velus Jones in their first action, Jenkins at RG and Borom at RT, Robinson and Ebner. Can Sanborn and Coley have another standout performance? 

With only 6-10 plays for the starters, which will probably equate to 4-7 passes for Fields. Seems like a small sample size but it will be nice to see if the updated O-Line with Jenkins at RG will hold up a little better for Fields. 

[Mongo3451]

My hope is that they leave the entire OL in until halftime.  While I am optimistic about the future of this unit, that says nothing about how much cohesion means to the front.  Half of it comes from game play.

[adam]

1 hour ago, Mongo3451 said:

My hope is that they leave the entire OL in until halftime.  While I am optimistic about the future of this unit, that says nothing about how much cohesion means to the front.  Half of it comes from game play.

With Patrick already hurt and Kramer done for the year, they will probably pull projected starters when Fields get pulled. Guys like Borom, Jenkins, and Mustipher may get some extended looks, but I doubt we see Jones, Whitehair, Schoefield and Reiff beyond the first team reps.

I agree they need the work to build the cohesion.

[Bill]

3 hours ago, adam said:

With Patrick already hurt and Kramer done for the year, they will probably pull projected starters when Fields get pulled. Guys like Borom, Jenkins, and Mustipher may get some extended looks, but I doubt we see Jones, Whitehair, Schoefield and Reiff beyond the first team reps.

I agree they need the work to build the cohesion.

I understand the injury concerns but this OLine needs a lot of time together in the final version.   I think they need to just play Jones-Whitehair-Mustafer (untill Patricks comes back)-Jenkis-Reif or Broom.   At least a half in each of the last two games

[McGowan]

Do the Bears have another 99 other than Gipson? If not, he looks terrible. 

[Mongo3451]

Larry Borom did not look good tonight.  A surprise player on the OL for me was Dieter Eisolen.  I was highly critical of him as a rookie last year, noting that he needed to spend a lot of time working on agility.  He actually looked like he really made some progress.  From the center position, he was at the second level a lot.  He may not make the roster, but his arrow is pointing up.

[killakrzydav]

The starting o line wasn’t great to my untrained eye.

[killakrzydav]

I’m thoroughly enjoying this whooping though!

[Stinger226]

With Patrick and Kramer injured they are treading carefully with Mustifer. What I like the most is they are aggressive, play with an attitude and make plays. Its never perfect when you get to the second and third string, but they are still fighting. 

[AZ54]

Overall again I'm impressed.  We have talent gaps but this was another well organized, disciplined, hustle/effort game.  It's just night and day compared to any of the recent coaching staffs.  Unlike the ESPN crew I don't have to sit here and justify mistakes as being good for lessons-learned like they did for Seattle.  What I liked best is that our rookie LT left town and the announcers still don't know his name.    

And now for deep thoughts...

I think the RG situation is settled.  On a short week of practice and Jenkins, while maybe not always looking comfortable inside, did well IMO.  While pass protection is still unsettled at times the run blocking again seems to be good.  Eiselen seemed to do alright at center at least I didn't notice any glaring missteps.  

Ebner still has a ways to go reading the blocking on runs, especially inside.  He danced out of some good gaps (at least one behind Jenkins) and ended up with a short gain.  He just needs a bit of patience to let the big guys do their thing.  

Velus is easy fast.  

Fields knows the plays... meaning it appears he's got his reads down.  The processing is still a bit slow but time and experience will improve that.  As will consistency from his Oline.  Love the little bootlegs.  

We see the emergence of some of our screen plays that will be worked off the running game.  I still feel like Kmet is more agile this year versus last and it showed on that little screen pass he caught. 

Kyler Gordon didn't have his best game but it's his first action and his timing will improve.  His athleticism is obvious because few players can make that u-turn at speed to chase a QB back the other way as he did.  

I wasn't impressed by any of the starting LBs.  Sanborn played a ton and again he seems to just end up where the ball is which is good, and that's also on special teams.  I can't see how he doesn't make the 53 and maybe even game day rosters as a core special teams player.   

DTs are still a concern as I see little besides "effort" guys.  I wouldn't be surprised to see us add someone here after cuts are done.  

Our DEs will be ok this year.  I read some articles on Seattle before the game and their good news was how well both of their rookie OTs were playing. We won a few battles against them even with backups.  

 Eberflus is going to use the late game mistakes to drive home his point on execution.   

Ryan Poles face said it all when Seattle called a timeout with 22s left in the game to force us to punt.  He had seen all he wanted to see and was ready to go home.  

[Stinger226]

I agree with most of your thoughts. As my concern over DTs, I think Coley makes the team. Definitely  could add here. As the defense works, the main player is not here in Smith. Once he's here, I think the defense runs smoother. V Jones seen limited action but still showed his speed. Jenkins did fine in run plays but still needs to improve at pass blocking. Probably wins the starter spot as he gets up to speed. I like the play calling, once the starters play regularly, it will look better. Kmet showed he's in the game plan. I hope the Smith contract gets done this week, or he wont be ready when the season starts.

