Couldn’t wash that Bears stink off of him.
He singlehandedly ruined a great o-line, seriously. Most UDFAs would’ve been an upgrade. No idea how he started.
It’s insane how big of an upgrade Marion Barber is over Chester Taylor. Taylor can start packing his bags any time.
The Offensive Line has been pretty great at run blocking, the pass pro has left a lot to be desired.
The Bills are using the Wildcat with Brad Smith a TON.
I can’t watch the game, so I’m not sure. But I do know the Packers aren’t playing 4 out of their top 5 CB’s, and I can’t imagine Tramon is in there for very long. I do wonder if Capers is calling any of his blitzs or if their playing pedestrian defenses.
I sure do like that Matt Flynn guy. And Randall Cobb is looking like quite the catch. OF course, by “looking” I mean “following on the internets, but not actually watching”.
Did Forte start? How long were the first team O Line in for?
Forte didn’t play at all. Barber had 45 yards on 7 carries; he rushed for more than 45 yards just twice all last season.
Forte started. Got 3 plays and no touches. Basically it was totally symbolic.
ETA: The O Line played pretty much the entire first half. Carimi looked very good, Webb looked pretty shaky. The interior was pretty sound and there were no QB exchange issues that I noticed. The defensive line looked excellent, especially in the middle. Peppers was actually pretty disappointing but he might be coasting. Wootton got hurt covering the opening kickoff, that’s pretty scary, no news on how serious yet.
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ETA: The O Line played pretty much the entire first half. Carimi looked very good, Webb looked pretty shaky. The interior was pretty sound and there were no QB exchange issues that I noticed.
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Again, I can’t watch, but NFL.com says the Bears gave up 8 sacks so far, and 3 in the first quarter. I can’t wait for the regular season if they keep this up.
Just gave up the 11th. Pass pro was shaky and the QBs were holding the ball way too long. The passing game on the whole sucked dick. The running game and special teams were both exceptionally good. The defense tackled really well and pursued well, and got exceptional push up the middle from both the starters and reserves. The secondary was playing way too soft and gave up a lot of 3rd and long conversions. Buffalo’s offense was pretty bad when they weren’t in the wildcat, which was surprisingly effective.
McNabb looked ok in his limited time. Webb and Ponder looked as raw as they are.
That QB, Locker, that the Titans drafted looks pretty good. Heady kid. He made a nice TD pass out of a dropped snap, and just looked sharp and aware in general.
I was expecting the Browns offense to be a mess - totally new system, new coach, no OC, worst (?) receivers in the NFL - all on a shortened training camp schedule. But it came out looking polished and efficient and really quite good. I know the Packers had CBs out, and that certainly affected things, but no packer defender got within 5 feet of McCoy at any time in the game that I recall - the O-line just owned them. The passes were on time and very accurately on target.
A QB like McCoy needs to be in the right offense, and for once it seems like they designed the offense around the quarterback instead of trying to force a square peg in a round hole.
Defense was about as expected - no d-line depth, linebackers meh, pretty decent secondary.
So far I’m pleasantly surprised. I expected much worse.
I’ll say this about the Bears O Line after watching the post game and the highlights, Gabe Carimi is already the Bears best offensive lineman. Take that as you will.
If the Bears’ opening day roster at RB is anything but 1) Forte, 2) Barber, 3) Bell I’ll be appalled. I like Unga as well if there’s room for him as a FB and special teams specialist.
Watching the replay of the Saints game on NFL Network. Really liked what I saw from the starting defense. Granted, it’s the first preseason game, and they’re only playing the 49ers, but that is on stout D line. Chase Daniels appears to be a decent back up QB, and Ingram delievered a nifty 14 yard TD run. Play of the half…and likely the game…was Morgan’s 78 yard punt return for a TD.
I wouldn’t be sold on the Saints D-Line based on that game alone. Ingram is the real deal, however, and Daniels is serviceable, if nothing worse. Both displayed instinct.
I’m just glad D’Qwell Jackson didn’t tear anything.
Josh Cribbs didn’t look too shabby at WR.
Well, they look much improved over last year. Again, first preseason game, and only against the 49ers, but they showed an ability to pressure the QB even without the multiple blitzes. I don’t think Cameron Jordan is going to start this year, barring injury…and I think he might be starting on other teams. I like the depth…and King looked like another solid backup guy.
Bears rotational DE Corey Wootton tore a lateral meniscus on the opening kickoff of the game Saturday. He’s supposed to have surgery tomorrow to repair it and will miss 4 weeks. He should be close to ready for opening day, though caution might see him waiting until week 2 or 3. Hopefully the rehab isn’t serious enough to warrant a medical redshirt ala Henry Melton. This is disappointing for a guy many in camp had penciled in for a breakout year, though we should probably count our blessings that it wasn’t a torn ACL which cost him his senior year in college. At the pace he’s going though he might never make it to that second contract.
Vernon Gholston just got a huge opportunity to lock down a roster spot. He was inconsistent in the opening game but did show some flashes.
If anyone is interested, Dan Pompei broke down the Bears game film and had the following comments: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-0815-pompei-film--20110815,0,6762783.column
Much of it is the same as what I observed Saturday. Many of the new additions were really impressive, notably Carimi and Okoye. The problems on the offensive line were obvious and they came from the players you’d expect. We’ll see how long of a leash Lance Louis and J’Marcus Webb get. I was surprised to see Pompei highlight Chris Williams as a positive, he wasn’t bad by any stretch but he didn’t really stand out to me either. If Pompei says he was good in the running game that’d be a shock since he was pretty useless there all last season. If he somehow settles in as a average or better LG we might count ourselves very lucky. It was very good to see the young players Lovie has been touting actually follow through on that confidence in their second years, notably Melton and Major Wright.
If the Bears line continues to struggle and the Bears don’t add a FA I think it’s only a matter of time before Tice has to eat his words and shuffle them around again, I think that the opening day group will probably be Omiyale, Williams, Spencer, Garza, Carimi based on one game’s performance. It’ll be interesting to see if Edwin Williams gets a chance at RG this coming week, Louis was that bad. Webb was equally terrible but unless they add a FA I’m not sure what their options are. Carimi could move but that just opens a hole on the other side and Omiyale was better on the left last season.
Belichick, a year or two ago.
I really, really like McCoy. He has limitations, but I see a lot of Jeff Garcia in him.