Football is back baby! That means we get to watch our Bears in action! Here are my notes from tonight's 25-10 preseason loss to the Chargers:
-He wasn't in the game for long, but Jay Cutler looked well enough in the eight plays he was on the field. He completed both of his pass attempts to Johnny Knox for 47 total yards. Otherwise it was hand-offs and a sack for Jay tonight in a bland offensive gameplan. Still, there's a noticeable difference on that side of the ball thanks to Martz. We'll see how it looks going forward. Some fans were surprised at Cutler only playing one series, but I was fine with it. He'll get plenty of reps in the next two games. Though I honestly doubted Lovie's claim of playing his starters close to a half. Yeah, right.
-Even in a preseason game, you would have liked to have seen more pressure from the defensive line. Especially since the Chargers' starting left tackle was out and the starters were in for three series. There was plenty of poor form on tackles, missed reads in the secondary and mis-played runs. You would think the defense would look better with all the upgrades over the offseason. Not much from Julius Peppers either, but with the quick plays San Diego was running, it would be hard for anyone to get pressure.
-The star of the night was undoubtedly Major Wright. In early after Craig Steltz (who was starting for the injured Danieal Manning) left with an injury, Wright came on and made his share of solid tackles in the backfield as well as downfield. Unfortunately, Wright eventually left the game with a finger injury. Eff. Need more safeties.
-Special teams was garbage. Poor coverage all night and a blocked punt (amongst many short punts) for a safety will not please ST coach Dave Toub.
-Good battle going on between Kahlil Bell and Garrett Wolfe for the third running back spot. Wolfe has the edge in special teams but Bell seems to have the more significant offensive impact. There's some great competition here.
-Devin Aromashodu's 4 catches for 78 yards and 1 TD stood out on offense. He might not be a legitimate number one yet, but D.A.'s come a long way. Hopefully he keeps getting better.
-On the offensive line, there wasn't a lot of problems in pass protection but the run-blocking wasn't all that great. Back-up center Josh Beekman committed a bad holding penalty while stepping on Caleb Hanie's foot and mis-handled a snap. A lot of inexperience on all three offensive line squads. Dan LeFevour got swallowed by the defense when he came in.
Injuries of note: Major Wright (finger), Caleb Hanie (shoulder), Craig Steltz (hamstring)
We host Oakland next Saturday, so look out for another game preview as well as more division previews during the week!
Bear down!
