Chicago Bears Match-up Plus Game Thread

First, consider the Chicago Bears draft. The Bears had a really good draft in 2016 so take a look:

1st  Rnd: Leonard Floyd, outside linebacker

2nd Rnd: Cody Whitehair, guard

3rd Rnd: Jonathan Bullard, defensive lineman

4th Rnd: Nick Kwiatkoski, linebacker

5th Rnd: Jordan Howard, running back

6th Rnd: DeAndre Houston-Carson, safety

While first round OLB Leonard Floyd probably won’t be getting many snaps this season, Guard Cody Whitehair looks to start at left guard for the Bears this year. I recall scouting a few of these players as prospects in the spring and am still very fond of Cody Whitehair and DeAndre Houston-Carson.

This preseason game three for the Kansas City Chiefs should concern fans most specifically from a run-defense standpoint. There’s just no way the 2016 Chiefs can compete, in any division, if they were to continue to allow teams to waltz the ball down the hallways of their defense like they did in preseason games one and two.

It won’t matter at all how well the defensive backfield plays if the front seven can’t return to form. What form? After giving up 123 rushing yards to the Green Bay Packers in week three of 2015 regular season… plus 124 yards rushing to the Bengals in week four… and 147 yards on the ground to the Pittsburgh Steelers… the Chiefs went on a defensive run which saw them finish 8th in the league in rushing defense giving up only 98.2 rushing yards per game. So far this preseason, we have seen neither hide nor hare of anything slightly resembling that kind of ransacking rough-n-tumble run defense.

So, number one, watch to see if DC Bob Sutton’s defensive adjustments with the front seven will ensure the Bears running backs aren’t going anywhere. And who might those Bears RBs be? I thought you’d never ask.

You may have heard but… long time Bears RB Matt Forte is now with the New York Jets and getting ready to debut with them today. That leaves RB Jeremy Langford to carry the load for the Bears. I can hear the collective “Huh?” now. Well, me too. Langford carried the ball 148 times in 2015 (9 times per game) for 537 yards, a 3.6 yards per carry average. If this young man rips the Chiefs front seven a new one… We’ve got trouble, right here in River City, with a capital “T” and that rhymes with “D” and that stands for “DISAPPEARING DEFENSIVE FRONT SEVEN.” While this should be a great time for the Chiefs run-D to get well in a hurry, let’s hope we’re not writing a “D-Day” storyline for the defense later today.

If you’re wondering whether or not the Chicago offensive line will give the Bailey-Poe-Howard trio problems here’s their front five. From left to right they have: LT Charles Leno, LG Cody Whitehair, C Ted Larsen, RG Kyle Long and RT Bobbie Massie. The Bears offensive line looks to be improved but in July Kyle Long said his OL “Has something to prove this year” which followed a couple of telling tweets,

https://twitter.com/Ky1eLong/status/755174644508798976″ xlink=”href

https://twitter.com/Ky1eLong/status/755174487767646208″ xlink=”href

And this was the list from ProFootballFocus which he was referring to (and by the way, the Chiefs line came in at #17) :

https://twitter.com/PFF/status/755171289439043589″ xlink=”href

The Bears line was probably constructed more to protect Jay Cutler in the pocket than open holes for a running back who will likely see very little of the other side of any of the holes they ever are able to open. Not only that but any team that starts a rookie at Left Guard is only asking for trouble…. Oh wait!

The strength of the Bears offense will be in their passing attack. They not only have WR Alshon Jeffery but drafted Kevin White in 2015 and although White sat out last season with a stress fracture of the shin Yahoo Sports thinks he’s going to take the Bears offense to the next level.

If White gives defenses the blues this year, pairing him with Jeffery could mean all lights are green for their offense in 2016. Last season Jeffery only played 9 games but had over 800 receiving yards. In 2014 he had 1,133 yards and in 2013 he had 1,421 yards receiving. If the Chiefs can’t create a pass rush then K.C.’s defensive backs will most likely have a long, long day… in the first half of the game.

At quarterback, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Jay Cutler. Cutler wins the most skittish award for a QB in my book. He seems to create phantom pressure and the main difference between Jay and Mark Sanchez is that Sanchez seems to run towards pressure while Cutler just runs away from air. I wouldn’t feel great about having him QB a team I followed. However, when Cutler is “On” and having a good day, he can be as effective as any QB in the league, including Tom Brady. Last season Jay had a game against the Rams and his rating was 151.0 and the next week it was 70.4. Brady never had a game that high in 2015… but he also never had a game that low. Yes, Cutler has his moments… but then he also has moments where he’s laughing on the bench while his team is losing. Strange brew.

