The Bears' Six-Pack Keys to Victory: Preseason Week 2, Chargers Edition

1) How High Can Marquess Wilson's Star Rise? - Also Known as the Receivers Question

Let's clarify - we're talking about a 7th-round draft pick whose prime plays on Friday didn't have everything to do with himself, but still showed enough that he's worth another look or three. He can make some things very interesting. Also, Devin Aromashodu got a fair amount of time for a guy who, well, the league knows already what he is. I'm sorry, I can't buy the Terrence Toliver train. I just can't. If Wilson's in, how do you squeeze in Toliver, or Josh Lenz, or Jarrell Jackson, into Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery, Earl Bennett, Joe Anderson, Marquess Wilson and Eric Weems?

Truth be told, I was surprised Weems got as much slot action as he did early in the game. We'll see how much use he sees as a receiver going forward.

2) Do the Bears have a backup tight end?

Probably still no. Fendi Onobun looked horrible, to the point I'm deciding between Onobum, Onobad, or Oh-No-Bun. Either way, I don't think he's a Bear in 2013 unless he discovers a pair of hands. And between Steve Maneri, Leonard Pope and Gabe Miller (who would come with a four-game suspension), I'm not too excited about any of those options. Someone needs to separate themselves from the Pile of Bleh.

3) Who's Winning the 3rd Running Back Competition?

We know who one and two are, but Armando Allen's put the ball on the ground quite a bit and Michael Ford had a pretty nice game on Friday. I think I like Ford a bit more than Allen, but then I'm reminded of thinking when Allen was an improvement on Kahlil Bell. In the end, we're still talking about players primarily playing against backups (and Ford's blitz pickup could still use a bit of work...).

4) Can Zach Minter force his way into more time?

Henry Melton's injury creates some additional playing time behind Nate Collins, and Zach Minter showed enough flashes that maybe he can do something with it. I'm not entirely sold on Corvey Irvin.

5) Where is Demontre Hurst's Future?

This one's more of a curiosity question. A lot of what Hurst did on Friday was against backups to the backups, and that's fine, lots of players do that and flame out, but did he show enough that maybe a team takes a flier on him for the bottom of a roster? He might at this point be in a third tier of cornerback on the Bears (somewhere below the Isaiah Frey and Zackary Bowman nickel back competition), but if he has a second game like he did against Carolina, don't you have to bump him up to at least see what he can do?

6) Can the Offense Get on the Same Page?

Communication was kind of a thing, particularly on the first pass of the game (the interception). I like what I'm seeing, getting the bigger bodies to use their bigger bodies and try to march down the field, but at some point the offensive line needs to cooperate. Kyle Long looked okay, you can see why Jordan Mills was drafted, and I'll certainly give Jermon Bushrod a pass for missing time in camp with an injury. And things will of course look better when Brandon Marshall's on the field.