AZ54

This game was a snapshot of two rebuilding teams. One with an existing coaching staff and front office both of which have been successful in the past. The other an all new organization. Seattle had full slate of draft picks to help their rebuild and they were also 7th in available cap room heading into the offseason. Chicago had limited draft picks and was 11th in available cap space heading into the offseason (referenced link below). Remove the uniform colors... which team are you taking home with you? I'm not talking talent per se just what was done with the talent on the field. IMO it was no contest and the Bears were head and shoulders above the performance of the Seahawks. That bodes well for the future. https://seahawkswire.usatoday.com/lists/seahawks-ranking-projected-2022-salary-cap-room/

With 8 days between games to practice and then 2 weeks practice before Wk 1 I think we'll see the starters play at least a full quarter. Under the old schedule we had just 1wk between last preseason game and Wk 1.

Overall again I'm impressed. We have talent gaps but this was another well organized, disciplined, hustle/effort game. It's just night and day compared to any of the recent coaching staffs. Unlike the ESPN crew I don't have to sit here and justify mistakes as being good for lessons-learned like they did for Seattle. What I liked best is that our rookie LT left town and the announcers still don't know his name. And now for deep thoughts... I think the RG situation is settled. On a short week of practice and Jenkins, while maybe not always looking comfortable inside, did well IMO. While pass protection is still unsettled at times the run blocking again seems to be good. Eiselen seemed to do alright at center at least I didn't notice any glaring missteps. Ebner still has a ways to go reading the blocking on runs, especially inside. He danced out of some good gaps (at least one behind Jenkins) and ended up with a short gain. He just needs a bit of patience to let the big guys do their thing. Velus is easy fast. Fields knows the plays... meaning it appears he's got his reads down. The processing is still a bit slow but time and experience will improve that. As will consistency from his Oline. Love the little bootlegs. We see the emergence of some of our screen plays that will be worked off the running game. I still feel like Kmet is more agile this year versus last and it showed on that little screen pass he caught. Kyler Gordon didn't have his best game but it's his first action and his timing will improve. His athleticism is obvious because few players can make that u-turn at speed to chase a QB back the other way as he did. I wasn't impressed by any of the starting LBs. Sanborn played a ton and again he seems to just end up where the ball is which is good, and that's also on special teams. I can't see how he doesn't make the 53 and maybe even game day rosters as a core special teams player. DTs are still a concern as I see little besides "effort" guys. I wouldn't be surprised to see us add someone here after cuts are done. Our DEs will be ok this year. I read some articles on Seattle before the game and their good news was how well both of their rookie OTs were playing. We won a few battles against them even with backups. Eberflus is going to use the late game mistakes to drive home his point on execution. Ryan Poles face said it all when Seattle called a timeout with 22s left in the game to force us to punt. He had seen all he wanted to see and was ready to go home.

...and maybe a better Oline coach.

I liked both Watson and Doubs but both were limited in route running skills and it will just take time. It couldn't have helped Watson to miss time with the knee surgery but I'm not complaining.

If he is good enough to avoid early pressure on the inside Fields is going to have a good season.

Exactly what you want in a press conference... https://www.nfl.com/news/packers-young-receivers-aim-to-respond-to-aaron-rodgers-criticism

Does anyone else feel like our coaches seem to be going out of their way to compliment Jenkins as he makes this transition to RG? https://www.chicagobears.com/news/bears-starters-play-6-10-snaps-in-seattle-preseason-teven-jenkins-offensive-line "We kicked him inside and he's been there for a couple days and he's doing a good job," Eberflus said. "We're excited where he goes from this moving forward. We'll see how it goes. This is another combination that we have, we're looking at, and we'll go from there." "He's very smart," Eberflus said. "Very athletic player. And one of my mentors said this—and I believe this and he engrained into my mind—is that you never put a ceiling on a player. So you'll always have to watch out for that as a coach. https://bearswire.usatoday.com/2022/08/17/bears-teven-jenkins-has-chance-to-start-at-right-guard/ Offensive line coach Chris Morgan believes Jenkins has the skillset to thrive at guard in this offensive scheme. “He’s got great size; he’s got good strength,” Morgan said. “He’s a smart football player. Those are all things you want inside, that translate inside. Things move fast inside.” https://www.windycitygridiron.com/2022/8/15/23307238/chicago-bears-had-teven-jenkins-at-guard-larry-borom-riley-reiff-luke-getsy-kyler-gordon-velus-jones “Guards get stressed mentally more than tackles do in this system,” Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said today after practice. “That’s the strength of his game. So we want to try that and see what that looks like within what we’re trying to get done.”

