The Bears have completed their first preseason game of the season and there is much to analyze. The Bears fell to the Denver Broncos Thursday night by a final score of 24-17, but that was not the big story. 43,946 showed up to Soldier Field in anticipation to watch the Bears new quarterbacks, particularly rookie Mitchell Trubisky.
Trubisky was the first round pick of the Bears in the previous draft out of North Carolina as GM Ryan Pace traded up with the San Francisco 49ers. Despite early grievances from Bears fans, people have seemed to calm down and rally behind what is intended to be the future face of the franchise.
While Trubisky was arguably the number one attraction that evening, there was also anticipation to see free agent veteran QB Mike Glennon who is set to be the stop-gap starter for this season as the rebuild is in the works. The ending stat lines were different, very different.
Trubisky's successful night
Mike Glennon started the game at quarterback with the rest of the starting offense. Glennon threw a pick-6 on his first drive and ended his night completing two passes on eight attempts for 20 total yards. Before Trubisky came in 2:00 minutes before the first half was over, veteran backup Mark Sanchez came in and completed one pass on four attempts with four total yards of offense.
Greeted by a big cheer, Trubisky came onto the field for the final offensive Bears drive of the half.
He completed four of his four targeted throws and connected with veteran receiver Victor Cruz for a two-yard touchdown pass, the first points on the board for the Bears. The next drive he drove the offense 75 yards down the field allowing running back Benny Cunningham to rush in for the touchdown. His third drive Trubsiky drove the offense 49 yards which ended in a Connor Barth field goal.
While he nearly led the Bears down the field in the last second of the game, the final pass from Trubisky was just a little high to Deonte Thompson and the Bears fell just short.
The rookie QB ended his night 18/25, 166 passing yards, 38 rushing yards and a touchdown with no turnovers. Note that Victor Cruz dropped a big pass to start the final drive that would have been a first down and more.
All in all very impressive. His throws were accurate, he did a good job escaping pressure and even was able to rush for a few first downs in addition to throwing for some. He looked especially good rolling out to his right and was able to fire strikes in motion or even a little off-balance. Yes it was preseason and yes it was not against a lot of the starters, but his raw skills on the field were shown off and it is a good sign for the Bears future as he still has a long way to go in development.
Other Bears notes
Trubisky was not the only one to impress in the preseason opener. Rookie running back Tarik Cohen rushed for 39 yards on seven attempts and Benny Cunningham, who is fighting for a roster spot, rushed for 41 yards and a touchdown on seven attempts.
Deonte Thompson led the Bears in receiver offense with 64 yards on five catches. Rookie Adam Shaheen recorded one catch on three attempts for three yards, as he still has some work to do, but he is a big part of the Bears rebuild.
The defense overall looked very good. They only surrendered a field goal in the first half with the starters in, with good pressure on the quarterbacks. Sophomore Leonard Floyd came up with a big sack on Denver QB Trevor Siemian for a loss of seven and forced the Broncos to punt on four first-quarter drives. Though they did not force any turnovers, the defensive line was able to shut down the running game for a good portion of the game and keep the pressure on. Denver scored two touchdowns late against the third-string defense, so none of the starters were really left in the game.
Lots to build on going forward, but it was an entertaining game nonetheless.
