Dhruv Koul shares his in-game thoughts and observations from the first half of the Bears-Giants preseason Week 2 game at MetLife Stadium. Follow him on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Eight days after the Chicago Bears opened up their preseason slate at Soldier Field, almost exactly seven months after their devastating home playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, the Bears returned to the site of one of their more annoying and heartbreaking losses of 2018: MetLife Stadium.
If you recall, the Chase Daniel-led Bears coughed up a comfortable first-half lead to the New York Giants, only to come back in wild fashion with two scores in the final two minutes of regulation, including one on a Tarik Cohen TD pass to Anthony Miller as time expired. But Chicago left The Meadowlands with a difficult, overtime loss in their back pockets.
Of course, today’s preseason game doesn’t count. And New York will visit Soldier Field later this season when the games DO count. So we know that absolutely nothing of value was going to be shown by either side today.
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Nevertheless, half of the preseason is now in the books, and we are 20 days away from the Packers-Bears opener at Soldier Field to kick off the NFL’s and Bears’ 100th season!
P.S.: Congratulations to Bears’ radio play-by-play voice, Jeff Joniak, on his induction to the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame! Very well deserved.
I shared my in-game thoughts and observations from today’s preseason action below. Follow me on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
NOTE: The thoughts published below cover the first half only due to a prior commitment. Additional thoughts from the game will be shared on Twitter.
PRE-GAME
1. Kyle Long didn’t make the trip to MetLife Stadium with the Bears due to his involvement in a fight during practice earlier this week. Matt Nagy opted to keep him home. While Long not playing makes a lot of sense, keeping him from traveling with the team is quite the message. We’ll see how Nagy addresses that after the game.
2. What’s most interesting about the Bears’ inactive list tonight, one that included all of the key starters? Running back David Montgomery was also on the list. It’s clear he’s the guy moving forward. That didn’t take long, huh?
FIRST HALF
3. Elliott Fry showed decent leg strength on the opening kickoff, getting the ball about five yards deep into the end zone. Not bad for someone whose biggest question mark is leg strength. His ability to drive the ball on kickoffs in poor weather will be important for this team as well.
4. Ryan Nall showed some good moves and toughness on the Bears’ first offensive series, picking up a couple of first downs on third-and-short situations. The Bears drove to the Giants’ 23 yard line, led by Chase Daniel.
5. The Bears’ first field goal attempt of the night came from Eddy Pineiro from 41 yards out. He kicked it straight through!
6. The Bears’ EDGE depth is a concern. Preseason or not, someone needs to show something outside of the guys that are currently sitting. The Bears will blitz more under Chuck Pagano, but that has to result in actual pressure. The young OLBs need to step up.
7. Bradley Sowell’s move to tight end is not going well. Marvin Hall also having a very poor preseason.
8. Chase Daniel is a bad quarterback. His pocket presence is absolutely horrendous. And his mishandling of a snap led to a hilarious looking safety. That was not a good look.
9. Elliott Fry with a 47 yard miss between the hashmarks. So now Fry and Pineiro have both missed one this preseason. Fry had the lead before tonight, so it’s back to the drawing board for this Bears’ kicking competition.
That’s it from me tonight. I’ll have more thoughts posted on Twitter after I get a chance to review the tape. Halfway through the preseason!