[adam]

On offense, Kmet looked great. Fields seems to be getting more confident. No fumbles or INTs, which is a positive. Evans looked good. I thought Jenkins played well. Dazz Newsome seems like an easy cut. He continues to drop easy passes and even though it wasn't his fault, muffed another punt. Isaiah Coulter made a couple of nice catches and he may slip onto the final roster. 

On defense, Blackson looked good in his short time in, Muhammad got a sack and ran 30+ yds downfield to make a tackle (which was impressive). Coley had another sack, I think he makes the team. Sanborn again tied for the team-high in tackles. As a whole, the unit did what it needed to do. Outside of the TD after the muffed punt, they only allowed a FG and two chunk plays (long run and screen pass). 

The biggest note was how bad Seattle looked a week after playing the Steelers even. 

The commentators were trash. They blamed Seattle's poor showing on a short week, like the Bears didn't have the same thing lol. 

 

The Bears don't play again for 8 days, but I doubt we see any starters in that game. 

[Mongo3451]

10 minutes ago, adam said:

The Bears don't play again for 8 days, but I doubt we see any starters in that game.

I hope to see the starting offense play the first quarter, with the exception of Monty.  The OL needs the live time and Fields had some kinks to work out.(like tempo)

[adam]

7 minutes ago, Mongo3451 said:

I hope to see the starting offense play the first quarter, with the exception of Monty.  The OL needs the live time and Fields had some kinks to work out.(like tempo)

I agree, I just don't know if they are going to risk injury. Rarely do starters play in the final preseason game. 

 

The Bears held out like 20 players in Seattle. So we have yet to see the true first team at any point. That is promising and alarming at the same time. Promising that the actual team is much better but alarming that there are that many injuries.

[Mongo3451]

11 minutes ago, adam said:

Promising that the actual team is much better but alarming that there are that many injuries.

With Eberflus "get your track shoes" mentality, there might be some tight hammies.  I've never understood the mentality of the last preseason game.  Not being ready presents a huge increase in chance of injury due to being out of sync. 

[AZ54]

With 8 days between games to practice and then 2 weeks practice before Wk 1 I think we'll see the starters play at least a full quarter.  Under the old schedule we had just 1wk between last preseason game and Wk 1.  

[Stinger226]

3 hours ago, adam said:

On offense, Kmet looked great. Fields seems to be getting more confident. No fumbles or INTs, which is a positive. Evans looked good. I thought Jenkins played well. Dazz Newsome seems like an easy cut. He continues to drop easy passes and even though it wasn't his fault, muffed another punt. Isaiah Coulter made a couple of nice catches and he may slip onto the final roster. 

On defense, Blackson looked good in his short time in, Muhammad got a sack and ran 30+ yds downfield to make a tackle (which was impressive). Coley had another sack, I think he makes the team. Sanborn again tied for the team-high in tackles. As a whole, the unit did what it needed to do. Outside of the TD after the muffed punt, they only allowed a FG and two chunk plays (long run and screen pass). 

The biggest note was how bad Seattle looked a week after playing the Steelers even. 

The commentators were trash. They blamed Seattle's poor showing on a short week, like the Bears didn't have the same thing lol. 

 

The Bears don't play again for 8 days, but I doubt we see any starters in that game. 

Plus the Bears had to travel, Seahawks were home. There are 4 or 5 teams out of the block look worst than the Bears. For people to still say , we are the worst team in the league is a joke.

[Stinger226]

I think if things don't play out for the OL, Schofield and Reiff. will start. Also Patrick is supposed to be back. So I think the line will be average at worst.

[adam]

11 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

I think if things don't play out for the OL, Schofield and Reiff. will start. Also Patrick is supposed to be back. So I think the line will be average at worst.

Borom seems to be the only one really struggling, so I can see Reiff taking RT to make it Jones, Whitehair, Patrick, Jenkins, Reiff with Borom, Schofield, and Mustipher as the backups. 

[AZ54]

This game was a snapshot of two rebuilding teams.  One with an existing coaching staff and front office both of which have been successful in the past.  The other an all new organization.  Seattle had full slate of draft picks to help their rebuild and they were also 7th in available cap room heading into the offseason.   Chicago had limited draft picks and was 11th in available cap space heading into the offseason (referenced link below).    Remove the uniform colors... which team are you taking home with you?   I'm not talking talent per se just what was done with the talent on the field.  IMO it was no contest and the Bears were head and shoulders above the performance of the Seahawks.   That bodes well for the future.  

https://seahawkswire.usatoday.com/lists/seahawks-ranking-projected-2022-salary-cap-room/

[BearFan PHX]

13 hours ago, AZ54 said:

DTs are still a concern as I see little besides "effort" guys.  I wouldn't be surprised to see us add someone here after cuts are done. 

I dont think Jones played, and he was getting a ton of penetration in the first preseason game.

[Stinger226]

I don't remember hearing his name but the box score has him with some tackles.

[BearFan PHX]

2 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

I don't remember hearing his name but the box score has him with some tackles.

I think he only played the first series - I think thats why the DL looked so porous.