At the end of the Bears' final preseason game against the Cleveland Browns, the Bears came out the winners.
The won 16-10 and held the Browns to zero points in the second half.
But, Head Coach Lovie Smith had this to say about his defense: "I'm disappointed."
"The plan was to get a couple of three-and-outs and then take the players out, but it didn't turn out that way. We didn't play well. Believe me, if we could put our finger on it, we would have done something about it before now. We've got a little bit more time to get it right."
"We haven't played well. That is all you can say about it. We have not made all the effort we need to play well. All the things that go into playing well, we haven't done. Once we get all our guys going, I feel we will have a very strong defense."
Starting CB Charles Tillman was asked about the D's bad play this preseason, and he said, "If I had an answer, I'd tell you right now, we have to get this cleaned up."
Keep in mind that the Bears did rest two key starters on the defense: S Mike Brown and DT Tommie Harris.
They also kept G Terrance Metcalf, who has been injured for a while, on the sideline and TE Desmond Clark out.
Backup G Chester Adams was injured on the last play of the first half and reportedly went out with a knee injury.
That is why they need to get Fred Miller in uniform as a backup, just to get a veteran presence in there.
Read my Fred Miller article for more info.
Offensively
On the bright side for the Bears, third-string QB Caleb Hanie finished the game 12-for-17, for 115 yards, and he led the Bears down the field for two field goals.
Grossman led the Bears to their only TD drive, ending with a 19-yard pass to Brandon Rideau.
Orton was 4-for-7 and threw a bad ball because John St. Clair missed his block.
P.J. Pope, who was on the practice squad last season, carried the ball eight times for 34 yards in the second half.
The last WR spot on the Bears' roster could come down to Marty Booker, Mark Bradley, or Brandon Rideau.
This will be a tough call because the Bears' depth at WR looks like this: Brandon Lloyd, Rashied Davis, Devin Hester, Mark Bradley, Marty Booker, and Brandon Rideau.
And don't forget third-round pick Earl Bennett.
I think Rideau and Bradley should both make the team. Last night, they combined for eight catches, 105 yards, and one TD.
I don't know what you do with Marty Booker; he hasn't showed much this preseason.
This will be a tough call for the Bears, but for sure you have to keep Mark Bradley, because he is the type of playmaker Bernard Berrian was.
Did You Know?
Because the Bears beat the Browns last night, they prevented themselves from going 0-4 in the preseason for the first time since 1998.
Good Stuff
On a 4th-and-goal for the Browns, in the fourth quarter, the Bears' Craig Steltz tipped the ball and stopped the Browns from scoring.
Before that play, S Leonard Peters, who was on the practice squad last season, forced a fumble, which was later overturned.
Also, undrafted free agent CB Trey Brown, who took Cedric Benson's No. 32, picked off Ken Dorsey in the fourth quarter.
Lastly, the Bears' K Robbie Gould looked "good as gold" last night, as he made all three field-goal attempts he had, and his longest was a 48 yarder.
Heading into the Regular Season
Cutting their roster to 53 men is going to be tough for the Bears.
They must make their moves by Saturday.
The D is disappointed in themselves, and they should be, they gave up an average of 25 points and 326 total yards, 161 of that on the ground per game.
If they want to be the D they were in 2006, they better step it up a couple of notches
I'm Jake P.
Check out my blog at www.bearsbacker.com or email me at daperp730@aol.com
5 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
Dennis Perper 10 months ago
Rideau and Bradley both looked great last night. Good work Jake
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Joe Willett 10 months ago
Hanie to Bradly was great, I also think you need to include that we finally learned how to play Rex Grossman, just a little too late.
He needs to get just a little bit of time and he can find the open guy. He made some good passes and needs to use his power more for getting the ball there on time rather than just slinging it deep. I think he knows that now and could become a good QB, if only he could do it for the Bears.
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Jake Perper 10 months ago
Yea I see Grossman stepping in and doing a good job, if Orton either gets hurt or injured
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An'dre Triplett 10 months ago
The one thing with Rex is it seems like he doesn't trust the system. When he was at Florida that was what OBC (Old Ball Coach) (Spurrier) was all about. Now that he's had ample time to learn the system, he needs to trust it and his teammates. Who do you think the line plays better for?
Nice piece Jake
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Sahrish Khan 10 months ago
would you be able to trust this system?
a system that Ron Turner is too inept to run?
what pisses me off is that they have NO idea what they are doing. i've heard them say before this year that there is always competition at every position, so I assumed Orton never showed anything spectaculor at training, BUT they said that Rex looked better than ever this training camp
so how was Orton better this year, but not last year?
nice article. it was a good read
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