Preview for Bears-Bills: Watch rookies, Cutler with receivers

By Edward Kensik  |   Saturday, August 15, 2009  |  Comments( 0 )

Chicago Bears
Got something to say?

Sign Up and be the first to comment on this article!

The first preseason game is definitely a time to be joyous for all the football fans, but to see your favorite veterans that is not the case.

Those veterans, who are not battling for a starting spot, they just want to get onto the field for a little bit and then hit the sideline. The goal is to get your feet wet and make sure you are injury free for the start of the regular season.

For those fans watching the Chicago Bears-Buffalo Bills game (6 p.m. Central Standard Time, 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time), the attention will be on Jay Cutler, but more importantly how is he connecting with the receivers and which receivers.

Cutler will not be on the field for long, but the coaching staff does want to get an inkling of how their big acquisition that cost them a couple of first round picks is coming along.

Despite the vapid talk about how many drops this receiver or that receiver had in training camp, the preseason games are the real starting gate for those receivers. There is a battle that is wide open for the Bears to find that receiver to go along with Devin Hester.

Brandon Rideau and Devin Aromashodu are all the talk in camp, but if they do not look good in the exhibition games they could be headed for special teams or he could be released.

Even when Cutler hits the sidelines and the two backup quarterbacks, Brett Basanez and Caleb Hanie, hit the field, it will be how they work with a certain wide receivers.

It will also be the first taste against opponent's competition with Rod Marinelli as a defensive line coach and assistant head coach. In past years the success of the Bears has been how they have gotten to the quarterback and that will be the case this season especially with Marinelli. Despite his woes as a head coach with Detroit, Marinelli is considered to be a defensive wiz.

But also this will be a big year for defensive coordinator Bob Babich. With Marinelli on the staff and Lovie Smith saying last year that he will have more of a say in the defense this season, Babich is under the microscope and this could be a make or break year for him.


What to watch on Saturday night:

Quarterback - Cutler, Basanez and Hanie. It will be interesting to see how all three quarterback work with this group of wide receivers. Cutler will probably not be on the field that long, but seeing the other two quarterbacks play will give the Bears management an idea if they will need to go out and get an experienced quarterback to back up Cutler.

Wide receiver - The first pass from Cutler to Hester will be analyzed and over-analyzed, but one of the keys to the season will be the Cutler-Hester relationship. The Bears paid out a lot for Hester last year and are hoping for him to pay dividends. On the depth charts Earl Bennett is second behind Hester while many fans will see how the likes of Rideau, a fourth year player from Kansas, along with the rookie wide outs, Johnnie Knox and Juaquin Iglesias. There are already some names that have come from the training camp including Aromashodu, a third year player from Auburn, Bennett and Rashied Davis, a relative veteran for the Bears who might be on his way out.

Running backs - Matt Forte will not get many snaps, but the Bears are hoping that Kevin Jones relieve some of the pressure for the running load off of Forte. For the Bears though it doesn’t necessarily have to be the former Lion, it could Northern Illinois grad Garrett Wolfe or even the other Adrian Peterson. The one major plus for Smith is that he has carried the load before compared to Wolfe and Peterson.

Defensive backfield - Danieal Manning is doubtful on the field as the starting safety. His hamstring injury is continuing to hurt. Rookie Al Afalava will get plenty of play time at safety if Manning does not suit up. Craig Steltz is also somebody to watch at safety. The Bears are looking for leadership from a player in the defensive backfield with Mike Brown now with the Chiefs. Both Zackary Bowman and Charles Tillman are hurting at cornerback so you will see more of Corey Graham at cornerback. Unfortunately this group will not be tested by Terrell Owens, who is out for the preseason opener.

Kickoff and punt returns - There has been talk about Hester also doing punt returns. If you go by last year’s results, it appears that Hester cannot do both, wide receiver and returns. The Bears did not give Hester all that money in 2008 for returns so they would rather see him excel at catching balls from Cutler. Manning had success in returns last season, but he is hurting and might not even take the field against the Bills. Preseason games have a tendency to spotlight some future special teams’ players and that could be the year for the Bears.
Got something to say?

Sign Up and be the first to comment on this article! (0)

Article Tools Share!   |  RSS  |  Bleacher Report About Bleacher Report