The real strength of the Chicago Bears should be in their defense. In a piece for the ProFootballFocus called, “Bears will field a playoff-caliber defense in 2016” Gordon McGuinness writes,

“For all the strength they had on the edge, the two weak links in the middle were an obvious issue. They [Chicago] addressed this by adding two of the best inside linebackers available on the market in Jerrell Freeman (90.6) and Danny Trevathan (86.6). The pair had the fourth- and 10th-highest player grades among all linebackers last year, and will immediately turn a weakness into a big strength. Freeman’s 97.9 run-defense rating was the best of any linebacker in the league, with the Indianapolis Colts defender making a tackle resulting in a defensive stop 12.8 percent of the time. Trevathan was good all-around, finishing the year as one of only seven linebackers with a grade of at least 80.0 both in run defense and in coverage.”

Chiefs fans are quite familiar enough with Danny-boy and the combination of he and Freeman should help Chicago’s defense rise to the upper-echelon of the league, eventually. Head coach John Fox is excellent with defenses and he will likely get all of Chicago rallying around their defense once again, just like in the days of old.

Chicago Bears Linebackers: From “Long Lineage” to “Long Line”

The Chicago Bears have had some of the best linebackers to ever play the game grace their doorstep. For now, they simply have more than any team can keep: 15 at last count I believe. Below is a list of all linebackers currently on the Bears roster compiled from Ourlads.com:

Sometimes the “Football Gods” smile on John Dorsey because this game gives him a front row seat (when does he not have a front row seat?) of several linebackers who may find themselves on the street in 10 days. So, our Johnny Zapple-speed may be keeping his eyes on any of those players in red above. Trevathan and Freeman are the obvious starters but after that, it’s hard to say who they’ll keep… or make available through a trade. Don’t forget, the Chiefs will probably have 10 draft picks in 2017 (based on compensatory picks) to play with and since Josh Mauga is the only true thumper K.C. has to play next to D.J. on the roster, the Chiefs could be looking to this game with special interest. Here’s a breakdown of the physical traits of all ILBs on Chicago’s roster:

Lamin Barrow looks like the one to focus on. His 40 time coming out of college was 4.59 (and he also ran a 4.49). I can also see why he didn’t want to stay with the Broncos (can’t we all), but the Broncos were loaded with ILBs and so Barrow goes to Chicago thinking he’s going to get some playing time but ends up behind Trevathan again. Keep an eye on Chicago’s #47.

FanSided-Chicago, “Da Windy City” had a piece this summer called, “Chicago Bears Defense Has A New Breed of Monsters” in which it was said,

“Chicago also addressed some needs in the secondary by drafting Deiondre’ Hall. Throughout college, he saw playing time at both the safety and cornerback positions. All though he had some struggles at Northern Iowa, with the right coaching and the Monsters of the Midway atmosphere, he will grow into a dominant defender rather quickly.”

Hall was one of my late round small school possible steals which I was hoping the Chiefs might take a flier on. While Jeffrey Stevens, the author of this piece, doesn’t make a real convincing case for the Hall, or the defense as a whole, the Bears “D” will be much much better this season… it just may not be on day one. They will need “jelly-time.”

For the Chiefs offense, that means they should be able to find enough crevasses, not craters, to move down the field quickly through, or on one play. I’m not of the opinion that Head Coach Andy Reid and new Offensive Coordinators, Matt Nagy and Brad Childress, will want to tip their hand about how they intend to go long — early and often — during the regular season, but, they may give it a shot here to see if one of their wideouts, not named Jeremy Maclin, can make an impact with a play like that.

Since I doubt the Bears will be able to run the ball much against the Chiefs defense, like both Seattle and Los Angeles did do, the real excitement in this game will either come from the Chiefs offense, or the Bears passing game. I say the Chiefs balanced attacks wins the day.

Prediction (at the end of the first half):

K.C Chiefs 17, Chicago Bears 10

What do you think Chiefs fans? What do you think K.C. will be able to get accomplished against the Bears today?