Post by riczaj01 on Aug 28, 2016 9:20:10 GMT -6
www.profootballweekly.com/2016/08/27/hub-arkush-ugly-performance-from-chicago-bears-offense-in-all-important-third-preseason-game/asl53sk/
By HUB ARKUSH — harkush@profootballweekly.com
Published: Aug. 27, 2016 — 5:02 p.m.Updated: Aug. 28, 2016 — 6:58 a.m.
CHICAGO — I’m sorry Bears fans, but there’s no putting lipstick on this pig.
If the “All Important Third Exhibition Game” is in fact all-important, your 2016 Chicago Bears stink.
You want the good news? Punter Patrick O’Donnell kicked the crap out of the ball. Of course, he had plenty of practice.
That’s it.
As we prepare the Bears' disaster relief list, let’s start with the offensive line.
Rookie Cody Whitehair can play and should get better and emergency fill-in Cornelius Edison was better than half-bad, but the guys everyone is counting on – Charles Leno, Jr., Bobby Massie and Ted Larsen appear lost at times when they’re not just getting flat-out beat.
Of course, getting Kyle Long back matters, but by himself he won’t be nearly enough.
Still, as bad as the O-line looked against the Chiefs, it was no excuse for the horror show Jay Cutler gave us.
He was 6-of-15 on the day for 45 yards and a 47.9 passer rating and he didn’t give the ball away but was sacked twice.
The most disturbing part of Cutler’s performance was his turfing of at least three throws either well short or well wide of his targets.
On the 29 plays Cutler quarterbacked, the Bears put up 65 yards, 2.2 yards per play including just 18 net yards on 18 plays in the first half.
Behind Cutler, the Bears were 1-for-7 on third down.
A big part of the problem is that in what most hoped would be a coming out party for Kevin White he showed against the Chiefs he is clearly not close to fulfilling his potential.
On a key third-and-10 from the Chiefs' 30-yard line in the third quarter, White was open on an 18-yard square out, but rounded off his cut instead of breaking sharply to the sideline, causing Cutler to miss him wide by five or six feet and then gesture frustratingly at him on the field.
"There’s going to be growing pains. That’s just kind of how it is," Cutler said about the play. "[White] missed his rookie year, not playing a ton of college football and then throwing him out there, there’s going to be some growing pains with that. That’s just how it is.
"We’re working with him and he’s doing everything he possibly can tow work through it and be where he’s supposed to be and he understood it. I talked to him on the sideline and I just told him, ‘This is going to happen, but now you know and now it can’t happen again. We can’t have repeat mistakes.’ He’s a good kid. He’s going to do well."
With Zach Miller still not ready to go, tight end is another obvious problem, as Cutler targeted the entire group just once, hitting Tony Moeaki for six yards.
It is reasonable to hope at least one of the Bears' tight ends is still waiting to be cut from another team, as the group on the roster now is woefully inadequate.
Finally, on defense, where the Bears already have issues in the secondary, there is the puzzle of this year’s ninth overall pick in the draft, Leonard Floyd. He was all suited up for the dance but never left the sideline, we believe because of a hamstring he’s been battling. So why was he dressed?
To date, Floyd has been slowed by illness, a sore shoulder and now the hammy. If he’s hurt, he’s hurt, that’s the nature of the game.
But it’s also fair to ask if his spindly frame, a concern the day he was drafted, is part of the problem.
Until now, the party line from Fox and Cutler that it’s just the preseason and we have some things to clean up has been reasonable.
After the Bears' embarrassing performance against the Chiefs, it’s reasonable to be concerned embarrassing is what they will be this year.
By HUB ARKUSH — harkush@profootballweekly.com
Published: Aug. 27, 2016 — 5:02 p.m.Updated: Aug. 28, 2016 — 6:58 a.m.
CHICAGO — I’m sorry Bears fans, but there’s no putting lipstick on this pig.
If the “All Important Third Exhibition Game” is in fact all-important, your 2016 Chicago Bears stink.
You want the good news? Punter Patrick O’Donnell kicked the crap out of the ball. Of course, he had plenty of practice.
That’s it.
As we prepare the Bears' disaster relief list, let’s start with the offensive line.
Rookie Cody Whitehair can play and should get better and emergency fill-in Cornelius Edison was better than half-bad, but the guys everyone is counting on – Charles Leno, Jr., Bobby Massie and Ted Larsen appear lost at times when they’re not just getting flat-out beat.
Of course, getting Kyle Long back matters, but by himself he won’t be nearly enough.
Still, as bad as the O-line looked against the Chiefs, it was no excuse for the horror show Jay Cutler gave us.
He was 6-of-15 on the day for 45 yards and a 47.9 passer rating and he didn’t give the ball away but was sacked twice.
The most disturbing part of Cutler’s performance was his turfing of at least three throws either well short or well wide of his targets.
On the 29 plays Cutler quarterbacked, the Bears put up 65 yards, 2.2 yards per play including just 18 net yards on 18 plays in the first half.
Behind Cutler, the Bears were 1-for-7 on third down.
A big part of the problem is that in what most hoped would be a coming out party for Kevin White he showed against the Chiefs he is clearly not close to fulfilling his potential.
On a key third-and-10 from the Chiefs' 30-yard line in the third quarter, White was open on an 18-yard square out, but rounded off his cut instead of breaking sharply to the sideline, causing Cutler to miss him wide by five or six feet and then gesture frustratingly at him on the field.
"There’s going to be growing pains. That’s just kind of how it is," Cutler said about the play. "[White] missed his rookie year, not playing a ton of college football and then throwing him out there, there’s going to be some growing pains with that. That’s just how it is.
"We’re working with him and he’s doing everything he possibly can tow work through it and be where he’s supposed to be and he understood it. I talked to him on the sideline and I just told him, ‘This is going to happen, but now you know and now it can’t happen again. We can’t have repeat mistakes.’ He’s a good kid. He’s going to do well."
With Zach Miller still not ready to go, tight end is another obvious problem, as Cutler targeted the entire group just once, hitting Tony Moeaki for six yards.
It is reasonable to hope at least one of the Bears' tight ends is still waiting to be cut from another team, as the group on the roster now is woefully inadequate.
Finally, on defense, where the Bears already have issues in the secondary, there is the puzzle of this year’s ninth overall pick in the draft, Leonard Floyd. He was all suited up for the dance but never left the sideline, we believe because of a hamstring he’s been battling. So why was he dressed?
To date, Floyd has been slowed by illness, a sore shoulder and now the hammy. If he’s hurt, he’s hurt, that’s the nature of the game.
But it’s also fair to ask if his spindly frame, a concern the day he was drafted, is part of the problem.
Until now, the party line from Fox and Cutler that it’s just the preseason and we have some things to clean up has been reasonable.
After the Bears' embarrassing performance against the Chiefs, it’s reasonable to be concerned embarrassing is what they will be this year.
