Emma: Bears Recognize Their Mistakes, Move Forward
By Chris Emma--
LAKE FOREST, Ill. (CBS) -- Yes, the sun rose again at Halas Hall. The Bears were back to work Saturday after their poor performance on Thursday at Soldier Field.
All was well at the Bears' home base as the team took the field. Their practice marked the end of a busy work Saturday that brought the start to improvements. The offensive line patched up its holes, the secondary had its coverage assignments down and the product just appeared more crisp after an ugly 22-0 loss to the defending Super Bowl champion Broncos.
Of course, the Bears' day at Halas Hall began with the brutal honesty every player dreads after a loss like that. Those film sessions simply aren't fun, but they're productive.
"It's a great teaching tool watching that tape," Bears coach John Fox said. "Negative things that happened are very easily fixed. I think the guys responded to it well. We expect more -- they know it. They expect more themselves. But it wasn't all bad. It's just things that are very correctable."
Fox saw what everybody else saw at Soldier Field. Bryce Callahan miscalculated his placement when matched up against Pro Bowl receiver Demaryius Thomas and got beat -- badly. DeAndre Houston-Carson whiffed on his punt protection assignment, and the Broncos blocked Pat O'Donnell's punt and returned it for a touchdown. The Bears' offensive line got beat over and over in what can be counted as preseason rust.
When you're a young player being singled out by an established coach like Fox and in front of veteran teammates, it's an awful experience. That's the downside of a rough film review.
From a team perspective, the Bears realize their errors and readied to move on.
"It's just things we got to correct," tight end Zach Miller said. "Obviously, preseason (game) one, we're not in panic mode. Things that we got to clean up, things we can control, things we can do better. From that aspect, it's a good thing, because we can control it."
The Bears left Soldier Field on Thursday evening disappointed by their showing. In the aftermath of any defeat, the sentiments sting.
Reviewing the film is the first step to moving forward, regardless of whether it's a preseason or regular-season game. Fox found positives in the film.
"Effort was outstanding," Fox said. "I thought we played physical. Like first preseason games, your tackling's not as crisp as it should be. They haven't done it in a few months. I think the execution, I'm a little disappointed in some of the early downs by our first (string). Again, you don't game plan. You play soft coverage, they get it out quick. That can get frustrating as coach because you're not game-planning, but things that I think are easily correctable and we're anxious to make those steps in Game 2."
The greatest positive for the Bears on Thursday night was that their first game that actually counts remained a month away. Sept. 11 in Houston is when the Bears can be judged best.
Work, work and more work will continue on for the Bears. They have plenty to improve and realize what went wrong. Consider that a start.
"We just got to come to work," said Miller, "and make our weaknesses our strengths."
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago's sports scene and more for CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670 and like his Facebook page.
