Chicago Bears: Biggest 2016 Preseason Pros and Cons
By Erik Lambert
There is no doubt the Chicago Bears have a lot of work to do if they’re going to be ready for the start of the 2016 regular season in two weeks.
Suffice to say their performance in the preseason thus far has been less than sharp. On top of several mistakes that have cost them a lot of big plays due to penalties, they’ve also endured another bad bout of injuries that continues to sap their roster strength. Doubts are surfacing on whether or not this team is really prepared to take a step forward from their 6-10 record a year ago. In order to help determine that, here is a run through the pros and cons that became clear during the first three preseason games.
CON: Brian Hoyer is bad
Seems the Chiefs are the team destined to ruin the career of Brian Hoyer. They humiliated him back in January with four interceptions and they may have just cost him what should’ve been a slam dunk job as the Bears backup quarterback. He’s had a tough preseason with under 300 yards in three appearances with two interceptions and no touchdowns. Worse still it looks like he’s no longer fearing for his job after Connor Shaw broke his leg.
PRO: Jay Cutler isn’t turning the ball over
He’s still taking unnecessary sacks and hits he should be able to avoid, but there is a definite silver lining to the offensive ineptitude throughout most of this preseason. Jay Cutler has yet to throw a single interception. That is almost unheard of according to the old script but it does hold to how he played a year ago (just 11 interceptions). It’s welcome news. The next step of course is finding ways for him to actually get the passing attack going.
Next: Secondary