Complete 1st half review of Bills v. Bears

Here we go:

1st and 10 (Bills)
Fred Jackson run for 5 yards.

2nd and 5
Incomplete pass to Scott Chandler. Maybe a bit overthrown but it hit Chandler in the hands. Pretty quick release by Fitz.

3rd and 5
Completion to Stevie Johnson on a slant route. Good first down.

1st and 10
CJ Spiller was met right at the line on a run play. Urbik did not hold up his man at all.

2nd and 13
Play-action quick screen to Stevie Johnson who made some moves but got only a few yards.

3rd and 11
Incomplete pass. Naaman and David Nelson were in the area. Looked like a miscommunication. Nelson was apparently the intended target. Pears held his man up here nicely.

PUNT

1st and 10 (Bears)
The Bears start with a reverse to Hester that goes for a few yards. Terrence McGee pushes him out.

2nd and 8
Dareus broke through the line and was coming at Cutler fast but Cutler underhanded it to his RB only to be stopped by Andra Davis.

3rd and 8
Barnett came in on a blitz but Kelsay went too far outside which opened up a running lane for Cutler who ran for a first down.

1st and 10
Chester Taylor runs for very little. Dwan Edwards was in on the stop. Kelsay got in on the tackle as well. I noticed Merriman getting nasty here at the end of the play.

2nd and 9
McGee came in on a CB blitz from the right but the run play went to the left for a few yards. Kyle Williams was in on the stop.

3rd and 6
Dareus with the sack. Flag on the play. Holding on Chicago by #73. #73 held Merriman who would have likely gotten the sack. Merriman may have still touched Cutler first here but Dareus was the one who really made contact with Cutler. Either way, that's what Bills fans want to see.

PUNT

1st and 10 (Bills)
Fred Jackson stiff arms Charles Tillman and runs left for a nice first down. The line looked good here.

1st and 10
Jackson tries the middle here but only gains a few.

2nd and 8
Beautiful cut by CJ Spiller who also threw in a spin move for a decent gain.

3rd and 2
Brad Smith wildcat time. Just enough to pick up the first down.

1st and 10
Quick slant to Stevie Johnson that was a bit behind Stevie but still caught for a few yards. After another review, the announcer said the pass was tipped which is why it was behind Stevie.

2nd and 5
Nice completion to CJ Spiller who ran a circle route for a first down. Smooth looking play. Chandler was also wide open here.

1st and 10
Incompletion to Donald Jones. Pass interference by Jones as well. Fitz and Jones weren't on the same page here.

1st and 20
Nice completion of about 8 yards to Chandler who got rocked near the end of the play.

2nd and 12
Fitz went to Chandler again with a pass to the outside for a gain of a few yards.

3rd and 7
Screen play to CJ Spiller who comes up just short of the first down. Levitre, who was ahead of Spiller, completely whiffed on a block that could have led to something bigger. Urbik wasn't good here either.

Lindell boots a 44 yarder through for 3 points.

Johnny Knox had a big kickoff return. Aaron Maybin looked bad here. Aaron Williams somehow caught Knox for the stop.

1st and 10
Chicago put their backup QB in already. Running play that was stopped by Andra Davis.

2nd and 11
Merriman gets the SACK and then proceeds to do the LIGHTS OUT dance. Kelsay blew by his guy but went too wide.

3rd and 13
Merriman gets another SACK. He brought Hanie down hard. Merriman is pacing back and forth on the sideline looking like a maniac.

Bears punt..

1st and 10 (Bills)
Thigpen rolls out right and hits Johnny White for a gain of a few.

2nd and 6
J White run play for about 3.

3rd and 1
Brad Smith is in. Smith with the play-action and runs wide, gains just enough for a first down. Good stiff arm by Smith near the end of the play.

1st and 10
Thigpen incompletion to Chandler. Thigpen had enough time but threw off his back foot as he felt the pocket collapsing.

2nd and 10
J White was met in the backfield by 2 Bears linebackers. Wrotto was blown up here.

3rd and 13
Thigpen incompletion. Thigpen had time here. He threw it too high for Brad Smith, who was beyond the first down marker.

PUNT

1st and 10 (Bears)
Barber with a gain of 10+ yards on the ground. Barnett brought him down. Byrd also in on it. McKelvin missed on a tackle attempt.

1st and 10
No gain by Barber. Kyle Williams brought him down. Williams had good penetration here. Batten was also right there.

2nd and 10
Barber gashes the defense with a draw play. Byrd eventually brought him down. Reggie Torbor had the best chance but couldn't get close to Barber. He was dumped.

