3 Bears Who Secured Their Roster Spot in the Preseason Finale
The Chicago Bears capped off their preseason by defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 34-21 on Thursday night.
With this victory, the Bears finish the preseason 4-0. In the grand scheme of the NFL season having an undefeated preseason is meaningless. For Bears fans, though, it has given them more reason to be hopeful about the team.
This is due to the performance of the Bears' starters and depth in the preseason games. While the starters didn't play against the Chiefs, they showed promise in the first two games.
On the other hand, the Bears' second and third-stringers have dominated the competition. This has left the Bears with some tough decisions to make for their initial 53-man roster.
Finalizing the roster is always tough. But these three players made a strong case against the Chiefs to keep their spots.
1. Daniel Hardy , DE
Daniel Hardy has been one of the most exciting Bears defensive linemen to watch in the preseason. Throughout the first three games, Hardy gathered 3.5 sacks and six tackles for loss. Even on plays where Hardy didn't record a stat he was still causing disruption.
While Hardy was consistently a problem for the opposition, it’s worth noting that he was primarily facing third-stringers in those games. This week, however, Hardy was in the game early, facing some second-stringers. Hardy wasn't as impactful against the Chiefs' second unit, but he did one tackle for a loss, a QB pressure, and a nice chase-down on a scramble.
Hardy has performed well enough during the preseason to earn a roster spot. However, the Bears were in a similar situation last year with Terrell Lewis who they ended up cutting in favor of Dominique Robinson. Hopefully, the Bears don't make the same mistake two years in a row.