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I'm curious whose returning kicks. I sure don't think it's Maurice Alexander. I thought Dueveny was the guy?

5 days between games, one live padded practice on Wed, travel on Thur. In his post game presser after the Bills game he said in pre-season he just uses the same old playbook he's been using for years. I doubt he put in much more effort than that on a short week.

I'm not for how long but I did see Newman at RG and think Bates had some snaps there. Kiran was in at LT late in the game.

I think Zah goes PS. Walker is a PS lock IMO but could slide into the 53. Depends on the things on all the other stuff that's harder to assess: special teams/meeting rooms, assignment-sound, intangibles.

I simply think the Bears are too high on him to give up this early. Who else do we have as the 4th LB? Ogbon? Hippolyte is just relying on his old habits of watching the plays and then running faster than everyone else to get there. He needs to improve his ability to read plays and react sooner, then he can stand out. It obvious on film, he knows it too and said as much in his most recent press conference. In the meantime he needs to become a core special teams player. Let's coach him.

It's always an opinion, not sure why everyone thinks everything I say is set in stone. From a logical point of view, 1 practice usually means they don't have time to put in a game plan.

Without having looked at each play multiple times, just by eye on a single viewing, this is what i saw too. Totally agree. I am concerned about the pass rush. Without one, it's not easy to win games, especially against good QBs.

I was able to rewatch the game with a lot of slo-mo on plays. Dline just looked tired and got pushed around a lot, even Billings. In fact the whole team looked tired with little burst to anything going on until maybe the third series on the field for both offense and defense. Nonetheless there were some good things to note: Oline: Drew Dalman I thought played well, seems like a good addition, Jonah Jackson too. Darnell Wright played poorly early then settled down a bit but never looked dominant. Braxton Jones did ok, as usual had some missteps in protection but I don't recall the bad step where he gets beat early. Newman missed a couple assignments and gave up immediate pressure on a couple plays otherwise he looks good for a late round pick. Trapilo looks good enough to keep pressure on Darnell Wright. Theo Benedet got blown up a few times by Gillotte and then settled down a bit but he had a big wake up call when he first took the field. I didn't pick up on who the backup LG/RG were but Bates was in at Center. If we can fix the blown blocking assignments then overall the pass protection was just ok. Run blocking was just ok as well but this feels like the best depth we've had on Oline in a long time. Given all the bad Oline history I can definitely see the Bears keeping 10 Oline on the 53, 9 for sure. RB: Swift had two plays where I believe last year he'd have tried to get outside but instead he stuck his head down and dove forward. One was for a first down, the other just for a 3yd gain. The coaching impact there was good to see. The rental RBs looked like dudes fighting for a job somewhere but showed no outstanding traits. WRs: We're good here. QBs: I still think Caleb has a problem with big games, maybe against big name QBs, where he wants to look good and make the big plays. He was holding the ball too long early on but got going later. Love the TD to Rome where he looks outside at first then sees Rome and fires fast. Overall this was a mediocre showing from him but i still believe he'll settle in more with this offense and expectations as the season moves along. If nothing else getting so many reps against KCs defense was a great way to prep for the MNF game. I think there are some similarities to what both teams do with their front 7 although on the backend KC might use more man vs. zone by the Vikings. Bagent is worth every penny. Dline: Poor although Sweat looked like his old self early on. Nobody else looked good. LBs: Didn't even notice them other than Edwards getting beat easily by Kelce in the middle of the field. DBs: Here I felt we had sticky coverage all game long. There were some bad penalties and a couple blown assignments late. Mahomes was often forced to hold the ball longer than he wanted. If we could have mustered a pass rush to compliment things that game would have looked a lot different.

do you think Zah might go on the practice squad first? And after last night Walker has made a good case for himself for sure

Ian Wheeler We maykeep 9. If ten, I'd probably keep Kramer. Jahdae Walker 💯 Daniel Hardy Hyppolite and Amen Zah Frazier Those are my keepers...

Because you worded it like was fact and then you answered me that it was your assumption. That equals fake news...🤪

What research applies to no game plan in preseason? It did look like they wanted to try to run the ball more.

The first game is home. Detroit is a road game

Just got done watching the game and came away with a list of hopes. I hope: BJ didn't have scripted plays, the defense didn't pass rush on purpose, Adam acknowledges the screw job the refs provide the Chiefs, the secondary gets healthy, Braxton works the Frankenstein out of his pass pro set, Thuney is Thuney (because our LG play was pathetic), someone bitch slaps DJ Moore (on the first half TD play, he acted like he could care less. His body language is shit) Stinger researches before he makes blanket statements or he'll be labeled CNN. The Chiefs beat our ass in every possible way.

