It’s early, but Chicago Bears’ preseason report is bad news
It’s early in the preseason, but Jay Cutler deserves credit for already being in midseason form. Few quarterbacks possess that special ability to appear apathetic at all times, and Cutler still has it.
The Chicago Bears, following their lifeless leader, were pathetic in all areas in their preseason opener. The Bears were the NFL’s worst team in Week 1, when only one team managed to get shut out.
“I watched the first quarter of that game, and just watching Cutler run on the field, he looks so unemotional,” Golden Nugget sports book director Tony Miller said. “There’s no fire. There’s something about that guy. He’s not good for that team.”
Cutler was ditched by Denver after the 2008 season, and the Broncos have not regretted it.
Mark Sanchez, Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch led the Broncos to a 22-0 romp over the Bears at Soldier Field on Thursday. Denver has a competitive quarterback derby going in August.
The bad news for the Bears is they have all sorts of problems that probably will carry over to September, October, November and December. Chicago’s offensive line allowed seven sacks against a Denver defense that was missing its top players — linebackers Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware and cornerback Aqib Talib. Cutler was sacked twice and passed for 18 yards in one quarter of action.
“We need to get better. It starts with everybody. It starts with me,” Cutler said, pretending to be a stand-up guy.
Chicago coach John Fox said he was “disappointed” with his team’s performance, something he often said in 2015, when the Bears went 1-7 at home and finished 6-10.
It’s obviously too soon to trash Cutler and toss the Bears’ season in the dumpster, but no team got off to a more discouraging start. The Broncos, who closed as 1-point underdogs, were the best bet of the week.
Miller described the action as “steady for four days” as NFL betting returned to Las Vegas books with the usual array of crazy results.
Some things never change, and piling on the side of a public favorite is risky business. The Los Angeles Rams were the public’s top pick. The Rams closed as 6-point favorites — the line opened at 3 — in their prime-time opener against Dallas on Saturday.
Bettors were stuck in an unlucky hole right away when the Cowboys’ Lucky Whitehead scored on a 101-yard kickoff return.
“I think we took more money on the Cowboys-Rams game than on all of the other games combined,” Miller said. “We could not get a bet on the Cowboys. All the serious money was on the Rams, so that was our biggest winner.”
The Rams rallied to win 28-24, so getting the best number paid off and showing up late to the party to bet the favorite served as a costly lesson.
Jared Goff, the No. 1 overall draft pick by Los Angeles, did nothing to change my opinion that he will be a bust as a rookie. Goff is nowhere near ready. In college at California, he struggled against the toughest defenses he faced. The Rams’ top options at quarterback are Case Keenum and Sean Mannion.
Trevone Boykin, an undrafted rookie from Texas Christian, could prove to be a better NFL quarterback than Goff. That might also prove to be a ridiculous statement, but I suspect Seattle got a steal in Boykin.
The Seahawks, getting 3½ points at Kansas City, pulled off the most stunning win by an underdog. Boykin led an 88-yard drive in the last minute, hitting Tanner McEvoy with a 37-yard touchdown pass as time expired. Troy Pope’s 2-point conversion run gave Seattle a 17-16 win and set off a wild celebration that made it seem like a regular-season result.
The Raiders, 3-point ’dogs, rolled to a 31-10 win at Arizona that looked impressive on the surface but actually revealed little about either team. Oakland’s backups did most of the damage, with No. 2 quarterback Matt McGloin passing for two touchdowns in the first quarter.
As usual, the Cleveland Browns were unimpressive. Robert Griffin III completed 4 of 8 passes with an interception in a 17-11 loss at Green Bay, which did not play quarterback Aaron Rodgers and several other stars.
Hue Jackson, the Browns’ new coach, is trying to stop the team’s streak of eight straight losing seasons.
VegasInsider.com handicapper Micah Roberts is oddly optimistic, saying, “I like everything going on in Cleveland. Griffin has been down those dark paths and valleys, and he’s humbled now. The talent is there. We’ve seen what Griffin can do. I think RG3 has that element that takes the Browns over .500. I could see anywhere from 7-9 to 9-7.”
With a win total of 4½, the Browns are projected to be the worst team in the league.
After one week of the preseason, however, the Bears sit at the bottom.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports betting columnist Matt Youmans can be reached at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts “The Las Vegas Sportsline” weekdays at 2 p.m. on ESPN Radio (1100 AM). Follow on Twitter: @mattyoumans247