Here we go!

Bears deferred the ball and kicked off to CAR. Pineiro kicks a touchback 8 yards into end zone.

Notable plays: Kwiatkoski is out of position and let's up a long dump off pass to the RB.

Roquan Smith comes in on a blitz up the middle and almost kills the QB (he has a family). Smith is going to be a Pro Bowler this year. 

On 3 and long, pass incomplete, Panthers punt.

 

 

A really odd first series for the Bears, or the trend. I believe they did the same thing last year?

Trubisky in and hands off to Mike Davis 3 times, for a 3 and out.

2nd drive for Panthers, on 4th down they make it, then end up making a FG. Kwiatkoski missed another tackle on a long screen play.

Montgomery with a nice run, bounces it outside for a few extra yards. Then takes a short swing pass. Bunting makes a nice catch and it is negated by a phantom holding penalty. On the next play Daniel is sacked and the Bears punt.

Montgomery is going to be fun to watch. After Bears defense creates a fumble, the Bears move the ball nicely with Montgomery carrying the load. He had one crazy spin move near the LOS that allowed him to gain 3 more yards.

Then a hard stutter step and bounces it outside for an 8 yard TD run! He is going to be a beast.

Fry in for the XP, and it's good!

Nick Williams getting a lot of pressures, then Deon Bush makes an easy INT. Great series for the defense.

The Bears get into FG range but Pineiro misses wide left on 47-yarder. 

The Bears defense come up big again with RRH getting a big sack.

Daniel leads a late 2nd quarter hurry up drive and connects with Bunting for a huge gain with a few seconds left. That leaves a 43-yarder and Fry nails it to end the half.

 

Bears up 10-6 at half.

A quick 3 and out and a punt with Bray (who looked like a hot mess). On the punt, CAR gets a huge return and Montgomery makes the stop to prevent a TD.

On a short field, CAR scores easily and take the lead.

Montgomery with the nasty cuts.

Howard didnt have that speed to the hole, and that kind of change of direction. Montgomery is going to be a stud for us. Between Montgomery, Cohen and Patterson, those defensive linemen are going to be sucking wind chasing those guys around.

Haven't seen the game, but by the sounds or tweets, we have seen enough of Montegomery to shelf him until the season.  Some guys are saying La'veon Bell like.  Give him a series a game and keep him healthy.  

36 minutes ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

Haven't seen the game, but by the sounds or tweets, we have seen enough of Montegomery to shelf him until the season.  Some guys are saying La'veon Bell like.  Give him a series a game and keep him healthy.  

Same here,  but after viewing his highlight reel post draft, I remember saying that he looked a little like Bell.  I hope it stays that way.

He runs with such determination, and never goes down on first contact. He is a huge upgrade over Howard. Teams are going to have to respect the run, so I can imagine a lot of RPO and Play Action this year.

8 minutes ago, adam said:

He runs with such determination, and never goes down on first contact. He is a huge upgrade over Howard. Teams are going to have to respect the run, so I can imagine a lot of RPO and Play Action this year.

and since he is a legit receiver too, and cohen is too, and patterson is a wr or rb or te, basically when more than one of them is on the field, you dont know if youre looking at 5 wide or power I running, so whatever you substitute, youre wrong. awesome.

That TD run by Montgomery looked exactly like his college runs.  He never looks fast (because he's not) yet players are struggling to get a hand on him.   Even on his little screen pass up the right sideline he perfectly times and inside cut fake and then nets another 9-10yards before being pushed out of bounds.  

I always think when people say things like good balance , great vision, hard to tackle, make him miss, they are just searching to say things that make a average back look better.  The truth is , this guy has all that and it bodes  well in the NFL. He doesn't have strong speed, but with a little sample, you can his attributes will make him a top 10 RB. So similar to K. Hunt it is amazing. He will be averaging over 5 YPC, breaching 1000 yards and at least 40 catches. If we were not so loaded with talent, he would be among the leading RBs in the league. He is special and clear to see the difference between him and Howard. (who I liked)

That hug he got from Nagy after scoring the TD spoke volumes about what Nagy thinks of him.  That confirmed what Nagy wanted:  When the defense is perfect, or the offense isn't perfect, Montgomery can still make something positive happen.  

 

https://twitter.com/BaldyNFL/status/1160264068290228224?s=09&

I finally got to watch the entire first game.  I think the one thing that stood out the most was how much better the young CBs Franklin III and Joseph played compared to last year.  We may have some decent depth this year.  Skrine and Shelley are both playing well.  I didn't really catch Tolliver out there.  If their good play continues, and if they look good on special teams, I won't be surprised if a team grabs one of them for the bottom of their 53-man roster.  Further down the roster for us is Denmark who seems destined for the practice squad.