Bears

Chicago Bears: Preseason Week One Review

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by Greg Talcott

I cannot believe I was once again duped into being optimistic about my beloved Chicago Bears and predicting they would be a great turnaround story and make the playoffs in 2015; not without Kevin White they won’t. The heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, kick in the gooch news of the week was the Bears’ first-round draft choice is going to be out anywhere from 6 games – the entire season. What does that mean? For starters, an offense that should have ranked in the top half of the NFL this season will now likely to be in the bottom half. Why? Simply put; Alshon Jeffery is unproven as a true #1 elite receiver and he needed a legitimate threat on the other side to keep defenses honest. Now he has Eddie Royal, a receiver who 8 years ago had his best year as a pro (rookie season) playing with Jay Cutler. This makes Eddie Royal the first and only receiver in NFL history who needs Jay Cutler to make him look better than he is.

Making matters worse for the Bears is that the aforementioned Alshon Jeffery is also injured, missing last week’s game against the Dolphins and will miss this week’s game against the Colts. So what, it’s only the preseason you say. As any longtime Bear fan can tell you, they need all the breaks they can get every year just to compete with the Packers for the last 20 seasons. A ginger Alshon Jeffery and an injured Kevin White requires the Bears to go out and sign someone who can play. The first name that comes to mind is future HOF inductee Reggie Wayne. Who do the Bears sign? Jeremy Kelley. Jeremy Kelley has never played a down in the NFL yet John Fox and Adam Gase say they liked him in Denver. Doing what, handing towels to the other players as they came off the field? Did he make a great cup of coffee? Maybe he prepares a mean Eggs Benedict. Whatever, it’s not like this is the first time someone from Chicago got an important job without any experience.

As far as the game, the Bears won 27-10 behind the kicking of Robbie Gould and playing against a bunch of 3rd and 4th string players in garbage time. The Bears’ frontline defense got torched by Ryan Tannehill on the opening drive, so don’t read too much into the score. The Bears generated 4 interceptions against Dolphin scrubs and produced solid rushing numbers against the backups as well, but it was not a great game. What are the Bears hoping for in week 2 of the preseason? Finishing the week without injury is the number one goal. The second order of business should be signing a veteran wide receiver, but the Bears front office will likely spend the week planning a “First 10,000 Fans Get a Free Walking Boot” promotion for the home opener.

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