1st and 10
3 stop drop, quick slant pass to Knox. McKelvin brought him down. Dareus blew up his guy here and had a chance but the ball was released too quickly.

1st and 10
Late substitution by the Bills. Andra Davis was the late man on. Barber with a short gain. Stopped by the late addition, Davis.

2nd and 8
Big run by Barber. This was the play Barber ran Florence over. Florence with a weak tackling effort here. Torbor didn't look good on this play. Moats lined up with his hand on the ground and was forced inside by the lineman he was facing.

1st and Goal
Haine incomplete to his tight end. Play-action roll out. The TE dropped it. Wilson was covering him.

2nd and Goal
Short gain by Barber. Spencer Johnson made the initial contact and Antonio Coleman finished him off.

3rd and Goal
Haine scrambles for the TD. Torbor had his back turned to the play and was guilty of all sorts of holding here. Not Torbor's best outing.

1st and 10 (Bills)
Short run by J White. David Martin could have been called for holding here. Hangartner also ended up flat on his back before White even got to him.

2nd and 10
Brad Smith in. Incompletion. He under threw it to Easley who had to slide to even get close to catching it.

3rd and 10
5 wide. Thigpen was forced out of the pocket and scrambled for a first down. Ground caused a fumble so Bills keep the Ball. Generous spot.

1st and 10
B Smith back in. NICE run of about 14 yards to the left. No hesitation here. David Martin helped with a good block here. Buster Davis also controlled his guy.

1st and 10
J White with the short gain.

2nd and 8
Quick play-action pass that was an incompletion. Craig Davis was the target but the ball was thrown behind him. That's on Thigpen.

3rd and 8
Thigpen completion to Roosevelt. Thigpen had plenty of time. Could have dumped it off to J White but decided to throw it in a crowd. Good catch by Naaman. Thigpen almost threw this one on his back foot again.

1st and 10
J White with a nice carry of about 6 yards.

2nd and 4
Run of about 4 yards negated by a holding call on Cordaro Howard.

2nd and 14
Thigpen scramble that went nowhere. Wang was useless here. Thigpen just got back to the line of scrimmage.

3rd and 14
Another scramble by Thigpen who was forced outside. Didn't have any time to throw it. Nice athleticism to escape the initial pressure.

PUNT

1st and 10
Barber rush for about 7 yards. Aaron Williams brought him down. Bryan Scott completely whiffed on an attempt to get Barber at the line of scrimmage. Maybin was pretty clumsy looking here.

2nd and 3
Reggie Corner blitzed off the edge but they completed a quick pass to Earl Bennett for the first down. Corto forced him out.

1st and 10
Empty backfield. Incompletion to Desmond Clark. Ball was tipped by Spencer Johnson which led to an errant throw.

2nd and 10
SACK by Spencer Johnson.

3rd and 15
Incompletion. Maybin got tossed on his ass by Barber here. This was embarrassing. Coleman came in late with pressure forcing Haine to throw it out of bounds.

PUNT

1st and 10
5 wide. Incompletion. Thigpen threw it too high once again. Intended target was Craig Davis.

2nd and 10
5 wide again. Incompletion. Almost picked off. Bad throw. Intended target was Huggins.

3rd and 10
5 wide. SACK by Okoye. Wrotto was awful here, completely whiffed.

PUNT

1st and 10
Complete to Clark for a gain of 10. Maybin was VERY close to getting a sack here.

1st and 10
3 man rush. Deep throw. Incompletion. White laid out Bennett when the Ball was in the air.
Penalty on the Bills. Defensive holding on Spencer Johnson.

1st and 10
Haine goes deep again. Incompletion. Bryan Scott was on the coverage but the ball was nowhere near the intended target.

Field Goal attempt that missed.

1st and 10 (Bills)
Kneel down by Thigpen to run down the rest of the clock.

End of first half. Bears 7 Bills 3

Bills v. Bears - Preseason Game 1

The new intro for BBE, with Fitzpatrick and Stevie putting their gear is on a bit silly. Imagine being asked, "now pull your helmet down and look angry!"

Marcus Easley took the first kickoff return. I did not expect this.

1st and 10
Fred Jackson does his thing with a typical Fred Jackson run for 5 yards.

2nd and 5
Incomplete pass to Scott Chandler. Some believe this was a bit overthrown but after re-watching it, it his #84's hands in the right spot. Tasker called this a bad incompletion. C'mon Steve, let's not overreact.

3rd and 5
Completion to Stevie Johnson on a slant play. Good first down.

