Preseason Week 2: Bears at Colts Game Thread
Matt Eberflus told media that Justin Fields and the majority of of the Bears starters will not play on Saturday Night, and with that declaration the 1st team offense and defense are almost certainly done until Week 1.
This decision is completely understandable — both Bears starting units have seen 2-3 players miss time with minor camp injuries, so making an effort to preserve the team’s health in lieu of a pivotal Week 1 matchup makes sense. Eberflus will look to make a statement with the Bears’ 2023 season, and he can’t do that without a healthy roster. To me, this feels like the right decision.
The absence of the starters, though, will create plenty of opportunity for young players on the roster to shine — with that in mind, here’s the 6 players on each side of the ball that I’ll be watching as the Bears take on the Colts:
No second unit Offensive Lineman shined brighter than Carter against Tennessee, and as the second OL unit should see plenty of action throughout Saturday Night’s game he’s one of the primary players to watch tomorrow night.
Carter displayed sound footwork, clinical hands, great form as a pass protector, and a healthy dose of violence within the run game — with Lucas Patrick sidelined, Carter has an opportunity to take Patrick’s spot as the first Offensive Lineman off the bench and I’m curious to see if he’ll make the most of his chances. He likely doesn’t need to elevate his performance from his Tennessee game, simply show that he can be consistent and the job may be his. Keep an eye on #69.
Not all opportunities are created equally, but with Cody Whitehair and Lucas Patrick sitting out of tomorrow’s game Doug Kramer will have a major opportunity to prove himself after a rookie year marred by injury.
Kramer got his first action against Tennessee’s 2nd & 3rd string defensive line, but the second-year center played well all the same — if anything, I’ve done him a disservice not highlighting him sooner. He looked strong when moving in the run game & athletic as a pass-blocker, so if the 2022 6th round pick continues to show out in extended action against the Colts he may just earn a bigger role in 2023.
Happy Thursday everyone! The Bears’ defense reportedly showed out in their first joint practice with Indianapolis, giving the Colts’ offense early and finishing well in the late 2-minute drill. They’re playing with energy, finishing drills, and trash talking throughout practice — Adam Jahns writes that the unit has an ‘edge’, and that’s exactly what they’ll need throughout the 2023 season.
But which players are catalyzing the Bears’ defensive attitude shift? What worked last Saturday? What didn’t? To find out, let’s dissect the opening drive of last weekend’s preseason game and see what Alan Williams and the Bears’ defensive starters are cooking in prep for the 2023 season.
Our first two episodes of Dissecting a Drive covered the offense exclusively, so it’s about time we dive into the Bears’ defensive scheme! Lucky for us, Saturday’s Bears game provided us with a 12-play Tennessee touchdown drive that’s ripe for reviewing.
Keep in mind that because it’s the preseason, this is the most vanilla flavor of the Bears’ defensive structure you’ll see all year. That said, I can confirm that the Bears’ defensive bones are still in place throughout the drive — you’ll see a healthy dose of Cover 3, Cover 2, and Tampa 2 throughout this video and throughout the 2023 season, regardless of how the Bears tailor their calls to each opponent going forward.
In this drive, we see:
Check it out and let me know what you think!
With the Bears’ first preseason game in the books and no practice news to speak of, the only noteworthy thing that happened in Chicago football over the last few days was Nate Davis returning to practice.
From what I understand, Nate Davis has been nursing a legitimate injury (as opposed to skipping practice) so it’s great to see him back on the field. He should be a major help to Darnell Wright as a consistent pass-protector that does a great job handling his own business and helping his Tackle when needed. Davis is known for being a mauler in the run game, so get to know his pass pro abilities while you still have the chance — if he’s fully healthy by Week 1, they should show out against a tough GB front.
Nate Davis (the new #Bears Guard) does a really good job of keeping his base in pass pro — he's got very quick feet, meaning he consistently stays between his man & the QB, plus he keeps his head-up and catches stunts well.
Keep an eye on the RG here. You'll like what you see. pic.twitter.com/XpCRbzRhqe
— Robert Schmitz (@robertkschmitz) March 14, 2023
Speaking of tough fronts, is there anybody on the Bears’ DL that can back up Andrew Billings?
Billings looked like the clear largest defensive lineman on the Bears last Saturday, but we saw a few examples of the burst & power he can bring to the Bears’ interior line once the Titans fought their way to the goal line — if Billings can capably take on double-teams in the run game and emphatically win his single-block opportunities, he may change the calculus for a Bears’ run defense that sorely needs a space-eater in the middle.
It’s a big year for the former Baylor Bear — if he shows out in Chicago, he may finally get the multi-year deal I imagine he’s been chasing since 2019.
