Bears Beat Browns 24-14, Roster Cuts Underway

Sorry for the delayed reaction folks.  I literally fell asleep watching the tape delay of the game last night, so I didn’t get a chance to write anything up.  The Bears beat the Cleveland Browns to end their preseason with a 2-2 record in a game where very few regular contributors contributed.  None of the big name guys played and even the developing offensive line only took a few reps besides center Roberto Garza, who sat out entirely.  Here are a few of my notes from the game:

  • What the hell did Roy Williams do to earn a night off?  He should have been forced to endure a few snaps as punishment for some of his preseason drops.
  • Johnny Knox stepped in and did a nice job.  You’ve got to love that TD grab on a perfectly thrown pass from Hanie.
  • Good on Chester Taylor for going out there in the face of getting cut and giving a solid performance.  Think there’s any chance his performance was enough to help the Bears trade him?  The Kahlil Bell ankle injury piled onto the Marion Barber calf injury might have opened the door for Taylor.  Maybe just a tiny little bit.  It could come at Kyle Adams’ or Will Ta’ufo’ou.
  • Pretty safe to say that Dane Sanzenbacher has made the final 53 with a few nice plays.  Can he contribute on Sundays?  Will he even dress on Sundays?
  • I liked what I saw out of Nick Reed.  Not sure if he did enough to make the team, but he was getting off the ball really well.  Could he be a pass rush specialist like Mark Anderson was supposed to be?  PS – I still don’t like him more than Alex Brown, who is still looking for work as far as I know.
  • For any Robert Hughes fans out there – it’s a loooooong shot that he even makes the practice squad.  He had a few nice runs and made some plays, but keep in mind the competition.  He was playing against guys who won’t be playing on Sundays either.
  • Adam Podlesh still hasn’t impressed me.  He’s got to nail that punt inside the 20 instead of blowing it through the end zone.  Step it up, son.  You ain’t in Jacksonville anymore.
  • The backup safeties both ended up injured after Craig Steltz injured his hip and Chris Conte had a head injury.  Keep an eye out for how this affects the final roster.  The Bears are awfully thin at safety.  Winston Veneble could be the beneficiary of those injuries if the Bears don’t scoop someone off the street.

Since we’re both pressed for time to get the holiday weekend started, I’m combining my post-game wrapup with the early roster cuts that were released Friday afternoon.  Canada’s favorite son Andy Fantuz heads up the list of the early cuts.  Here’s what the Bears official website listed:

"The Bears waived 14 players Friday, including guard Johan Asiata, fullback Eddie Williams, wide receivers Andy Fantuz and Onrea Jones, and linebacker Chris Johnson.The group also included nine undrafted rookies: Linebackers Tressor Baptiste and Deron Minor, cornerbacks Antareis Bryan and Ryan Jones, tackle Josh Davis, punter Spencer Lanning, defensive end Jake Laptad, center Alex Linnenkohl, and receiver Jimmy Young.The only player waived Friday who has played in a regular-season game for the Bears is Asiata, who appeared in the first two contests last year."

Remember when Johan Asiata was going to be the answer for the Bears offensive line?  Kind of like Josh Beekman the year before?  Sort of like Lance Louis might be in a few weeks.

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