Welcome to Grizzly Detail’s Four Phases Report Card, a breakdown of each of the three areas of the Chicago Bears’ performance against the Cleveland Browns: offense, defense, and special teams. We also take a look at what Bears fans had to say during the game on Twitter.
Offense: B+
The Bears looked pretty good on offense in this game, and especially so in the first half when QB Jordan Palmer was in the game. They were crisp, efficient, and most importantly, effective, going on several long drives that resulted in the Bears picking up a 10-3 lead at the half.
Unfortunately, the Bears were undone a bit in this game by some shoddy pass protection and a case of the dropsies by tight end Fendi Onobun. Obviously, we aren’t going to delve too deeply into either of those things being that it was a preseason game, but it was still worrisome to see Trent Edwards running for his life against a defense that isn’t exactly a replica of the 1985 Bears.
Defense: C+
Speaking of stingy defense, the Bears looked pretty tame in that area Thursday night. They were often out of position in their secondary, giving up several long passing plays to Browns QB Brian Hoyer, and their defensive front four did little in the way of creating pressure on the pocket in the contest.
On the flip side, they did make several key plays on interceptions by Demontre Hurst and an acrobatic play by Sherrick McManis in the game, and their linebacking corps also did a solid job of closing off the running game of the Browns. Add to that a couple of successful blitzes, and it wasn’t all bad news for the Bears in this one.
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Special Teams: A-
The Bears had an excellent night in punt coverage in this one, and that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, considering that they were playing against back-ups AND were laden with guys that were hungry to try to make one last impression on the coaching staff before final cuts this weekend.
In addition to that, Robbie Gould booted three field goals in the contest, and only missed one that was nearly 60 yards in length. Odds are that he is fully healed from the injury that knocked him out of the last portion of last season, and that he will once again start living up to the “Good as Gould” phrase that escapes the lips of every commentator that is assigned Bears games throughout the season.
Fan Performance: B
Obviously there weren’t a ton of notable fan tweets tonight (and we will make this a recurring feature, so make sure to tweet @Grizzly_Detail if you want to see your work in this space), but there were a couple of pretty funny ones to share.
One was from noted Chicago Blackhawks blogger @CheertheAnthem, who had this to say about the career of J’Marcus Webb at left tackle:
J'Marcus Webb was the James Buchanan/Warren G. Harding of left tackles. No matter what, it'll never be that bad again. #Bears — Cheer the Anthem (@CheerTheAnthem) August 30, 2013
The other is from @FacebookBears, which takes actual Facebook comments about the Bears and tweets them out for all to cringe at. Perhaps someone should tell this person that bragging about a preseason victory is akin to beating a toddler at checkers:
This sucks, I have to freaking live in Cleveland and this is embarrassing. Don't wanna go to work tomorrow — Bears Facebook (@FacebookBears) August 30, 2013
