The Bear’s Den, August 29, 2022

THE DAILY SPONGIE SPECIAL

BEARRRSSSS

Bears report card: Grades for offense, defense in preseason win vs. Browns - NBC Sports Chicago - The Bears finished their preseason with an impressive performance in Cleveland. Josh Schrock hands out grades for the Bears’ 21-20 win over the Browns.

Bears observations: Justin Fields carves up Browns in preseason finale - NBC Sports Chicago - Justin Fields was crisp, the offensive line shook off a tough start, and a few players made their case for a roster spot in the Bears’ preseason win over the Browns.

Why David Montgomery’s physicality is ‘game-changer’ for Bears’ offense - NBC Sports Chicago - David Montgomery made his preseason debut Saturday night in Cleveland. It should be no surprise the offense had its best day of the exhibition season with No. 32 setting the tone.

Fields Takes the Stage: “Dress Rehearsal” a Rousing Success for Young QB - Da Bears Blog - It’s hard to get excited for a “dress rehearsal” when the opponent announces none of their stars will play and several of your own stars won’t play either. They don’t have dress rehearsals for a production of Hamlet and let the Claudius and Gertrude sit them out. Nevertheless, we watch.

Bears’ Matt Eberflus: Roquan Smith will be ready for regular season - NBC Sports Chicago - The star linebacker never played in a preseason game this year, and is learning a new position.

Bears’ offense feels ‘normal’ to QB Justin Fields, and that’s a good start - Chicago Sun-Times - Fields had good results against the Browns on Saturday, but the aesthetics are more telling that the statistics.

Kindle Vildor embracing his second chance - Chicago Sun-Times - The third-year cornerback is back in the mix in Matt Eberflus’ defense after getting benched last season. “A little bit ups and downs,” he said. “I learned from it and I’m here now, stronger than ever.”

Chicago Bears offense gives outside world plenty to debate - Chicago Tribune - A first-half offensive outburst in a 21-20 Chicago Bears win provided valuable momentum for a still-jelling offense to carry into the regular season.

Chicago Bears: Brad Biggs' 10 thoughts on preseason finale - Chicago Tribune - 10 thoughts after the Chicago Bears completed an undefeated preseason for the first time since 1994, defeating the Cleveland Browns 21-20 at FirstEnergy Stadium Saturday night.

Preseason Week 2 – Chicago at Cleveland – Post Game Review - The Irish Bears Network - Football teams are made by groups of men coming together to work for a common goal, led by coaches who aim to put them in the best position possible to succeed. But great teams - truly great teams - all have one thing in common: quarterbacks who are difference makers on the field and consistently make throws that make jaws drop and score points. Tonight, the flashes you want to see from Fields that display that capability were on display in full force.

Justin Fields showed Bears fans everything they needed to see in Saturday night's 21-20 victory over the Browns - CHGO - Justin Fields' dominant performance against the Browns should have Bears fans confident in what the quarterback is capable of in Year 2.

KNOW THINE ENEMY

Browns-Bears Final Score: Cleveland falls short in preseason finale, 21-20 - Dawgs By Nature - The Browns’ first-teamers didn’t have the best preseason.

POLISH SAUSAGE

Some NFL teams knew about Matt Araiza incident before the draft, without knowing all details - ProFootballTalk - Executives from two different teams told the Associated Press they knew of Araiza’s involvement in an off-field incident before the draft, but neither executive knew the extent of the allegations, that a 17-year-old girl had accused Araiza and two San Diego State teammates of raping her during the 2021 football season. The Associated Press did not name the two executives or the teams they work for.

Mitch Trubisky likely sealed starting quarterback job with brilliant first half - ProFootballTalk - Trubisky was nearly perfect in the first half against the Lions in the NFL’s final preseason game.

Bills worked out four punters Sunday - ProFootballTalk - The Bills kicked off the process of finding a new punter on Sunday.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ON WINDY CITY GRIDIRON

ECD: The View from Cybertron - Optimist Prime’s Takes on the game - Windy City Gridiron - The performance from Justin Fields and the first team squads were a nice early birthday gift to watch.

Wiltfong: Chicago Bears 53-man roster cut-down tracker - Jean Delance waived - Windy City Gridiron - NFL teams need to be at the 53-man roster limit by Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. Central, but several franchises have already begun trimming their rosters. The Chicago Bears, a team that could be in the...

Wiltfong & Berckes' Bear & Balanced: A cooled-down look at Bears vs Browns - Windy City Gridiron - JB & Lester rewatched the Bears game and they have some cooler takes here.

Wiltfong: Bears vs Browns - Takeaways from the snap counts, stats, and more - Windy City Gridiron - Here’s the full playing time breakdown for the Bears, a spotlight on some individual stats, and also a few team statistics from Chicago’s preseason

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