Bears-Broncos: Let the circus begin, preseason style

By Edward Kensik  |   Saturday, August 29, 2009  |  Comments( 0 )

Chicago Bears
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What to look for on Sunday night at 7 p.m. as the Chicago Bears travel to Denver:

1. Jay Cutler – How does he react to the vicious Broncos crowd?
2. Wide receivers – Is Cutler getting on the same page as Devin Hester? What other receivers will shine, Earl Bennett or Brandon Rideau or Juaquin Iglesias or Johnny Knox?
3. Defensive line – Will the new fangled defensive line under Rod Marinelli pass another test?
4. Defensive backfield – Danieal Manning, Charles Tillman and Zack Bowman are not going to play against the Broncos. Who will pick up the slack?
5. Caleb Hanie and Kevin Jones – Will Hanie continue to show that he deserves to be the second quarterback or should the Bears go get a proven backup? Can Jones pickup extra touches that the Bears want?

For a preseason game, it could not get any better than this.
For many Denver Broncos' fans, Jay Cutler will make a preseason game have the feel of a regular season.
Cutler returns to his home away from home in Denver and should be playing into the third quarter.
There is sure to be a loud applause for every incomplete pass by Mr. Cutler on Saturday night, but Cutler should be able to get plenty of completions against his former teammates of a porous Broncos defense.
Cutler did not enamored Broncos fans for his words especially even recently where he degraded Denver fans by saying the Bears fans were a 9 in a rating of 1 to 10 and the Broncos fans were a six.
While Cutler will get the hype, the Bears fans will be looking to see which wide receiver starts breaking out of the pack, Earl Bennett or Brandon Rideau or Juaquin Iglesias or Johnny Knox. Also will the Cutler-Devin Hester connection start to communicate better? It could be the last stand for Rashied Davis in a Bears uniform. Also, the Bears just want Matt Forte to stay healthy, but would like to see how Kevin Jones does, especially if they want to give them more touches. Also, it might be the last chance for the other Adrian Peterson to stay on the Bears, depending on how many running backs they keep.
The Bears have three new offensive lineman including Orlando Pace so it will be interesting to see how well they protect Cutler.
Defensively, it will be another test for Rod Marinelli's defensive line and to care of their old friend Kyle Orton. The Denver offensive line is good especially since they protected their old friend, Cutler, last year and helped it getting all those yards.
A couple of players to look at on the defensive line will be Marcus Harrison and Mark Anderson. The loss of Dusty Dvorcek means that it gives Matt Toeaina a shot on the line. Both Anthony Adams and Marcus Harrison are pretty set at the defensive tackle spots.
One player who might need a big game against Denver is veteran linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer. It’s doubtful that he will be cut, but the long-time Bear is the backup to Brian Urlacher at middle linebacker. He was the strong linebacker, but that is being battled out between three Pisa Tinoisamoa, Nick Roach and Jamar Williams. Hillenmeyer was the starter at strong linebacker the last four-plus years before a thumb injury put Roach as the starter during last season. Williams though has a foot injury and will not play against the Broncos and the team is worried about Roach who suffered a concussion in the preseason opener against the Bills. It was his second concussion in the last year.
Also the Bears secondary is very unsettled mainly because of injuries. Both Danieal Manning and Zack Bowman are not expected to play against the Broncos and Charles Tillman is still out. Tillman was expected to make his debut in the season opener on Sept. 13 against Green Bay but that is not set in stone.
Al Afalava, Corey Graham and Kevin Payne are hoping to entrench a starting spot in the defensive backfield, be it safety or cornerback, with a strong performance against Denver.
''Right now all we're trying to do is get Danieal back, so there are no plans on anything except to get Danieal back,'' Bears coach Lovie Smith told the Chicago Sun-Times. ''All [safety] positions are open, and you go from there. You had to have someone start out [with the first team in camp], and you go from there. To me, the competition is still being fought each day. Danieal is still coming back. To become one of the starters, you've got to play.”
Also without Manning, the Bears are trying to get some return players going. The Bears hope to get a steady douse of one or two players in their punt and kickoff returns. They could go with Hester as a punt returner, but the Bears might be trying to let him concentrate on his work with Cutler as a receiver.
Whatever way it goes on Sunday night, it should be as big that a preseason can claim to be.
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