Thread: Bears struggle in preseason opener

The Bears left plenty of room for improvement in all three phases following their 22-0 preseason-opening loss to the Broncos Thursday night at Soldier Field.

The Bears allowed points on offense, defense and special teams while being shut out in a preseason game for the first time since 1981 when they lost to the Chiefs 13-0.

The defending Super Bowl champions dominated the stat sheet, holding considerable advantages in total yards (344-130), first downs (18-8) and time of possession (36:05-23:55).

"I was disappointed personally," said coach John Fox. "I think our team was disappointed. We were expecting more. I don't know that we executed as well as any of us expected.

"It is preseason. You don't game plan. It's pretty basic, but there's definitely some room for improvement and it will be a good learning process when they go in and look at the tape."

Offensively, the Bears went three-and-out on seven of their 12 possessions and allowed seven sacks, one of which resulted in a safety and the game's final points.

"We didn't execute as well as we need to or as well as we should have," Fox said. "Part of it's recognition, getting it communicated, and we didn't do that as well as we should have."

rest - http://www.chicagobears.com/news/art...b-5ff96c8513d2

Staying home to watch the Cubs or the Olympics on TV would have been a better alternative than watching the Chicago Bears live at Soldier Field.

And 13,046 of the 61,862 tickets distributed went unused.

Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery played after having not gone through a full practice since Aug. 1 (hamstring), and he caught a 12-yard pass from Jay Cutler on the Bears' first play from scrimmage in Thursday night's preseason opener.

That was the extent of the good news for the Bears' first-team offense in the 22-0 loss to the defending Super Bowl-champion Denver Broncos.

"We need to get better, and it starts with everybody, it starts with me," said Cutler, who completed 3 of 4 passes for 18 yards and was sacked twice.

For the record, many of the integral pieces from the Broncos' Super Bowl team did not dress -- starting cornerbacks Aquib Talib and Chris Harris and sack masters Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware. Oh, and their quarterback, who was pretty good, retired.

rest - http://www.dailyherald.com/article/2...rts/160819692/