The Good:
- Bears QB Chris Leak was impressive. Leak was 11-16 for 88 yards and one touchdown. Too bad there is no room for him on this Bears team.
- Bears RB Garrett Wolfe was outstanding. He only average 1.8 yards per carry rushing the ball, but he caught 6 passes for 53 yards and he made a couple defensive players completely miss him when trying to tackle Wolfe.
- Bears WR Mike Hass made only one catch but it was a great touchdown grab that is being called the Bears' catch of the preseason.
- Bears WR David Ball is unlikely to make the cut but he had a solid game. Ball had 4 catches for 40 yards including an amazing one-handed catch in the end zone, but unfortunately Ball landed out of bounds and the catch was ruled incomplete. Hass scored on the next play.
- After being down 19-3 at halftime, the defense prevented the Browns from scoring any more points.
- Bears rookie CB Trumaine McBride led the Bears with 8 tackles.
The Bad:
- Bears QB Brian Griese was only 1-3 for 12 yards in limited action, but what disappointed me the most was that he had WR Mark Bradley open twice and he overthrew him both times.
- The Bears special teams allowed 9 points. Bears safety and kick returner Danieal Manning fumbled a kick-off out of bounds in the Bears end zone for a safety. Browns' punt returner Josh Cribbs returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown.
Why the Bears lost:
The Browns made fewer mistakes than the Bears and that is one of the big reasons the Browns won. The Bears can't be allowing safeties and punt returns for touchdowns. Plays like that lose games. The Bears also hurt themselves by making 3 mistakes on offense that cost them at least a field goal:
- Bears QB Kyle Orton had the Bears at the Browns' 44 yard line when he threw an interception on 1st down. 14 more yards and they would have been in Bears kicker Robbie Gould's field goal range.
- Leak had the Bears at the Browns' 23 yard line and was then sacked for -12 yards. Gould's 53 yard field goal attempt on the next play was no good.
- Leak had the Bears at the Browns' 36 yard line and it was 1st down. Leak's next pass was intercepted.
What hurt the Bears was special teams mistakes and drive killing plays on offense. Also, Browns punter Dave Zastudil did a great job at punting the ball inside the Bears' 10 yard line making it hard to score.
