A Few Comments on Last Night Pre-season Finale

I’m not much on preseason games.  Its hard to make too many judgments, especially when it comes to the last one because backups are playing against backups.

  • It looks to me like the Bears are trying to find a way for Dane Sanzenbacher to make the roster.  If he does, he’ll have to play special teams and it looked like they were trying to give him an opportunity to show what he could do there.

    We’ll see if he did enough.  If not, he’ll probably be picked up by a team where special teams are less important than they are to the Bears.

  • Caleb Hanie looked happy on the sidelines last night and I’d have to say that the touchdown pass to Johnny Knox was a beautiful pass.  But, like most of the pre-season, Hanie was inconsistent.  It understandable when rookie Nathan Enderle holds the ball too long.  But Hanie is inis fourth year and he needs to make his read and throw.  You could argue that even the touchdown pass, which arrived only after the safety got over to make a play on the ball, could have been late.

    I like Hanie.  But I can see why offensive coordinator Mike Martz might want to ride him hard.  He looked awfully self-satisfied when neither he nor the fans and media should be really happy.  Hanie’s still not executing the offense like he supposed to nearly as often as he should.

  • The defensive ends, Mario Addison and Nick Reed, both showed well.  Against backups.  I’m worried about depth at defensive end.  The depth at linebacker also looks like a definite concern.
  • Chester Taylor generally did good things with his carries but he’s still not making yards on his own the way the other running backs are, including Kahlil Bell.
  • Roy Williams needed to play.  He’s being treated like he has a status that he has in no way earned in the pre-seaon.  He looks to me like he needed the work.
  • Marcus Harrison flashed too little too late.
  • The Bears left some potential turnovers on the field.  Zack Bowman needs to catch those easy interceptions if he ever wants his starting job back.