I love the preseason! It gives an opportunity to see how strong our depth is behind the starters should they go down. This game also displayed the flaw of John Fox’s philosophy “next man up.”
In Kubiak’s system we see players rotate in the game. Some of these players stood out as taking huge strides last year in comparison to the years prior. One player that stood out to me was CB Kayvon Webster. Drafted in the third round of the 2013, I worried every time he was the next man up for the years that followed. This all changed in 2015 when Kubiak entered the picture. Webster looked like he needed development earlier in the season, but as the season went on we witnessed an overdue growth. In the playoffs he was fantastic, and we witnessed more of what he’s capable of yesterday.
It wasn’t only him. Todd Davis, Virgil Green, Shaq Barrett, Cody Latimer, and a few others from the John Fox regime were electric last night. But, here’s the amazing thing: 0 points against. This shows we have serious depth on defense.
Here’s the 10 things I liked and the 10 things I didn’t like:
10 Things I Liked:
- WR Bennie Fowler. Everything about him.
- DE Jared Crick was dominant
- Rookie RB Devontae Booker showed some power running
- WR Kalif Raymond is the first punt returner where I didn’t have to hold my breath in a while
- CB Lorenzo Doss has blossomed a lot in the past year
- SLB Dekoda Watson was all over the field. The 7-year veteran deserves a spot.
- SS Will Parks made some great open field tackles
- P Britton Colquitt hit some really great punts
- QB Mark Sanchez looked really sharp outside of his forced throw that led to an interception
- 0 points against our defense!
10 Things I I Didn’t Like:
- Only one offensive touchdown
- The offensive line needs work on the run game
- 7 offensive line penalties
- RB Kapri Bibbs missed some huge holes
- Kicker Brandon McManus did not look his normal self (the wind has some blame, but he’s done better in worse conditions)
- Rookie RG Connor McGovern still needs a lot of work
- The Bears’ defense was consistently in the backfield
- All this media stuff about Tebow and baseball. We don’t care
- QB Paxton Lynch struggled against Chicago’s 3rd and 4th team defense
- 0 points scored in the second half
Bonus:
This was an elite pass and catch.
Wade Phillips is the man.