Preseason Week 2 Recap

Preseason week 2 just happened and the Chicago Bears looked rough in their gam vs the Bengals where they lost 9-27. Let me preface this whole article and address the "preseason doesn't matter" crowd. You're right. Preseason doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. If they go 0-3 or 3-0 it does not impact the regular season. You know what does matter in the preseason? Player evaluation, position evaluation, position depth, areas of concern and all that. If preseason didn't matter, then why do they play it? The entire preseason is used for evaluation. Now I am not claiming to be a coach or a professional player or talent evaluator by any means, but I can watch a game and be a fan and then discuss what my dumb fan brain thinks. Save me the "preseason doesn't matter" bullshit and let fans be fans and enjoy talking about their favorite team finally being on their screen again.

Now back to the game. This was a piss poor performance by some individuals and some groups whereas some others still did shine. This blog breaks it all down.

Biggest Studs

• Jodan Van Den Berg: This man has been blowing up the whole offensive line every time he plays. He is an absolute fucking unit out there and it looks like a man among boys when going against the second and third stringers. I still have no nickname for this man yet, but he deserves one so I will get into the lab to create one. He may end up being the biggest steal of the draft and potentially one of the stars of this defense. He is so athletic and explosive that when he gets the technique down, he will be a force to be reckoned with. The Bengals started having to double the man to keep him from making an impact and even then, he was still making himself known. I love this guy and he is my favorite rookie on this squad.

• Sam "The Mountain" Roush: Ben Johnson is a fucking psychopath and I love it. Drafting ANOTHER tight end when we already had a great TE room is insane behavior, but it pays off again just like every other move he makes. The crazy thing is when Sam catches the ball, I have a hard time determining if its Kmet or him. He is a giant and showed that he is more than just a rock blocker. He displayed his hands and his route running ability. He is going to be a demon in 13 personnel packages.

• Hayden Large: Hayden Large doesn't even need a nickname because his name is so bad ass for a tight end. Large. That is just great in itself. His play is just like his name, Large. He plays big. This man is a blocking machine. To be honest we may have found our left tackle until Ozzy comes back. This man was single handily stopping the Browns defensive line and just bodying anyone smaller. He also had a massive pancake block on one of Roushs catches. This man is a unit. A tight end out of Iowa, who would've guessed that he would be good? Can Ben Johsnon run 14 personnel? He needs to somehow get all of these WRs and TEs involved.

• Logan Jones: I have been dying for the moment I get to talk about Logan. He displayed that he could be our center of the future. He gave up 0 pressure and just moves bodies when he is on the line. What else did you expect from an offensive lineman from Iowa. He's a tank up front bulldozing people and moving them to clear room whenever he is called upon. I am excited to see him get meaningful time in the future.

• Honorable Mentions: Motivated Dayo, Case Keenum, Devin Bush, Ro Jo, The Punter from Down Under

Biggest Duds

• Braxton Jones: This man was a revolving door on Saturday. He cannot pick up the simplest of bull rushes. If someone just runs at him, he lets them through. This is an issue because he was supposed to be our starter until Ozzy "The Beast from Da East" Trapilo could get back. The left side, once again, looks grim. Dan Rouschar, we need you now more than ever big guy. Whip these boys into shape please.

• Dontae Manning: Please, I am begging, fire this man into the sun. I swear every time a pass was completed, I look to see who it was and sure enough it was number 27, Dontae Manning. Now if you look at his stats, he did have 3 pass breakups. That's huge so you might be wondering what made him so bad? Well in his limited snaps he was targeted 11 times and allowed 6 catches for 87 yards and oh yeah, 2 touchdowns. The good thing is he's far down on the depth chart but still, cut him.

• Miller Moss: I am just going to leave the same thing I said from last week here because it still kinda stands. "He looked like a rookie out there. He had a couple okay plays but looked terrible in his others. Hopefully he continues to develop and display some growth, but it looks like he's going to be pushed out of the crowded QB room. " I like this man. He seems like a good kid. I am rooting for him but he may have to make a name for himself somewhere else.

• Dishonorable Mentions: Caden Davis, Cairo Santos, Kevin "I get paid by the hour" Warren

The Good

• TE Room: Boy is this room deep. Loveland, Kmet, Roush and Large are all great formidable TEs. Some white guys are getting some motion! They are all absolute units, and I am looking forward to watching what Ben Johnson schemes up for this crew. RIP to every defense that has to face this room.

• Tory Taylor: Now in his third season Tory Taylor. The Punter from Down Under, has been getting a lot of hate since he's been drafted due to when he was drafted. He was a 4th round pick. Pretty high for a punter. Now, I may be a Tory defender, but he's been a good punter the problem is he will never live down the 4th round vibes. That being said he has an absolute boot and got to display it on Saturday. He can rocket the ball deep. He had the returner turning around and doing a dead sprint in the other direction. This year I'm looking for a massive year from him. He's going to live up to the hype.

• Defensive Line: Do I think the defensive line is fixed? No. Do I think they need some praise for the pressure that they were able to generate? Yes. They finally put out some good tape. Jordan Van Den Berg looked like an absolute menace and motivated Dayo finally got to live up to the name. I am excited and terrified to see how this unit plays vs the number 1s on other teams. Hopefully we are starting to see some momentum with this unit and will see what DA can cook up.

The Bad

• Left Tackle: This is another one where I can just copy paste what I said last week. Our best LT was our Tight End Hayden Large. Braxton Jones looked like a 92 yarturn table out there and noone else did much better. We genuinely need Ozzy to come back and save us or Dan Rouschar needs to cook some wild ass solution up to fix this.

• Dontae Manning: I cannot stress how much this man pissed me off on Saturday. What makes me the maddest was he had some great plays. 3 Pass break ups is nothing to scoff at. The problem was the 2 TDs he allowed and the 87 yards. He loved giving up big plays and every time a receiver caught it, maybe it was my mind playing tricks on me, but it was always #27 Dontae Manning giving up the catch. This man had me ready to demand the team send him into the sun. I wanted him to take the Greyhound home. He left a lot to be desired, and I hope he plays better next week or it may be his last game as a Bear.

The Ugly

• Kicking: Cairo Santos missed a 53-yard field goal in the game on Saturday. Man, I am telling you, If it is in the worst conditions, I'm talking blizzard, tornados or hurricanes, he's drilling the FG no matter what the distance or if the field goal is less than 50 yards, he's nailing it. He Mr. Automatic in those situations. The moment its beautiful weather or in a dome and it is over 50 yards he is a coin flip for making the field goal. He does not have the strongest leg or aim if its past 50 yards. I love him and his nickname is elite but c'mon man. You have people begging for Jake Moody back. I need you from now on to do only squats and leg day every day until you can boot that mother fucker out of soldier field. Let's go man. We are rooting for you!

Overall

Overall, outside of left tackle there was nothing overly concerning in this disastrous loss. We need to sure up a couple position groups and figure out what we need to do with the defensive line but there was a lot of clarity and good that came out of this game. The Bengals are going to be a force this year as long as health doesn't get in the way. I am looking forward to the Bears final game and final roster cut down and to get into the season. BEAR DOWN BABY!