I believe Borom's reps were more about game prep since Reiff isn't playing tomorrow. Even if Reiff is good enough to practice you'd still want the cohesiveness on the Oline, on the road, especially if you planned on giving Jenkins early reps in the game. He and Borom have to know how to work together.

This situation just gets weirder by the day and Roquan's value keeps dropping by the day.

I'm really glad to see this because I think this gives us a chance at having a good Oline.

Thought this was interesting given all of our hand wringing over Jenkins. They gave Karlaftis a B+ for his performance. You also know they don't really care about your team when they completely ignore what Brisker did on the field. I'm not terribly worried if he got Braxton on his heels early on. He's a different type of pass rusher than anyone we have on the roster and he just has to learn how to deal with that. https://www.nfl.com/news/2022-nfl-preseason-week-1-rookie-grades-lions-aidan-hutchinson-aces-test The second of the Chiefs' two first-round picks this spring did not disappoint in his initial action with the team. Karlaftis locked out his arms to get leverage, punched with heavy hands and shed blockers when playing the run. He pushed the left tackle into the backfield on one snap and was using arm-over and push-pull moves with strong hands to win as a pass rusher. The former Purdue star chased Bears quarterback Justin Fields to the sideline on a scramble and later sacked backup Trevor Siemian. Karlaftis is not going to win with elite speed and bend off the edge, though he was able to get the corner at times by powering through the outside shoulder of a blocker. Fields scrambled in the rookie's direction for a 10-yard gain when he was unable to get off a block, and he was stuffed off the snap at times by second-year tackle Teven Jenkins. Regardless, Karlaftis' strength, relentless motor and hand usage outside will make him an excellent three-down end not only as a rookie, but for years to come.

I don't think Dom Robinson is going to be a major contributor. I'm not even sure he'll be active on game days. He has to show a lot more than sacking QBs when he's not blocked. Ja'Tyre Carter has held up well physically at RG though it appears more time is needed to adjust to the NFL game. I could see him on the practice squad this year, maybe on the 53 if we keep 9, and then replacing Whitehair next year. I like what Greg Gabriel said about hiding him the rest of the preseason so we can sneak him onto the practice squad. I don't think that's what Eberflus will do so they just might let him compete for the starting role. Schofield has a huge advantage to make the final roster with his versatility but someone named Jenkins at RG could replace that soon. Watch carefully the snaps these three players get in game 2.

The joke is on Roquan for trusting somebody who is not qualified to work as an agent. Roquan has some issues with poor judgment going back to his time where he lost his iPad with the playbook. One event on its own isn't a big deal but he has a trend over the last few years. https://bearswire.usatoday.com/lists/everything-you-need-to-know-about-saint-omni-and-the-roquan-smith-situation/ "It’s pretty difficult to find much about Saint Omni. But we did some digging and learned that Saint Omni is the director of football at LifeLine Financial Group, according to this article posted by Complex back in Nov. 2021. Saint Omni’s Facebook page, which hasn’t been updated in over two years, lists him as a “business consultant and manager for high profile NFL Athletes and celebrities.” The Facebook page has since been deleted."

Sanborn is getting time with the 2's today. He earned it.

Looks like a few players returned to practice today: Kmet, Gordon, Velus Jones. Jenkins lined up at RG with the 2nd team early on which I think is good news but we'll see if this carries over to the team drills.

https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/bears/bears-teven-jenkins-finds-happiness-return-field-ready-show-out

That nonchalant persona carried over to his press conference which was a little disappointing to watch.

Maybe this will help get his head back in the game.

