Chicago Bears host Cleveland Browns: 5 Things to Watch

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Aug 29, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Chicago Bears fans show support in the stands against the Cincinnati Bengals in a preseason NFL football game at Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals won 21-10. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Bears are looking to complete their final preparations for the regular season and forget a rough third preseason game this week as they prepare for Thursday’s final preseason game against the Cleveland Browns.

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The Bears are 2-1 in the eternally long, meaningless preseason, but the one loss came in the third game, generally considered the most important of the preliminary quartet. The starting defense, in allowing 21 points in a half of play, also embarrassingly failed to even force an incompletion against the Cincinnati Bengals. Most of those throws in the first half for the Bengals were from quarterback AJ McCarron … who has seen zero regular season action. Ouch.

The offense, meanwhile, has sputtered. Injuries have infected the receiver corps, with most of the top targets injured. Two – Alshon Jeffery and rookie Kevin White – haven’t seen any action, while White will miss regular season games after undergoing shin surgery.

As much as the injuries have limited quarterback Jay Cutler’s options and the offensive line has been inconsistent (except the dependably bad right tackles), there’s no excuse for the offense not scoring a touchdown in any of the first three preseason games. Righting that wrong in the final contest could give them a confidence boost, but it’s more important to settle the roster battles and stay healthy (or healthy-ish, in the case of a team already debilitated by injuries).

Aug 29, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Chicago Bears head coach John Fox looks on from the sidelines in the second half against the Cincinnati Bengals in a preseason NFL football game at Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals won 21-10. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

The Bears took the final step before Thursday’s game by reducing the roster down to 75 players. Saturday is the deadline for Head Coach John Fox and company to whittle the roster down to 53 players, so Thursday is the final chance for bubble players to have an impact. One as-yet undetermined bubble player likely caught a break when news broke Tuesday that Senorise Perry, a special teams ace last year, was placed on injured reserve with an ankle injury.

Elsewhere, the Bears claimed quarterback Zac Dysert and tight end Gannon Sinclair off waivers, and waived reserve rookie quarterback Shane Carden and guard Lucas Nix. The latter move is a bit of a surprise, as the depth on the Bears’ offensive line may be long but it’s not overly talented, and Nix figured to compete with Vladimir Ducasse for the primary swing guard position.

With so little time left before the regular season, it would be great if the Bears were closer to having some positional and primary backup problems settled, but the fact remains that the defense has some serious questions, the running back reserve spot isn’t really settled and may end up being a rotation, and the offensive line has a glaring hole at right tackle. Let’s start there.

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