The Bears just played well enough to win this football game last Thursday Night in Cleveland.  Kyle Orton started this game and he was 4 of 7 passing for 51 yards with 1 interception.  Rex Grossman followed Orton in the game and he was pretty sharp completing 5 of 7 passes for 59 yards with a 19-yard TD pass to WR Brandon Rideau.  Caleb Hanie played another decent game for the Bears in this one completing 12 of 17 passes for 115 yards with 1 interception.  He also ran the ball once for 15 yards.  Adrian Peterson was the Bears’ leading rusher in this game with 36 yards rushing on 6 carries (6.0 ypc).  P.J. Pope also had a solid game rushing for 34 yards on 8 carries (4.3 ypc).  Garrett Wolfe was busy against the Browns carrying the ball 8 times for 24 yards (3.0 ypc) and catching 3 passes for 22 yards (7.3 avg).  WR Brandon Rideau led the Bears in receiving yards with 63 on 3 catches (21.0 avg) with a TD grab.  Mark Bradley pitched in with 5 catches for 42 yards (8.4 avg).  The Bears finished up with 117 yards rushing on 29 carries (4.0 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 31 passes for 225 yards.

Safeties Craig Steltz and Brandon McGowan along with DT Matt Toeaina led the Bears in this game with 4 tackles apiece.  CB Trey Brown pitched in with 3 tackles and 1 interception.  The Browns finished up with 161 yards rushing on 32 carries (5.0 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 29 passes for 150 yards.  The Bears finished the preseason with a 1-3 record and they didn’t look good doing it.

The Chicago Bears release cornerback Ricky Manning Jr.  This came as a little bit of a surprise as Manning has been a decent player for the Bears.  He played in all 16 games for the Bears last season and he made 44 tackles, has 1 sack and he defensed 1 pass.  In two seasons with the Bears, Manning played in 31 games and he made 97 tackles, had 3 sacks, had 5 interceptions (1 returned for a TD), forced 1 fumble and he defensed 11 passes.  Look for some team desperate for corner help like the Cleveland Browns to possibly snap Manning up quickly.

The Chicago Bears finally looked like a decent offensive football team last night, too bad they only had possession of the football for 22:25 against the Niners last night.  Kyle Orton was solid in his first game after being named the Bears’ starting QB as he completed 10 of 17 passes for 147 yards with 2 TD passes to WR Rashied Davis (7 yards, 21 yards).  Rex Grossman followed Orton in the game and he was horrible as usual completing 1 of 4 passes for 6 yards.  Caleb Hanie finished up the game completing 3 of 7 passes for 59 yards including a 51-yard TD strike to WR Brandon Rideau on the last play of the football game.  Rookie RB Matt Forte led the Bears in rushing last night with 44 yards on 11 carries (4.0 ypc).  Kevin Jones made his first appearance with the Bears and he carried the football 3 times for 30 yards (10.0 ypc).  WR Rashied Davis was very impressive for the Bears last night as he caught 4 passes for 58 yards (14.5 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Mark Bradley also had a good night with 2 catches for 57 yards (28.5 avg).  The Bears finished up last night with 109 yards rushing on 22 carries (5.0 ypc).  They also completed 14 of 28 passes for 204 yards last night.

The Bears’ defense got pushed around all night by the Niners’ new offense.  Linebackers Jamar Williams (8 tackles) and Lance Briggs (6 tackles) led the way on a poor night for the Bears’ defense.  The 49ers finished up last night with 160 yards rushing on 35 carries (4.6 ypc) and they completed 19 of 32 passes for 265 yards.  The Bears obviously have a lot to work on in a short amount of time before the regular season starts.

The Bears made some big plays on defense and special teams which is the only reason this game went to overtime because the offense was pathetic once again.  Rex Grossman started this game and he was his usual awful self completing 9 of 15 passes for 74 yards with 1 interception.  Kyle Orton was also not very effective as he completed 5 of 9 passes for 43 yards.  Caleb Hanie had another decent game completing 5 of 9 passes for 46 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception.  Matt Forte led the Bears in rushing in this game but that isn’t saying much as he had 17 yards on 7 carries (2.4 ypc).  TE Kellen Davis led the Bears in receiving yards with 55 on 3 catches (18.3 avg) with a TD grab.  Brandon Lloyd pitched in with 4 receptions for 37 yards (9.3 avg) against the Seahawks.  The Bears finished up with 51 yards rushing on 20 carries (2.6 ypc) and they also completed 19 of 33 passes for 154 yards.  The Bears better get the offense in gear before the season starts.  On a bright note, rookie WR looked good returning kicks.  He returned 1 kickoff for 26 yards and he also had a 75-yard punt return for a TD.

The defense didn’t play very well against the Seahawks on Saturday Night.  Linebacker Rod Wilson led the Bears in this game with 6 tackles.  CB Corey Graham had 4 tackles and he intercepted a Charlie Frye pass which he returned 6 yards for a TD.  Linebacker Jamar Williams (4 tackles, interception) and CB Charles Tillman (2 tackles, interception) also had decent games.  The Seahawks rushed for a stunning 241 yards on 45 carries (5.4 ypc) and they also completed 20 of 35 passes for 190 yards.  The Bears have a lot to work on before September gets here.

It will be interesting to watch the Bears this season and see if Lovie Smith can get them back to the team they were in 2005 and 2006.  After all, the Bears were 13-3 and went to the Super Bowl two years ago and have a lot of the same players on that team for 2008.  The Bears’ offensive line started to look their age last season and it really hurt the QBs who were rushed quite often.  Still, that doesn’t defend the fact that the Bears should have at the very least brought in a veteran to compete with Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton.  Lovie Smith has been the head coach of the Bears for four seasons now and he has compiled a 36-28 record (56.3%) during the regular season and he is 2-2 in the post season (50%).