Dhruv Koul shares his thoughts and observations from the Titans-Bears preseason finale at Soldier Field. Follow him on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
CHICAGO — Well, we finally made it. Tonight was the preseason finale and we are now officially on to Week 1! The Chicago Bears will host the Green Bay Packers next Thursday night at Soldier Field to kick off the 2019 NFL regular season.
Tonight was the third and fourth stringer showcase across the NFL. None of the Bears’ starters or critical backups were to see the field against the visiting Tennessee Titans. So I tweeted this:
With many of the roster spots won already, here are a few things I kept an eye on during tonight’s game. A thread:
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I shared my thoughts and observations from the preseason finale below, with coverage ending with around seven minutes left in the fourth quarter. Follow me on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation!
PRE-GAME
1. Glad to see one of the things I was looking for tonight happened — Roy Robertson-Harris was declared ‘unlikely to play’. He’s been playing all preseason, which is weird to me because he’s such an important and valuable piece of the Bears’ defensive line. Glad to see they rested him tonight, ensuring his health going into Week 1.
FIRST HALF
2. Alex Bars getting the start at LT makes a lot of sense. The Bears have questions at swing tackle, and Bars proved adequate at RT last week. This is his chance to solidify his spot on the roster.
3. I’m surprised Aaron Lynch found himself on the field tonight at EDGE. I assume because he missed a good part of the offseason due to a shoulder injury, so Matt Nagy wanted him to get some reps. I can’t imagine he’s on the roster bubble.
4. Eddy Pineiro’s first kick tonight was a PAT after Jesper Horsted’s nice touchdown reception. He completely shanked it. It missed wide left and by a big margin. That’s not a good look for Pineiro.
5. Of course, Pineiro came back to nail his 32 yard and 39 yard field goal tries right down the middle. Great job redeeming himself.
6. Josh Caldwell is an impressive RB. Thomas Ives has been sensational tonight catching the football. The Bears have some strong practice squad candidates putting an exclamation mark on their preseason tonight.
7. Tyler Bray has had himself a solid first half. Even if the Bears don’t keep three QBs, he’s put some solid tape out there for other teams over the last two weeks. Also, Jesper Horsted has been unstoppable tonight. Another intriguing TE to make a decision on.
SECOND HALF
8. Josh Woods has impressed me a lot this preseason and played very well tonight. I would have to rank him above Joel Iyiegbuniwe now, too. He deserves a spot on this roster as a reserve ILB.
9. Dax Raymond left the game with a concussion. I am very curious to see what the Bears do at TE, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Chicago used this as an excuse to put him on IR and hold him for a year. Tough offseason for Raymond, but he has potential going forward.
10. Eddy Pineiro with yet another make, this time for 34 yards out. He’s 3/3 on FGs tonight, all coming after his XP miss. I think it’s safe to say the miss was an anomaly of sorts.
11. If I had to guess, Pineiro did everything he needed to do to make the roster. He should be the Bears’ kicker next week.
12. So. Many. Flags. I’m wrapping up coverage with seven minutes left in the game. My preseason comes to an end — I’ll have additional thoughts posted tomorrow on Twitter @DhruvKoul.
13. We’re officially moving on to Week 1. In one week, the Bears and Packers will descend upon Soldier Field to open the NFL’s 2019 regular season, almost eight months to the day since Cody Parkey’s double-doink bounced the Bears out of the playoffs against Philadelphia. The redemption tour starts next Thursday night.
Early prediction: Bears 27, Packers 24
