Every time something good happened there was someone ready and willing to take a shit on it. Is it just me or did Lance Briggs look like he was trying to run through waste high water out there?
Our run defense did look better than last year but we are a long way from average. Through the air they lit us the F**k up. It is only preseason but we are not even close to ready. We have one more game to get our shit together before games count. I saw nothing in that first half that showed we should be taken seriously this year. I know it is always better to hit your stride towards the end of the season and carry it into the playoffs but we were putting along like a poor fat kid trying to get away from the school bully.
I did learn that I am more worried about our linebackers than I am with our safety situation. Chris Conte was not playing with a sense of self-preservation like he did last year but he did end up getting a concussion for his troubles. The guy looked good and stone cold rocked that receiver in the end zone to break up the TD reception. Danny McCray and Ryan Mundy looked alright too.
I liked the play of our DTs the only problem that kept popping up was containment. It looks like penetration is not going to be a problem this year but we still need to stop plays from getting away from us by the QB or HB taking it outside. We need our linebackers to start pulling it together. I did see linebacker play that gave me hope and, I know it is not saying much, but I thought Jon Bostic looked better than he did last year. We need these young linebackers to get it together because it looked like Briggs is about to fall off the cliff and we might have to part ways with him next year.
On offense we just kept shooting our self in the foot. We had some drops that usually don’t happen with Alshon Jeffery but Brandon Marshall was looking good out there. It did look like Jay Cutler had happy feet so that may have been a contributing factor to the passing game not being what we have become accustomed to. I did like to see Matt Forte get some rushing yards though, that was a bright spot in a rather dismal evening.
As you can tell I am not a glass "half full" kind of guy. Hopefully this woke our team up and showed them how a championship caliber team carries its self even in the preseason. There were lots of things in this game that made me want to punch dead puppies but I also saw reason for hope. A spotlight was shined on our weaknesses last night and I am confident we have a coaching staff that can get us ready for regular season. Confidence in all but our defensive coordinator, he still needs to prove he is worth a shit.