4 Takeaways from Chicago Bears’ 3rd Preseason Game
Published by Matt Eurich on August 30, 2015
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears traveled to Cincinnati on Saturday night to take on the Bengals in their third preseason game of the year and lost 21-10.
Chicago’s offense mustered just 194 yards of total offense, while the defense gave up 333 yards. After a promising performance against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2 of the preseason, head coach John Fox was disappointed with the team’s performance Saturday night.
“I don’t think we improved,” Fox said after the game, per ChicagoFootball.com’s Kevin Fishbain. “Every game, every team has its own personality. I just didn’t think we played as tight and as sharp as we did a week ago. Most of that was on third down, in particular on defense.”
The Bears will wrap up the preseason Thursday night at home against the Cleveland Browns, but many of the projected starters will not see the field.
Let’s take a look at four takeaways from Chicago’s third preseason game.
Offensive Line Continued to Struggle
Against the Bengals on Saturday night, the Bears committed 12 penalties for a total of 117 yards.
In total, the offense committed seven penalties on the night—three for false starts and four for holding. Chicago’s offense did a nice job of building momentum early in the game, but many of its penalties stalled drives.
“We were killing ourselves with penalties,” quarterback Jay Cutler said, per ChicagoBears.com’s Larry Mayer. “We had second-and-long. We had third-and-long. We were making it tough on [offensive coordinator] Adam [Gase]. It’s hard to dial up plays at that point. Offensively, we’ve got a lot of room for improvement.”
Chicago’s biggest issues were up front along the offensive line. Right tackles Charles Leno and Jordan Mills, left tackle Jermon Bushrod and right guard Kyle Long were all called for holding penalties against the Bengals.
Leno got the start at right tackle for the second game in a row, and according to Pro Football Focus, he played all 32 snaps with the first-team offense and finished the game with a minus-2.1 overall grade. He allowed one sack, one quarterback hit and one quarterback hurry.
Leno is an athletic tackle who could develop into a solid starter down the road, but Bleacher Report’s Dan Pompei has not been impressed with the young offensive lineman:
Mills replaced Leno when the second-team offense came on the field, and according to Pro Football Focus, he played 23 snaps and finished with a minus-2.5 overall grade. Mills came into the game in the third quarter and immediately struggled against Cincinnati’s pass rush, per WGN Radio’s Adam Hoge:
The Bears have not indicated who the starter will be at right tackle when they open up the season against the Green Bay Packers in Week 1, and there is a good chance the team will want to get another look at both Leno and Mills at right tackle when Chicago takes on Cleveland in the final preseason game.
Despite a Lack of Weapons, Cutler Played Well
Cutler was without receivers Alshon Jeffery, Marquess Wilson and Eddie Royal on Saturday night, but the veteran quarterback still completed 13 of his 17 passing attempts for 98 yards and finished the game with an 89.8 quarterback rating.
Pompei was impressed by Cutler’s performance despite not having any of his top receivers on the field, tweeting:
Cutler has looked comfortable in the pocket throughout the preseason, and the former Vanderbilt Commodore’s decision-making has also improved.
“You don’t want to force the ball down the field,” he said after the game, per Mayer. “You don’t want to do anything stupid.”
Chicago began the game with Joshua Bellamy and Rashad Lawrence as its starting wide receivers, and according to Pro Football Focus, they both played all 32 snaps with the first-team offense. Veteran Marc Mariani lined up out of the slot with the first-team offense and played 25 snaps.
Lawrence and Mariani both hauled in two catches, and Bellamy recorded one, but Cutler did most of his damage through the air when targeting Martellus Bennett. The veteran tight end recorded seven catches on seven targets for 45 yards.
Even though his offensive line was struggling around him—and he was without his top receivers—Cutler was still poised in the pocket and played under control when in the game. If he can carry that approach into the regular season, Cutler has a chance to vastly improve his numbers from last season.
Defense Struggled to Build Off Its Performance Against Indianapolis
In Chicago’s preseason victory over the Colts last week, the team’s first-team defense showed flashes of its potential against Indianapolis’ first-team offense. On Saturday night against the Bengals, the defense appeared to take a step back.
Chicago’s first-team defense gave up 21 points and 210 yards to Cincinnati’s offense in the first half.
Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton completed all six of his passing attempts for 52 yards, while running back Jeremy Hill carried the ball 11 times for 46 yards and scored one touchdown.
After the game, outside linebacker Jared Allen talked about what the defense needs to improve, per Fishbain:
We had five or six third-and-six-pluses we’ve got to get off the field on. That’ll be an emphasis, that’ll be something we harp on. The good thing is the majority of the stuff is correctable. It’s a process. Luckily it’s the preseason. They should put a little salt in your craw. We’ve got to fix things. We’ve got to be consistent week-in and week-out.
Even though the defense struggled as a whole Saturday night, a few players stood out.
Defenders in New Positions Impressed
Allen moved to outside linebacker this offseason in the team’s new 3-4 defense, and he has shown improvement on a weekly basis in the preseason. After applying pressure to Colts quarterback Andrew Luck last week, Allen showed off his ability against the run Saturday night.
Allen finished the game with two tackles and did a nice job of setting the edge against the run, per Hoge:
Chicago rotated a lot of players on defense in the first half, and outside linebacker Willie Young flashed at times when on the field. According to Pro Football Focus, Young played 34 snaps on defense, finished with a plus-4.5 overall grade and recorded a team-high three quarterback hurries.
Young is going to have a hard time making Chicago’s roster because of his lack of athleticism, but he has shown in limited snaps during the preseason that he can still put pressure on the quarterback.
Defensive tackle Will Sutton got an extended look at nose tackle Saturday night after Jeremiah Ratliff (ankle) and Eddie Goldman (concussion) left the game early, according to the team’s official Twitter account. Per Pro Football Focus, Sutton played 35 snaps on defense and recorded three tackles.
Sutton appeared to be a bad fit at the nose tackle position in defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s scheme, but he has performed well all offseason, per the Chicago Tribune‘s Dan Wiederer:
Sutton’s spot on the roster is not guaranteed, but due to Goldman’s injury and Ratliff’s impending suspension, per Hoge, he has a good chance of making the team’s final 53-man roster.
Statistical information courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise noted.
Matt Eurich is a Chicago Bears featured columnist for Bleacher Report and a member of the Pro Football Writers of America.
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