Okay fellow Bears fans, not a great night by any standards...but its only preseason so I'm not pressing the panic button, especially when in all the fog there was some light shown highlighted by major improvements in key areas on the offense. Follow me after the jump to discuss the good, the bad and the (real) ugly of this game.

   First to kick things off, overall I thought the effort was not where it should be, with WRs (Roy!) dropping easy/key passes and the physicality...not good. Red Zone offfense really stunk too, going 1-5 in TD opportunities. Not many possitives tonight, but they are there. Lets see what made the list this week in each catagory.

The Good: Jay Cutler

He looked rather good tonight when protection held up, going deep and making rather big plays in the passing game. If Hester didn't slip on their first good drive, that was an easy TD. Receivers didn't provide Cutler much help, but he definitely made the most out of what he could. He didn't force too many if any throws, made smart throws, and really stepped up in his throws; that deep ball to Hester was probably one of the top plays for the Bears. Cutler looked really comfortable tonight, and seemed to have a better grasp of the Offense. If the O-Line can continue to buy Cutler time, then I feel our passing game will be good this season.

The Bad: Special Teams

Good lord, they simply stunk for a lack of a better team. A blocked punt that looked rather easy just made me glow red! Kickoff Coverage...needs work. But that was not nearly as bad as what made the worst of the worst....

The Ugly: Run Defense

I don't think Brian Urlacher and company are a happy bunch right now, just all night defenders were knocked off the ball and RBs ran virtually untouched. Quite frankly I haven't seen the Run D look this bad in a rather long time. There really isn't much else to say on this topic...

Honorable Mention: Pass Protection

The O-Line, without a doubt, was the biggest improvement this week as far as pass pro goes. To go from surrendering 9 sacks against the Bills, to just 1 against arguably the toughest D-Line they will face this preseason, is simply astounding. J'Marcus Webb still struggled a bit, and the O-Line still made some bad mistakes while being a major dissapointment in the ground game, but overall Mike Tice and his starting 5 deserve a real pat on the back.

  Not a good night by any means, but well in the darkest of times the improvements that had to be made, shined tonight. Its only preseason, its only preseason.

Sound off y'all!