Nagy, Bears show few cards in Hall of Fame Game, preseason opener
CANTON, Ohio — The festivities are now well underway at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, a celebratory summer weekend as Brian Urlacher and six other members of the Class of 2018 are honored for their contributions to the sport.
Also on the itinerary: the first of 65 NFL exhibition games to be played over the next four weeks. That formality came Thursday night when the Bears fell to the Ravens, 17-16, at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. A 10-yard Tanner Gentry touchdown catch with 2:44 left gave the Bears an opportunity to steal a victory late. But Tyler Bray’s two-point conversion pass to Daniel Brown failed.
Before kickoff, there was Urlacher again on the football field, being introduced and making his way down a highfive line of current Bears players. The eight-time Pro Bowl linebacker planned to stick around. But only for part of the first half as he then made his way to a nearby party in his honor.
Fair enough. Urlacher, after all, was always praised for his instincts, quickness and decision-making.
For those dying for even a small taste of football, Thursday night’s game probably wasn’t exactly what they craved, an exhibition game at a neutral site with very few notable players on either side participating.
The game’s first play? A perfectly appropriate dump-off from Chase Daniel to fullback Michael Burton.
Backup quarterback to fullback. Checkdown. Gain of 3. Ah, yes. The preseason. Officially, sure, Thursday marked the first game Matt Nagy has coached since joining the Bears in January. But it was
hardly a sneak preview of what’s to come in the months ahead.
For starters, Nagy kept just about every potential starter on offense and defense confined to the bench. So there were no Mitch Trubisky darts to analyze or Jordan Howard runs to admire.
No Allen Robinson or Tarik Cohen or Trey Burton or even
Kevin White.
Not even a glimpse of promising rookie receiver Anthony Miller.
Furthermore, Nagy isn’t about to show off too much of his offensive ingenuity in the preseason anyway, keeping things simple with his playcalling. The real creativity, the true glimpses into the new coach’s aggressive attack won’t be seen until September.
Stay patient. The wait continues.
The Bears trailed 10-7 at
halftime on Thursday. Offensively, there was a well-executed 4-yard touchdown pass from Daniel to Burton and a 30-yard run by Benny Cunningham, the longest play of the first half.
Defensively, DeAndre Houston-Carson delivered for the Bears with an early interception of Robert Griffin III. And if there was anything significant to be gleaned from the night, it’s that Vic Fangio’s group played fast and aggressive and may have enough
quality depth to further stabilize a defense that finished in the top 10 in yards allowed last season.
The Ravens used Griffin and Josh Woodrum at quarterback before halftime, not exactly the Aaron RodgersMatthew Stafford-Kirk Cousins triple threat the Bears will face in the NFC North this fall. But it was still encouraging to see the secondunit defense applying consistent pressure with five sacks in the first half.