It’s going to be a fun ride.
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The defense came away with seven sacks, an interception, a forced fumble, a safety and a very discombobulated Bears offense. In are former first-round pick Mark Sanchez and Trevor Siemian, who played with Denver last season.
Let’s take a look at our full game recap. It was the quintessential Sanchez rollercoaster performance.
The Bears, who intercepted just eight passes all last season, and only four of those by defensive backs, at least saw their No. 1 unit come up with a takeaway, although not before an opening-drive embarrassment.
Akiem Hicks #96 of the Chicago Bears participates in warm-ups before a game against the Denver Broncos at Soldier Field on August 11, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. “We hopped in there and we didn’t miss a beat”.
Several of the other positional battles have gone as many expected; Britton Colquitt remains the starting punter for the time being, Todd Davis has assumed the inside linebacker spot opposite Brandon Marshall, Jordan Norwood is the punt and kickoff returner, and Bennie Fowler and Cody Latimer are right behind the starters at wide receiver. Aside from that, the lack of depth at pass-catchers once again reared its ugly head.
The Bears are still Jay Cutler’s team, and we are unlikely to see Cutler or any of the Bears starters beyond the first quarter. Drafted in the second round in 2014, Latimer has played nearly exclusively in garbage time and recorded just eight catches in two years.
The Broncos will host the 49ers next week. “Obviously, Mark and Trevor get starter reps in practice every day”, Kubiak said. He’s the QB of the future and that experience is exactly what he needs to get in preseason since they hopefully won’t have to give him any snaps in the regular season.
“Coach [Kubiak] just told us not to pay attention to it, and go out there and go to work and focus on what we need to do – and that’s going out and winning a game this week”, said Paxton Lynch, Denver Broncos quarterback.
The good news for the Bears is that their quarterback situation is settled, at least for one season.
According to TiqIQ, a resale ticket data collector, the average list price of a ticket is $305 – compared to $75 before A-Rod tearfully announced Sunday that he was retiring from the team. This is a good problem to have.
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Josh Bellamy and Daniel Braverman both turned in strong camps, but guys like Deonte Thompson and Kieren Duncan should add some intrigue. More than anything, the Bears will want to adjust and start building chemistry on defense, where they revamped their linebacker corps and adde ddefensive back help as well.
