It's only preseason. Maybe if I keep saying it I'll convince myself. Let's hit the bullets...
- Good things first. Pass protection was actually... not awful. Cutler did a decent job moving around the pocket and his refusal to chuck the ball away led to the line's only sack allowed in the game. I'd rather have Webb stop playing like... well, Webb... and the interior shore up instead of playing the "pile the bodies" strategy where there's just a cluster in the middle, but I'll take it. After all... it's been worse.
- Jay Cutler nailed several good throws, a 37 yarder to Hester down the sideline and another 32 yarder to Bennett. Forte's YAC on the screen was brilliant - too bad he couldn't finish it off though.
- Hester infuriates me sometimes. He looked great on the aforementioned deep shot, then follows that up immediately by stumbling out of his route and not catching a would-be touchdown that hits him on the hands.
- Speaking of receivers, Knox looked like he wants to be on the field - he screened off his defender on the slant last week, and this week he went up for a ball for twenty yards.
- Running lanes just were not there last night. As improved as the line looked against the Giants' pass rush, they weren't as good in run-blocking. Total running stats for the Bears... 26 rushes, 81 yards, 1 TD (Bell, garbage time) - 3.1 YPC. Taylor still looked miserable out there.
- Sanzenbacher's getting his opportunities late in the passing game - 4 receptions on 7 targets. Onrea Jones looked pretty good himself, catching three balls for 48 yards. The battle for the 5th and maybe even 6th receiver spots are getting interesting. Fantuz isn't helping his case too much, though - only one reception.
- The first defensive unit didn't give up a lot while they were in, and that was without Lance Briggs. Brian Iwuh had a few decent plays, including a nice deflection, as did Tim Jennings. Receivers were catching balls over the defensive backs' heads quite a bit of the night, though.
- ... We have a pass-rush? Did someone tell the guys that actually lined up on the field?
- Major Wright looked like a D-2 freshman getting deked that badly. And how did Tim Jennings whiff a tackle on a target that hadn't started running yet?
- Third downs. Awful on both sides - 3-15 for us, 3-11 for the Giants. Jay was forced into throwing that ball early, but a short slant on 3rd and 18 wouldn't have been the play call, would it?
- Spencer Lanning isn't long for this team anyway (the rush came too easy, not his fault), but at least we know Robbie Gould is warmed up.
- Looks like we made it through this one about as healthy as can be expected.
That's all I've got for you. What did you pick up from last night's game?