#Bears new Nose Tackle Andrew Billings brings a healthy dose of size and violence to a D-Line that sorely needs it.
He's a decent interior pocket-squeezer and eats up space in the run game well. Check out some of the battles on this reel — he's not an easy man to move! pic.twitter.com/Jd9FFh5tbg
— Robert Schmitz (@robertkschmitz) March 23, 2023
Your Turn: How are you feeling about Davis and Billings so far this offseason?
Today we pick up where we left off yesterday as we break down Saturday’s offensive standouts. Without further ado, let’s dive in.
Editor’s Note: Check back with this article throughout the day — as I produce more All-22 cutups, I’ll update this article to include more analysis
Ja'Tyre Carter, you have my attention!
The #Bears kept Carter, a 7th round pick, on the 53-man roster throughout 2022 and he showed us why on Saturday. He's got good feet that create strength in the run game and long arms that latch well in pass pro. Footwork in pass pro looks… pic.twitter.com/3Rxyk3DDlZ
— Robert Schmitz (@robertkschmitz) August 14, 2023
Editor’s Note: In the future, we’ll make have a GameDay post and a Postgame post of some sort — it’s preseason for all of us, and those two articles totally slipped my mind. Thank you for bearing with us as we transition!
It’s official: The 2023 Chicago Bears are undefeated!
Joking aside, the Bears got their first taste of 2023 football as they took on the Tennessee Titans last Saturday and plenty of players showed out for Chicago as they did. The Bears’ offensive starters scored easily on their only two drives (which somehow still set Twitter aflame) and the defense recovered from giving up the opening touchdown to muster 8 sacks, 4 takeaways, and a pesky performance overall.
To break down everything that happened in one article would create an illegible beast, so in an effort to keep things clean we’re going to split the analysis across Monday and Tuesday — we’ll start today with the Defense and continue with the Offense tomorrow.
Editor’s Note: Check back with this article throughout the day — as I produce more All-22 cutups, I’ll update this article to include more analysis
Welcome to the NFL, Rookie!
The big gain that #Bears CB Tyrique Stevenson allowed came on a Titans mid-play adjustment — Stevenson blanketed his man early (even cutting in front for the ball) but never saw the WR's spin-to-space coming.
Better now than Week 1! pic.twitter.com/e7irvFdk2Z
— Robert Schmitz (@robertkschmitz) August 14, 2023
This is not in bad faith. This is not a vain attempt at schadenfreude.
I dove into Jordan Love’s film over the last few months and came to a resounding conclusion: Jordan Love is better than some Bears fans want to believe, and he exhibits a lot of the hallmark traits of a good West Coast quarterback.
He’s got a great sense of timing as a dropback passer, hitting the back of his drop and delivering the ball well with a big arm that lets him attack deep out routes as well as the quick release needed to stay efficient on timing routes over the middle. His years on the bench shine through via quick decision-making, and he clearly trusts his offensive system enough to attack throwing windows that other young QBs simply won’t attack.
In effect, Jordan Love has the tools to be a solid NFL Quarterback, but he’s got a problem — the offensive pass-catchers Green Bay has put around him are so young that I struggle to imagine the Packers, a team that may have two first round picks in the QB-heavy 2024 draft, sticking with Love past the 2024 bridge extension he just signed.
Green Bay’s biggest issue is that they purged all of their offensive ‘glue guys’ at once this offseason:
These 4 veterans accounted for:
And in their departure Matt LaFleur said goodbye to the final 4 skill players he had built the Packers’ offense with when he joined the team in 2019.
Replacing that production & experience wouldn’t be an easy feat for any organization, but the Packers chose to fill the vets’ shoes in as extreme a way as you could’ve imagined — they replaced all 4 players with rookies, and there’s no set of players more inconsistent in the NFL than 1st year starters.
I like a lot of the players Green Bay selected in their 2023 draft class, namely Michigan State WR Jayden Reed and South Dakota State University TE Tucker Kraft, but every young player is going to go through rookie growing pains within next year’s Packers offense and when the pass-catchers make mistakes I think Jordan Love will (unfairly) get handed the blame.
Did Reed run the wrong route? No, Jordan Love just didn’t throw an accurate ball.
Should that route have been run at 7 yards rather than the 5.5 yards Musgrave cut at? No, Jordan Love just missed him.
Every offensive failure will somehow bubble back to the 1st year starter replacing a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and at the end of the year Green Bay fans will ‘suddenly’ realize that packaging their 2024 first round picks together for a new rookie Quarterback makes more financial sense than waiting until the end of the 2024 season to either draft a new rookie QB or extend extending Love again.
