Instant analysis of the Chicago Bears 21-7 win over the Cleveland Browns Sep 1, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; By: Bryan Perez | 1 minute ago
The Chicago Bears defeated the Cleveland Browns 21-7 in Week 4 of the preseason to earn their first win of the summer less than two weeks before their opening game against the Houston Texans on September 11.
Backup QB Brian Hoyer shined in the first half completing 12 of his 16 passes for 116 yards. He moved the ball efficiently on offense, connecting four times with 2015 first-round pick Kevin White.
The Bears played White for the entire first half, and the talented pass-catcher had his best night of the preseason with four catches for 57 yards highlighted by a 26-yard catch and run. It was the first time all summer that White looked the part of a starting receiver ready to make a contribution in 2016.
Cameron Meredith continued his hot play versus the Cleveland with six catches for 46 yards. He’s going to be hard to cut after his last two performances this preseason. He’s outplayed the likes of Deonte Thompson and Josh Bellamy and appears to have earned himself a spot on the final roster.
Running back Jordan Howard was the star on offense, leading all runners with 15 carries for 98 yards and a 16-yard touchdown. He added 33 yards on two receptions.
Howard displayed the kind of patience, footwork and power that made him an appealing option for the Bears in the 2016 NFL draft. His performance versus Cleveland was good enough to consider him as the top option behind Jeremy Langford at this point. Jacquizz Rodgers had another ho-hum night with eight carries for 15 yards, while Ka’Deem Carey struggled to find running room on his seven rushes, totaling only 19 yards. He did have a short touchdown run to his credit.
The Bears defense fared well, too, limiting the Browns offense to only seven points and no explosive plays. Starting QB Robert Griffin, III completed four of his eight passes for only 31 yards, while former Bear Josh McCown went eight of 15 for 73 yards and an interception.
The stars on defense for Chicago were the young corners Deiondre’ Hall and Jacoby Glenn. Both cover guys were challenged by all-world talent Josh Gordon, and they each answered the bell. Glenn, in particular, played with swagger and confidence, two traits that are necessities to play corner in the NFL.
Hall was exceptional on one series early in the game in the red zone, displaying tight coverage and good ball skills to prevent touchdowns on back-to-back plays.
Hall and Glenn are locks for the final 53-man roster after tonight’s game.
While the win over Cleveland was more about backups playing their way onto — or off of — the team, avoiding a winless preseason is something positive to draw from as the regular season quickly approaches. Related:
Post by datreebearz on Sept 1, 2016 22:51:47 GMT -6
Hoyer is a joke of QB he shouldn't even be in the league anymore. When Fales was struggling you could tell Hoyer had a sense of glee about it because he knows he's a lock as the backup this year because Shaw bit the dust. If or when Culter gets hurt Hoyer is going to take the biggest dump on the field just like the old Bob Avellini days.
Howard looks really good, Bullard is going to be a frick'n beast and Floyd looks like he can play even with that gangly look. Acho is he that good or is it because it's crap ass Cleveland?
Lookey here ... the Bears played competent fb tonight . It was avg as far as fb goes , but they actually looked like they remembered how to play the game tonight . Gould shanked 1 and had 1 tipped but I'm not worried - he's the kind of guy who will see it as unacceptable and it'll make him beardown and be 'on his game' moving forward . The RB's had a better night , fighting and scrapping for yards and getting 1st downs , and Howard made himself hard to cut with a big 2nd half . White caught the ball with ease and showed a little of what he's capable of . The replacement CB's looked decent ( some might say good ) so I don't see them getting 'burned with ease' if they're pressed into service . Overall they looked like they're finally getting it ( and not like some team running a Chinese Fire Drill ) . Am I optimistic ? Basically no ... but I don't think they'll get blown out regularly either .. they should be 'respectable' .. and they should be a much better team the second half of the season .
It was a good game, guys played hard. Corny Washington had two guys fall on him with his legs in a awkward position. I feel bad for him, no luck. It is very fair to notice the decline of Robbie Gould. I am worried and wish we had competition for him. Hoyer final stat line looked good, but his early play vs Cleveland starters was rough. His missed wide open targets, took unnecessary hits. Lets hope he is not needed. Merideth and White were two of the best players on the field last night, even vs Cleveland 1s. Hall made nice plays early vs Josh Gordon.
I didn't get to watch. So what's with Mr Unreliable Robbie Gould all of a sudden? 2 missed PATs?
He's been starting to be less reliable the last 2 years. They should have been brining in competition for him in every offseason and for some reason have ignored the issue; now it's looking bad.
Lookey here ... the Bears played competent fb tonight . It was avg as far as fb goes , but they actually looked like they remembered how to play the game tonight . Gould shanked 1 and had 1 tipped but I'm not worried - he's the kind of guy who will see it as unacceptable and it'll make him beardown and be 'on his game' moving forward . The RB's had a better night , fighting and scrapping for yards and getting 1st downs , and Howard made himself hard to cut with a big 2nd half . White caught the ball with ease and showed a little of what he's capable of . The replacement CB's looked decent ( some might say good ) so I don't see them getting 'burned with ease' if they're pressed into service . Overall they looked like they're finally getting it ( and not like some team running a Chinese Fire Drill ) . Am I optimistic ? Basically no ... but I don't think they'll get blown out regularly either .. they should be 'respectable' .. and they should be a much better team the second half of the season .
I agree with everything but Gould, hes on the spiral down and hes not coming back. For $ 4,100,100 !!! im expecting way, way more
It was a preseason game but it's important to keep in mind that it was the Bear's 2nd team O and D competing with the Browns 1st teams for the first quarter.
The posted article summarizes the game well. Deiondre Hall looked good going up against Gordon and Prior. He was able to jam them and stick in their pocket down the sideline while also making a number of great plays on the ball. Ball could have recorded an int if he'd turned his head a moment faster on a ball thrown too far left by McCown (who looked like complete shit).