Chicago Bears - Preseason week 2

Just feel like blogging about American Football tonight. Someone who cares might read it one day.

Chicago Bears (my team) made it to the NFC Championship game last year, which most commentators call an over-achievement. Add to this an unspectacular draft and free agency (so far) and you have a team set for a bad season, right?

Well, maybe. American Football is very hard to predict until the games that count start. But has the talent in Chicago improved or diminished since 2010?

Offense

QB: Cutler is still there, looking fitter, with more experience and better footwork. Hanie and Enderle are better backups than Collins and Hanie last year (and better prospects for the future). +1

RB: Forte is fitter than ever, Barber will push Taylor out of the squad and we've got a better RB core. +1

WR: Aromashodu out, Williams, Hurd (& Sanzenbacher?) in. Aromashodu is talented and will do well elsewhere, but for Martz's system, this is a +1.

TE: Olsen out, Spaeth in, with Davis taking over the main role. Olsen was probably more talented but these guys fit the system more. =

OL: Kreutz out, Carimi and Spencer in, and musical chairs going on. It's hard to believe, but this is actually an improved line. Webb played better than people think vs. Bills but Louis was poor. A good bunch of run blockers and with some time they may turn into a decent unit. +1

Defense

DL: Harris has gone, Paea, Okoye, Gholston are in and Melton's looking superb. OLs are going to have real trouble working out who to double team, no matter which lineman is rotated in. A definite upgrade to an already strong group. +1

LB: You'd never call a group with Urlacher and Briggs weak, but there's not much reliable depth at the moment and an injury could cause problems, despite promising signs from rookie J.T. Thomas. -1

CB: Peanut Tillman is getting older and although Jennings is an excellent tackler we're not blessed with great depth at the position. DJ Moore is a good and improving nickelback.-1

Safeties: Daniael Manning has gone but Chris Harris is a quality player and two promising third round picks, Wright and Conte are in training. Steltz has had an excellent camp. I was a bit harsh on the corners so we'll leave this as a =.

Special teams

Maynard gone, Podlesh in, probably not much change there. Manning was an excellent returner but Knox is a Pro Bowl returner and Hester is the best of all time. Davies has gone, Hurd is in but other key contributors are still in the squad. =

Overall

By my reckoning, 5 personnel groupings have improved, 2 weakened and 3 stayed roughly the same. That's a +3 overall. I'm still happy with the 32-1 odds I got with a free bet during the lockout.