BD wrote:
Kirkwood wrote:
Offense:
Looks primed for a regression to the 10-15 range. There's zero depth anywhere.
Defense:
Run defense looked good but the secondary is going to get torched.
Special Teams:
There' a tendency to over analyze these games and draw conclusions (usually for the worse) about the team. No teams are showing much, and obviously most of these games are being played by backups, fringe players, and non-roster invitee's. I laugh when I listen Boers/Bernstein claim he's not making any judgments based on pre-season, but has gone from having them 12-4 to now being a .500 type team. The only thing that has changed is pre-season games. Stop over-reacting to them. The Bears may not win their division or go the playoffs, but you can draw these conclusions prior to training camp.
The offense will be very good as long as they stay healthy, but what offense in the league will be better with injuries (in most cases unless a backup becomes a star)? If there are injuries, the lack of depth will be more pronounced on the Bears because it's nearly impossible to replace the type of talent they have (Jeffery, Marshall, Forte, Cutler). This is true of most teams in the league at the QB spot - losing one of these guys probably ends your season.
Defensively, if there's a pass rush, the defense may not be great, but it will at least hold it's own. There are obvious concerns at LB, and S, but the defensive line looks to be a strength on the team.
Actually, I'm looking specifically to the basic aspects of football play. The "vanilla" of the offense and defense allows you to look at individual players and see their strengths and/or weaknesses.
There's no doubt about the potential of the offense, pass to set up the run and when Cutler spreads the ball around they are among the league's best. Cutler's mechanics are always worth watching to see when he makes back foot throws.
On defense I've been focusing more on the scheme and I remain disappointed. Linebackers continue to line up with poor angles (too close together and too close to the line) and whenever the guard slips through or tight end blocks down there becomes a gap. The safeties set up too far back which allows for the passes to happen in front of them, also because there is the tendency to play single-high the deep corners are open. Also, setting so deep means conceding an extra yard or two on run plays and forces them to have to break down to tackle from further out. When a running back can get tot he second level (linebackers getting blocked) they get the space to make a juke move to gain and extra few yards on the safety. I don't like the scheme of having corners cover receivers 30+ yards downfield as this is a Tillman weakness.
Special teams punting has me focusing on directional kicking and punt types. The kickoff return is also a focus as with this defense there will be more of them.
The third game will be the first game with some sense of gameplan on both sides of the ball for the first half. Seattle will be a good test on both sides of the ball. The fourth game is where the rest of the roster is determined, the "annual" Browns exhibition.
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