I don't think PS players get any more reps than 2 nd string players. Since Hippolyte has been exposed to the NFL. If on the practice squad, his speed will attract attention.

No but they had a short week ( one practice) and they don't normally scheme for preseason games.

Me too. I'm hedging my Bears cynicism with a QB making his first career start on the road. If they win, it probably won't look pretty. The only thing I'd be shocked by is if either team won in a blowout.

I hope we're not down to the end in the 4th. My stomach would be in my throat.

Did he say he didn't scheme?

I tend to think this becomes a defensive struggle for both teams with the Bears narrowly winning because McCarthy turns the ball over more than our quarterback. I imagine it playing out very similarly to week 1 last year, hopefully with not as inept QB play from Caleb. I might be on suicide watch if he throws for under 100 yards again, and McCarthy outplays him in his first career start. Early prediction: Bears 20 Vikings 17, offense rallies from down 13-17 in the 4th and the defense holds at the end.

In minor defense of the offense last night, I think it was fairly obvious Johnson was trying to focus more on the run game and under center formations. Caleb's just not as comfortable with that as he is in shotgun. All of the explosives in the game against the Bills came from Shotgun. I didn't see as much of that until the 2 minute drive in this game. Frankly, if it were up to me, I'm running a mostly no-huddle, shotgun heavy system for Caleb to start the season, and will sprinkle in more of the Detroit stuff that Ben wants to run as the weeks go by. Just don't do the Luke Getsy/Shane Waldron thing and force your system on the QB right out of the gate and have to peel back after you start the season 0-1/0-2. I am worried that's what's going to happen.

Mine was Paso Robles Austin Hope!

Clearly the noise disrupted the offense and they needed this experience to move forward with. Thuney didnt play and he would matter with the pressure from Jones in the middle. BJ didnt scheme anything so hopefully he would have a better plan when you play such experienced offenses. As normal in KC games, they seem to got a lot of calls that went their way. As Adam said we were short handed on defense and it showed. We didnt have any pass rush but Mahomes was getting the ball out quick, always hard to affect with a pass rush. We are not ready for prime time yet but that makes this a lesson for both coaches and players. You cant be sloppy and expect to beat the Chiefs.

Minnesota will be without Jordan Addison for this one. On the injury front, we know the Bears will be without Booker. The team is still hopeful to have Jaylon Johnson back to match up with Justin Jefferson. Both of those two are dinged up right now. I could see a heavy dose of Aaron Jones and TJ Hockenson in Week 1. LBs will play a huge role in stopping them. The pros for the Bears is playing on MNF at home, Soldier Field should be electric. Getting off to a hot start is key. McCarthy is basically a rookie. Caleb played well against MIN last year all things considered, he had 531 passing yards (265 yds/g), 3 TD, 0 INT, and 5 sacks in two games against MIN. Ben Johnson's offenses play really well against MIN, in the last 3 seasons, DET has put up 31, 31, 30, 30, going 4-0 against them and a Flores led defense. So I am less concerned about the offense than I am about the defense and Special Teams. Early prediction, Bears 27-20.

You know Spags pulled the Detroit preseason tape and had at least a general idea of what to expect. On a few plays early, the DBs were running the routes for the Bears WRs. For the Bears defense, there is nothing you really can do if you are being held. On the Mahomes scramble and the play to JuJu where he rolled out, Bears were being held, yet no calls. The 30-yard penalty was also insane. Mahomes was targeting backup CBs and LBs, and it worked, shocker. Again, without JJ, Gordon, and Edmunds, that is a lot of downgrades in pass defense against the best QB in the NFL. Then no Jarrett or Booker in the rotation, and the line is going to be weaker. Also, I still like the live reps and actually glad Caleb got sacked, took a hit, and had to scramble, because now they have something to really work from compared to the Bills game being against the 2s. Compare that to McCarthy, who didn't play. Caleb didn't throw an INT in the preseason and was only sacked once. If you project that out for a full season, that is only 25 sacks, so his rate is down. Again, it's preseason, but the signs are there. His Comp% was 73.3 against KC and really only had 2 incompletions, a drop by Odunze, then the play in the end zone where Odunze was held at the top of the route. Burden got an unsportsmanlike penalty for spinning the ball, hopefully he learns from it and doesn't do something like that again. Better to do that in the preseason when the games don't count. Johnson said Booker will be out a few weeks, so I expect Hardy to make the 53-man. I would not be surprised if they look for Edge, CB, and RB help with the injuries.