So the Cubs have been out of it for a while now. Despite having more talent than almost any other team in the National League, their talent decided to take a year off for the most part and they're playing mediocre baseball as a team currently only 3 games over .500. The White Sox aren't doing any better, and in fact they're playing with a worse record, but in a worse division that still gives them a chance. However they're a game under .500 right now. On top of that, the Bulls are still just over a month away from the start of preseason basketball, and the Blackhawks aren't going to be starting that much sooner.
With two mediocre baseball teams (being nice) and hockey and basketball some time off, it's time for the team that's giving the city more hope than any other team to really take control. The Bears have been getting the city excited all summer with their trade for star quarterback Jay Cutler and improvements in other categories along with last year's emergence of Matt Forte, a running back who can not only run for over 1,200 yards in a season, but can catch for another 600, those being conservative estimates. After a preseason game where the offense looked very mediocre, the second preseason game is where the offense really showed what they could possibly do during the regular season. Against the first unit of one of the toughest defenses in the league Jay Cutler dominated. Despite throwing 5 incomplete passes in 13 tries, only a couple of those incomplete passes were actually his fault, as two passes were dropped and one incomplete pass was due to Devin Hester not knowing how to even get close to catching a deep ball.
One of the major things that really makes the Bears look good at this point is that Jay Cutler seems to be getting good protection. Despite going against a top notch defensive line, Jay Cutler still managed to elude sacks, and really only took one real shot. The line was also able to give Cutler enough room to scramble for a 12 yard gain and a first down at one point. They were still not perfect, as at times their run blocking wasn't looking great, but they also had moments of doing some very good blocking on the run. The offensive line has some new additions, and with the new players on the line they're still learning to play together still. Once the season starts it's safe to assume they'll be one of the better lines in the league.
Matt Forte seems to be in good form already as well. He had several runs that went for next to nothing, but at least a couple of those can be attributed to poor blocking from the line. He looked like he was spotting holes very well and used that ability to get two big runs, one of them for a touchdown. With an offense that will be opened up due to a passing game that can be very strong this season, Forte won't have to go against defenses stacking the box and should be able to boost his average yards per carry as far as up to 4.5 yards per carry. His receiving numbers will likely be about the same, as he'll have a better quarterback throwing to him, but that better quarterback will also be looking downfield more.
The receivers that the Bears have has been something that critics have attacked the team for. However, in that preseason game agains the Giants Earl Bennett and Devin Aromashodu both had excellent catches. Devin Hester looks like he clearly will not be the #1 guy for the Bears this year, as he just doesn't look like he's smart enough to be a #1 receiver, but it does look like the Bears will have enough options to really maybe not even need that #1 option. If nothing else, there's a solid chance that Earl Bennett, given his play so far, can step it up and be that guy. He clearly has good hands and looks to really understand the playbook right now, which means that he can likely get open enough for Cutler to get one in there to him. However, while there's no stars, they have plenty of guys that you'd like to see make the roster. Devin Hester will be there, and on top of him you have Earl Bennett, Juaquin Iglesias, Johnny Knox, Devin Aromashodu, and Brandon Rideau. Derek Kinder and Rashied Davis are two other guys who can be solid backups. However, that's 8 guys right there. Kinder will likely go to the practice squad and Davis will likely be released. There's still 6 guys right there who you would like to see make the team. A lot depends on how many players they carry at other positions, but as far as receivers go, there's clearly guys for Cutler to throw to.
Keeping on the subject of guys who catch the ball from Cutler, there's the tight end position. This is where the slight letdown came on this past Saturday. Greg Olsen did make a catch, but he also dropped one that was thrown right to his hands. Desmond Clark, however, was solid as usual, making a nice touchdown catch after getting open very easily. Kellen Davis, however, like Olsen had one catch, and a nice one for 27 yards, but he also dropped a fairly easy one as well. They're going to need to catch more than 3 out of every 5 passes that come their way in order to be what they're expected. Sure, there was only one dropped ball from a couple of guys each, but while Olsen will clearly be the top option, but there are three guys who can catch the ball and they have to do that. Clark is really the only guy who's a real good blocker out of those guys.
Bringing things a little more into the positive, the Bears defense did play very well this past week. Nathan Vasher may not have made any interceptions, but he actually didn't look terrible out on the field at any point, and made a great defensive play to stop a Manning pass at another point. The secondary actually played well in that game, holding the overrated Eli Manning to 62 yards on his 10 attempts, a number not any better than mediocre. On top of that, they had 5 sacks, nearly 6, spread out throughout the game as well as some other good hits, and also forcing a Manning fumble and another intentional grounding penalty. Their only weakness was not creating any turnovers, which is a major rock that the defense is built on. However, they held the Giants to one field goal throughout the entire game, which is the main goal of the defense, to not allow the other team to score.
As for the backup quarterback position, Caleb Hanie played fairly well, but was unable to get the ball into the end zone or even into position for them to get a field goal. Good statistics are nice, but it's what they lead to which really matters. What made a quarterback like Brett Favre so great wasn't the fact that he passed for all those yards, it was that he consistently threw for touchdowns as well, as it wasn't until a game against the Bears several years ago before he had a start where he didn't throw for a touchdown pass, and yes, that's in his entire career. Not trying to say that a backup has to be Brett Favre, but just saying that getting points on the board is much more important than just getting a couple of first downs and then having to punt the ball away. Dropped passes and a couple of poorly timed fumbles did not help him though.
What does this all really matter though? Not a whole lot. Basically we got to see what the first string offense is capable of doing against a good defense. It's exciting, but you really need to see it happen more than just once to really get too excited about it. The Bears have a game this coming week against the Broncos in Denver. This should really help to tell the story of how Jay Cutler will be this year, as this will clearly be a hostile environment for him. It won't be any sort of guarantee as to how the team will play, but it should leave fans being much more confident in the team if they do play well this Sunday.
Again, with baseball looking bad and basketball and hockey not coming for a little while, this is the time for football and the Monsters of the Midway to reign supreme. Things are looking up for the Bears, especially after an impressive preseason showing this past week. However, in the third preseason game of the year the Bears will have possibly their biggest test of the preseason, and again, it's the third preseason game, where the first stringers really get their most play and most important play of the preseason. The real test will be there in the regular season. If they're able to perform in the regular season, that's when things will get more and more comfortable for Bears fans.
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