1st and 10
CJ Spiller was met right at the line on a run play. Urbik did not hold up his man at all.

2nd and 13
Play-action quick screen to Stevie Johnson who made some moves but ultimately got only a few yards.

3rd and 11
Incomplete pass. Naaman and David Nelson were in the area. Looked like a miscommunication. Nelson was apparently the intended target. Pears held his man up here nicely.

PUNT

1st and 10
The Bears start with a reverse to Hester that goes for a few yards. Terrence McGee pushes him out.

2nd and 8
Dareus broke through the line and was coming at Cutler fast but Cutler underhanded it to his RB only to be stopped by Andra Davis.

3rd and 8
Barnett came in on a blitz but Kelsay instead of going inside, went outside which opened up a running lane for Cutler who ran for a first down.

1st and 10
Chester Taylor runs for very little. Dwan Edwards was in on the stop. I noticed Merriman getting nasty here.

2nd and 9
McGee came in on a CB blitz from the right but the run play went to the left for a few yards.

3rd and 6
Dareus with the sack. Flag on the play. Holding on Chicago by #73. #73 held Merriman who would have likely gotten the sack. Merriman may have still touched Cutler first here but Dareus was the one who really made contact with Cutler. Either way, that's what Bills fans want to see.

PUNT

1st and 10
Fred Jackson stiff arms Charles Tillman and runs left for a nice first down. THe line looked good here.

1st and 10
Jackson tries the middle here but only gains a few.

2nd and 8
Beautiful cut by CJ Spiller who also threw in a spin move for a decent gain. That's the type of running I want to see out of Spiller.

3rd and 2
Brad Smith wildcat time. Just enough to pick up the first down.

1st and 10
Quick slant to Stevie Johnson that was a bit behind Stevie but still caught for a few yards

2nd and 5
Nice completion to CJ Spiller who ran a circle route for a first down. Smooth looking play.

1st and 10
Incompletion to Donald Jones. Pass interference by Jones as well. Fitz and Jones weren't on the same page here.

1st and 20
Nice completion of about 8 yards to Chandler who got rocked near the end of the play.

2nd and 12
Fitz went to Chandler again with a dump off to the outside for a gain of a few yards.

3rd and 7
Screen play to CJ Spiller who comes up just short of the first down. Urbik wasn't good here either.

Lindell boots a 44 yarder through for 3 points.

Johnny Knox had a big kickoff return. Aaron Maybin looked bad here. Aaron Williams somehow caught Knox for the stop.

1st and 10
Chicago put their backup QB in already. Running play that was stopped by Andra Davis.

2nd and 11
Merriman gets the sack who proceeds to do the LIGHTS OUT dance. Kelsay blew by his guy but went too wide.

3rd and 13
Merriman gets ANOTHER sack. He brought Hannie down hard. Merriman is pacing back and forth on the sideline looking like a maniac.

Bears punt..

That's it for the first stringers. The defense keeps some of their guys in longer but I won't go into those plays.

Observations about the rest of the game:

• Thigpen had a rough outing. Levi Brown looked even worse. There's no chance Levi makes the team and I'll be surprised if he makes the practice squad.
• Our second unit on the offensive line looked BRUTAL.
• Johnny White did not get a fair opportunity to show his stuff as he was constantly being met in the backfield.
• Urbik looked bad. He's got one more week to prove himself. If he has another rough outing, we better go digging through the waiver wire again. 
• Easley had a bad night on kickoff returns although I don't expect him to be doing this when the regular season begins.
• The Donald Jones era didn't get off to the best start but I'm not too worried as he had only 1 ball thrown his way (and it was a busted play) with the first unit. Remember, when Stevie was anointed the #2 receiver last year, he didn't have the best preseason and many people questioned  whether he deserved the #2 spot. Let's see this plays out before we rip Jones.
• I liked the play of Danny Batten and Chris White. Batten, in particular, looked really good.
• Carrington is looking good as well...
• Did I mention how brutal the offensive line was as the game went on? I could barely watch the second half.
• Aaron Williams got beat on a few plays but looked more confident as the game went on, making a really athletic play on an interception.
• Brad Smith is going to have a very interesting season....
• Maybin looked brutal. I doubt he survives the first round of cuts after tonight's performance. Chicago's second team offense handled him with relative ease.
• I can't wait until next week to see how our first team Defense looks against the Broncos. They were dominant tonight. I also look forward to seeing more of the first team Offense. With the field being so sloppy, I doubt either team wanted their starters on the field for long.