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Chicago Bears Defeat Miami Dolphins 27-10 In Pre-Season Opener

By Jordan Campbell

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The Chicago Bears opened their pre-season schedule on Thursday night with a game against the Miami Dolphins at Soldier Field. The Bears came away victorious in their 2015 pre-season debut with a 27-10 victory over the Dolphins. What was good? What was bad? What was ugly?

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The Good: Among the impressive players for the Chicago Bears’ first-team defense was outside linebacker Jared Allen. Allen may be a 12-year NFL veteran, but 2015 is serving as his first season in the NFL as a 3-4 outside linebacker. Allen looked the part on Thursday night against the Miami Dolphins as he was impressive in pass-coverage and had a near interception of Dolphins’ quarterback Ryan Tannehill.

Overall, the Bears’ new look 3-4 defense showed promise. There is no hiding the fact that the Bears are installing a new defense and there will be hiccups as they were on display in the first quarter with a lack of physicality in the secondary. However, as the game carried on, the Bears’ defense was settling in as players were becoming comfortable while playing in their respective positions.

On offense, Bears’ starting quarterback Jay Cutler and the first-team offense went into the second quarter. The first series for Cutler and the Bears’ starting offense was a three-and-out but the unit orchestrated a 12-play drive on their second series which resulted in a Robbie Gould field goal. Cutler completed 4 of his 7 passes on Thursday night for a total of 42 yards and a passer rating of 74.7.

The second-team offense had an effective night with backup quarterback Jimmy Clausen behind center. Clausen completed 17 of 27 passes on Thursday night for a total of 151 yards and a passer rating of 77.9. Clausen led four scoring drives for the Bears’ offense on Thursday night. Backup running back Ka’Deem Carey was also impressive while totaling 34 yards and 1 touchdown on 7 carries.

Perhaps the most impressive part of the Bears’ quarterback play on Thursday night was that neither Cutler nor Clausen turned the ball over. In addition to being balanced, protecting the ball will be one of the most important elements of the Bears’ offense in 2015.

Another area of encouragement on Thursday night was the Bears’ special teams play. The Bears had one of the worst special teams’ unit in the NFL last season and the team can not afford to repeat that performance in 2015. Thursday night was a step in the right direction for the Bears under new special teams’ coordinator Jeff Rodgers.

The Bad: It was not an encouraging pre-season opener for the starting Bears’ secondary. In order for a 3-4 defensive secondary to be successful, there is a need for physicality. That was missing on Thursday night from the Bears’ starting secondary. Safety Brock Vereen struggled the most as he consistently whiffed on tackles and got taken to the ground several times by the Dolphins’ ball carriers.

The Ugly. Penalties were an issue all season long for the Bears in 2014 and that was the case on Thursday night in the team’s 2015 pre-season opener. The Bears were penalized 15 times on Thursday night for a total of 83 yards. It wouldn’t be right if Jordan Mills was not mentioned in association with penalties. Mills’ once again showed his fondness for pre-snap penalties on Thursday night.

All in all, it was a good game for the Bears on Thursday night. There is only so much that can be taken away from pre-season games but the Bears’ definitely showed signs of progress under new head coach John Fox, offensive coordinator Adam Gase, and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. And, at the end of the day, that is the only thing you can hope to take away from these glorified practices.

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