Bears at Texans Game Thread
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On this week’s episode:
Houston is a difficult opponent for the 2016 Chicago Bears, at least as we understand this Bears team to be constructed. If the Bears are going to open with a road victory, one would think the following are areas where they’d need to be successful.
Administrative Note: There will be no more long-winded game previews this season. Instead Thursdays will be used to isolate a noteworthy match-up or two for the coming weekend and Friday will be completely devoted to the return of DaBearsBlog’s Weekend Show. The game prediction will be part of that show.
HOUSTON RECEIVERS
VS.
BEARS SECONDARY
How can anyone be sure the Bears were right on both Robbie Gould and Josh Sitton?
Both players were released for the exact same reasons:
The Bears got an up-close look at it with Gould. S0 did the Packers with Sitton.
With Gould, the Bears must think his leg is either dead or going to die before long. There is some evidence to back that up since 9 of his 12 misses over the last three seasons have come after November 1st. Maybe his leg has gotten tired or maybe he isn’t able to cut through the cold wind as well.
But, if they were even considering cutting him, why didn’t they bring competition in? That lack of competition tell us this can’t be based on last season’s performance. Gould made nearly 85 percent of his kicks last year with 9 attempts coming from at least 50 yards away. By comparison, Baltimore’s Justin Tucker was under 83 percent with 10 attempts from 50 yards away. Gould missed the game-winner against San Francisco. Minnesota’s Blair Walsh missed a gimme in a playoff game. Stephen Gostkowski missed an extra point that could’ve put the Patriots in the Super Bowl.
It happens. Teams in cold-weather cities need good kickers and they recognize the value in keeping them.
I didn’t see any of it coming. Any of it. Thoughts.
#1 – A Shutdown Corner
Charles Tillman was a shut down corner.
Does that mean he shut down every receiver he faced in his Hall of Fame worthy Bears career? Of course not. In the modern NFL, with rules skewing more and more towards offensive football, it’ll be rare to see a defensive back opponents don’t have some modicum of success against.
No, in today’s league, a “shutdown corner” is less a corner who shuts down the opponent 100% of the time and more a corner the coaching staff feels comfortable lining up opposite a top receiver each and every down, confident he’ll win a majority of the one-on-one battles.
Having one of those guys makes playing defense in this league so much easier.
The Bears don’t have one. They don’t have anything close.
#2 – Matt Slauson
Don’t care how Bears evaluated Slauson last year. If he were on the roster today he’d be the following:
Slauson was affordable, versatile depth for a team that is sorely lacking such on the offensive line.
If you believe Bears are better without him, you’re wrong.
#3 – A Sure Thing Offensive Tackle (For Protection)
Charles Leno Jr. is the left tackle and I believe was the most underrated player on the 2015 Chicago Bears. Is he a great player currently? No. Can he be great? Unless you come to that question with an agenda, there’s no way to answer it.
Bobby Massie is the right tackle and, well, he’s okay. Good run blocker. Slightly below average pass protector. Massie’s signing doesn’t prohibit the Bears from addressing the position next spring but the Bears believe pairing Massie with friend and workout partner Kyle Long will give them the power run game they desire.
Neither is a guarantee on third-and-seven. And in the NFL it is easy for offensive coordinators to cover up for one struggling tackle in pass protection. Trying to cover up for two puts the offense in a phone booth & limits any and all opportunities for explosiveness.
Remember, the 2016 Bears may not have this issue. I just wish the question wasn’t there.
Admin Note: the five things I wish the Bears had columns will return Thursday & Friday.
John Fox made it very clear: Preseason games are just more practice and should be evaluated and valued as such. So why won’t people listen?
Like most people, I’m sure, my Twitter timeline was full of people freaking out over how the Bears were practicing on Saturday. Fox told the world before the game that it wasn’t crucial.
“It’s not the season. They call it preseason for a reason, it’s to evaluate, put your players in positions, take a look at players,” Fox said last week before the game. “We put a lot of stock in practice as well.”
After the game, his attitude was the same saying “we got a chance to look at some young guys and make some evaluations. That’s what preseason is for.” He later referenced preseason as “practice games” and spoke multiple times about playing players in different positions.
