10 Takeaways from the Bears Preseason Game 1.

Here are my top ten takeaways from the Chicago Bears first preseason game.

1) Willie Young and Lamarr Houston picked up right where they left off at the end of last season. Both Young and Houston provided good pass rush and caused Broncos quarterback Mark Sanchez to be uncomfortable in the pocket for most of the night.

2) Danny Trevathan showed his natural football instinct last night along with his nose for the football. Trevathan seemed to be everywhere the ball carrier was. Whether it was with his pass or run defense Trevathan shows just how much of an upgrade he is at the position compared to McClellin and Jones from last season.

3) Jerrell Freeman impressed me with his coverage skills. Assigned to cover Bronco’s tight end Virgil Green for most of the night Freeman didn’t give him much space to work with. Green was able to catch one pass with Freeman being immediately there for the tackle. Freeman did come away with an interception on the night from a tipped pass by cornerback Bryce Callahan.

4) Akiem Hicks and Eddie Goldman should be a force up front for the Bears. Both players had strong point of attacks against opposing offensive linemen which lead to disruption in the backfield.

5) I saw improvement under Vic Fangio’s defense and expect a much better showing this year on the defensive side of the ball compared to last year. Willie Young looks to be settling in with the new 3–4 defense nicely and a healthy Pernell McPhee will add even more disruption for the defense.

6) I’m hesitant to hit the panic button on the new Cutler/Loggains offense. I feel like the first preseason game for any Bears offense is usually a shit show. So last night wasn’t shocking for me. It’s the first preseason game, but the fact that is concerning to me is that this first team offense did not go up against the Broncos first team defense and struggled badly. Execution is key in preseason games and the Bears offense sure didn’t have a whole lot of it.

7) Kevin White’s debut was kind of snubbed for me after only being targeted once for a screen play that gained maybe a yard. The positive is that he came away from last night’s game uninjured.

8) The offensive line needs work and time to grow together. This was evident after having Hroniss Grasu go down with an ACL injury during Family Fest and struggling against the Bronco’s defensive subs. Picking up the safety blitz still seems to be a weak point for this offense as Cutler was sacked by one last night.

9) Leonard Floyd had an OK debut. He played more than Kevin White did and from what I could see is his potential, but still some ways away from unleashing it. Floyd has obvious speed, but it’s the point of contact that worries me. He needs to be able to use his strength and get the offensive lineman off of him. Floyd showed his spin move, but that only works in variation. A good bull rush is needed to keep the offensive lineman guessing.

10) Rookie cornerback out of Northern Iowa Deiondre’ Hall showed some skill to catch my attention. Hall was tested twice while the Bronco’s offense was in the red zone and was able to make two nice plays. He showed his length fighting the receiver whenever the ball was being thrown to him resulting in two batted down passes. I do want to see him turn his head and locate the football. It's clear Hall can read receivers body language well, but if he turned his head and located the football he might have been able to pick off one of the passes.

The next Bears preseason game is August 18th against the Patriots.