Chicago Bears: What’s at stake in final preseason game?

What, if anything, is on the line in the Chicago Bears final preseason game of the year?

The Chicago Bears will return to Soldier Field on Thursday night to take on the Tennessee Titans in the fourth and final preseason game of the season. Once complete, they will have less than one week to prepare for the first game of any consequence, when they open up their 100th season against the Green Bay Packers on September 5th.

So far this preseason, we have learned little and seen even less of the starters on this Bears squad. Head coach Matt Nagy, who appears the be on the cutting edge of a new trend in the NFL, has chosen the health of his starters over the minimum advantage gained from repetitions executing a vanilla offense against an even blander defense.

In fact, the starters played exactly zero snaps in last week’s “dress rehearsal” against the Indianapolis Colts. Consequently, I’d expect the starters to be 100-yards away from the sidelines for the fourth and historically meaningless preseason game.

However, there are still a couple of interesting things on the line on Thursday. We start with the topic on every Bears fans’ mind at the moment.

Eddy Money

One of the stars of the Colts game was Eddy Pineiro, who made all five of his kicks (two extra points and two field goals) including a booming 58-yarder that split the uprights and probably would have been good from 60 yards.

Later in the game (fourth quarter), there was an opportunity for him to double-down and attempt a 56-yard field goal, but Nagy passed and went for it on fourth down. Perhaps he didn’t want to spoil the good vibes from earlier in the game or undermine his confidence. Either way, one kick does not make a career, and so fans will be watching closely to see if Pineiro can validate his performance in Indy.

Swing Tackle

The Bears starting offensive line is pretty good, but behind them, things get a little iffy. There really isn’t the depth you’d like to see — especially if any of the starters have to miss time due to injury.

Specifically, the position of swing tackle is a giant question mark. It was long thought to be a battle between T.J. Clemmings and Rashan Coward, but with both now injured, who, if anyone, will step up? Well, the answer may have also been found in last week’s game against the Colts.

Notre Dame product Alex Bars has played very well this season and the undrafted free agent is almost certain to make the 53-man roster. However, that play has come at the guard position, and he had not played the tackle position until last week in Indy.

Despite the change in position, Bars played really well and had himself a terrific game. Granted it was against the backups, but if he can “backup” his good game with another — even if it’s against the second and third-string, he can lock down a roster spot and perhaps even be this team’s desperately needed swing tackle.

While the final preseason game may not be exciting or widely watched, there are still a couple of interesting storylines to monitor on Thursday night.