In my first summary of the KC game I stated that this team seemed organized. That was especially true for a new staff, new players, all running new systems and many coaches are in new roles. In his post-game press conference Eberflus was asked about that and this article sums up the preparation that went into that. One item he said that isn't in the article is that the decision to go for it on 4th down late in the game was given to Getsy early. Eberflus told him at the start of that set of downs if he gets to 4th and 3 or less he's going for it. Other things stood out to me as well such as how smoothly we looked when we switched from extra pt to going for 2 after our first TD. It was quick transition with players onto the field with a play to run. The last item that caught my eye was how smoothly the entire offense hurried up to the new LOS after Sharpe's big catch. Fields got everyone into position for a quick snap to limit the opportunity for KC to review the play. I don't know who was on the field on that play but overall we did that with backup TEs/WRs so they are coaching this stuff to everyone in camp, and equally important is that Getsy had the next play call ready to go. Or they have a given set of plays/signals for this situation. There was no fumbling through a play sheet to figure it out. https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2022/8/13/23304622/bears-matt-eberflus-debut-long-time-coming-replay-challenge-soldier-field-19-14-final-head-coach-nfl

With below average interior play against he run I think we need to be prepared for the return of bend but don't break. I don't see us forcing many 3 and outs. Just wait for the turnover, drive killing penalty, or a 3rd and long situation. The back 7 is good enough that we should get a few PBUs that force teams into a 3rd and long and at least give the strength of our Dline, the edge rush, a shot at making a play. Don't give up the big plays.

Newsome has a fatal receiving flaw... he's not looking at the ball all the way into his hands. It can be seen on his muffed punt and again the bobbled ball on his TD reception. Take a look at the highlights of Mooney's and Sharpe's big catches and ball, hands, and eyes are all at the same spot.

Sanborn doesn't have Roquan's speed but he does have his intensity. On a different note ... we have a good punter. Gill had some impressive kicks and his ability to dead-drop the ball inside the 10yd line is going to help this team. We saw that on his college highlights but he should just get better at it as a pro.

You are putting Herbert behind Evans and I don't see that happening if for no other reason for his return ability. I didn't see anything with Evans to make me think he outperformed Herbert either. If it's cap space you are after then Evans is a little higher than Herbert (1m vs. 800k). OTOH I do agree that the combination of Herbert and Ebner could mean they don't give Montgomery a new deal. I want to see that play out over the course of the season because 1) I think Ebner is better fit as RB3/ 3rd down specialist. 2). I'm not sure Herbert is able to carry load for 20 carries a game. We saw last year after a few games as a starter he wasn't as effective.

My overall observation from today's game is that we looked....organized. For an entirely new staff the usual hiccups we saw during the Nagy years with player substitutions, late play calls, blown assignments, and then even just executing plays seemed pretty smooth. Execution was perfect at all times for sure but for me this was a positive sign with this coaching staff. Braxton Jones looked like belonged. I was surprised by how well he played overall even if not perfect. For a 5th Rd rookie in his first NFL action it was clear he belonged on the field. During the draft we had multiple conversation about grabbing one of the hustle type LBs late. We ended up with Sanborn as UDFA but he always seemed to be at the right spot and wasn't chasing plays. He also had some standout plays on special teams. Pretty good for a UDFA and I like his chances to make the 53. I watched Micah Dew-Treadway a bit since he was surprisingly listed as a 2nd string DT but saw nothing to make me think he's more than a practice squad player. While Treadway was struggling to get past the LOS some guy named Coley who I never heard of kept making plays in the backfield. Overall though the DTs didn't impress me at all and I think we're going to struggle with consistency here all season long. Nobody is surprised by that and this will be high on the needs list next offseason. DEs on the other hand have me optimistic. AQM and Gipson looked good. When we add Quinn to the mix we'll have a solid 3-man rotation. The surprising rookie had a splash play but IMO beyond that his inexperience showed every time he was engaged with an OT. I like his potential and so we'll see what he learns between now and the next game. Ebner on his first return was impressive cutting at speed. Few players can get to the edge and then turn upfield at speed like he did. Darrynton Evans has an uphill battle to make the roster with Ebner around. Sharpe made a great catch. He wasn''t able to run away from the DB but if he can keep using his body positioning to his advantage he can be productive. Fields looked good overall, maybe a touch slow reading things. Give all the backups he was working with at WR and (all) TEs. While there were struggles I go back to my first comment with organization and this felt like how an NFL offense should be run. Get plays in, get out of the huddle early, and then Just need it turn into better execution.