I walk through all of this and more in the video below, complete with some of the best film-work I’ve ever done at this point in my career — if you’ve got a few minutes on this fine Friday, I highly recommend it! But if not, I’d love to hear your take all the same.
Devin Hester was my first favorite Bears player growing up, and as a young boy watching Bears games with my dad Hester became the icon that represented exactly why, no matter the score, we never gave up on a game until the final whistle blew.
It didn’t matter if our Quarterback had turned the ball over 6 times, and it didn’t matter if the offense couldn’t get a first down, because the Bears’ defense would eventually force a punt and Devin would get us the points back. Truly, he was ridiculous — the league had never seen someone like him, and with the changes made to returning rules the league likely never will again.
Now that we’re just a few days away from the Bears’ first preseason game, take a day to trek down memory lane and remember one of the most sensational rookie seasons ever played in a Bears’ uniform — it’s absolutely wild to think that the organization spent a 2nd round pick on a Return Specialist (I learned that today, for all these years I assumed he must’ve been a 4th or 5th round pick), but suffice to say they got everything they could’ve hoped for from him and more.
Who will be the Bears’ next sensational rookie? If we’re lucky, we’ll get a clue on Saturday. But until then, sit back and remember the unbelievable moments that ‘Anytime’ Devin Hester brought fans around the world. Truly, he was ridiculous.
Happy birthday to Devin Hester, the Greatest Return Man to Ever Do It — and future Hall of Famer. pic.twitter.com/ielqA2VNXZ
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) November 4, 2022
As Saturday’s preseason game approaches, the position battles across Chicago’s roster are bound to heat up — and no battle is burning fiercer at the moment than Tyrique Stevenson’s duel with Terell Smith for the starting Cornerback spot across from Jaylon Johnson.
The two long, physical corners approach the position with very different styles and draft pedigrees — Stevenson, picked at #56 in a trade-up with Jacksonville, stood out at the Senior Bowl due to his skills as a man cover corner. With explosion in each step, firm hands, and a quick trigger for the football, Stevenson controlled man coverage matchups throughout his time in both Mobile and Miami while still showing enough awareness in zone coverage (especially as a flat defender) to make sure you knew he could handle his assignments.
Smith (pick #164), on the other hand, stands out for his work as a zone defender — while not the most explosive corner in America, Smith manages the spatial relationship between him and his WRs exceptionally well. He’s not as quick when triggering downhill and he lacks the natural explosion that Stevenson possesses, but his awareness as a DB is advanced enough that I’m not surprised the Bears tried him at Safety. For all we know, that may still be part of the Bears’ plan for Smith.
Given the daily battle for the starting spot, the next 3 Saturdays could play a pivotal role in deciding the Bears’ Week 1 starter. On account of that, I’ve pulled together the post-draft film reels I made covering Tyrique Stevenson to help you get to know the young Bears’ corner before he suits up this weekend. Check them out and let me know what you think!
Reel 1: Stevenson has the size, speed, and versatility to thrive in both Man and Zone coverage, making him a nice fit within the Bears’ defense. He plays an aggressive style of football that should help him challenge QBs and WRs alike.
https://twitter.com/robertkschmitz/status/1660662296685985792
Today I want to talk about Darnell Wright, but before we get started I want to show you a clip from the 2021 preseason — specifically, pay attention to the Lions’ RT #58. Watch his hands, his feet, and his overall demeanor on this snap.
https://twitter.com/Colts/status/1431393883141849093
That’s now-Pro-Bowler Penei Sewell, who had one of the worst preseasons in recent memory immediately after getting drafted #7 overall in the 2021 draft. In this clip, you can see that his initial footwork is off (he false-steps badly at the snap), he misses his punch, and his feet get so tangled as he tries to recover that he can’t stop his EDGE rusher from easily turning the corner and hammering his QB.
Sewell’s entire preseason was U-G-L-Y. If you believe in PFF Grades, they marked him as a 38.6 overall grade & a 27.0 pass-block grade across the preseason (remember, 60 is their replacement-level benchmark), so it wasn’t an issue of a single bad rep. Sewell clearly wasn’t comfortable at Right Tackle early and, in a cruel NFL filled with professional football players that can’t afford to miss chances at production, that discomfort led to hesitancy and that hesitancy led to defeat all too often.
What did this mean for Sewell’s rookie season? Better yet, what has this meant for his career so far? In short, absolutely nothing — with that in mind, I want to caution Bears fans against overreacting to tenth overall pick Darnell Wright’s play this weekend, especially if he doesn’t immediately look like an All-Pro.
