Before any people want to disagree with my statement, hear me out. I will provide you with 6 solid reasons on why there is a good chance my statement will come true. 

Derrick Rose is already an established all-star and with the recent summer the bulls have had, it's time for Rose to flourish and take the next step into superstardom and stamp his name as the best PG in the NBA. 

Begin Slideshow

The game against the Raiders this past Saturday night wasn’t pretty by any means. There were problems in all three phases of the game for the Bears and this game showed a lot of problems that the team needs to fix.

Starting out the game way that they did, not being able to keep the Raiders from converting third down opportunities as well as not being able to protect their quarterback proved to many that the Bears have a long way to go in terms of being an improved team. They still suffer from the same problems that they had during regular season last year and can’t seem to figure out what it’s going to take to fix it.

The offensive line has been less than stellar so far this preseason and is turning out to be the team’s biggest weakness. While most other teams in the NFL have offensive lines that have worked together significantly in the past and have been in their positions for a while, the Bears are starting out with players that haven’t played together for an extended period of time and are learning new positions. This spells doom for the regular season.

Yes, there is bound to be a learning curve but you would think that by the second preseason game the Bears would have been able to overcome some of those things and at the least play better than they did. Instead of moving forward they regressed.

The third preseason game is coming up and this is generally the game where the starters will play three-quarters of a game and see a lot of action.  This means that quarterback Jay Cutler will be spending a lot of time on the field and after last week’s five-sack half, things could get ugly. The Bears have to do something to protect him or else his season may get cut short by an injury.

Keeping Cutler protected should be the Bears No. 1 priority.

Oakland Tidbits

Brian Urlacher left the game early after straining his calf but he has told the press that his injury is no big deal.  We will see if this affects him any further this season.  He didn’t practice this Monday in order to rest his calf.  

The Bears signed quarterback Todd Collins to act as their backup to Cutler.  After whiffing on him last week (reportedly over a signing bonus) the Bears signed him to a one year deal on Monday. This most likely means that Collins will become the second string backup to Cutler with both Caleb Hanie and Dan LeFevour will battle it out for the third string spot.

To make room for Collins, the Bears waived (injured) wide receiver Eric Peterman.

After injuring his finger against the Chargers, safety Major Wright has returned to practice although he can’t participate in live full contact drills.

Here is a full list of players that didn’t practice or had limited practice this past Monday:

Linebacker Nick Roach (out), wide receiver Earl Bennett (hamstring), safeties Craig Steltz (ankle), and Josh Bullocks (quad) all sat out.  Quarterback Caleb Hanie (shoulder) and offensive guard Lance Louis were also out.  Defensive tackle Tommie Harris practiced lightly after suffering a knee contusion on Saturday night.  

Read more Chicago Bears news on BleacherReport.com

The Chicago Bears will play the San Diego Chargers in San Diego this Saturday night in their first preseason game of the new NFL season.  Chicago has been gearing up for the game by installing plays (at times) during practice and will try to get things going against what has been one of the better NFL teams for the past few seasons.

Granted, neither the Bears nor the Chargers will be playing their starters too much in this game, but it’s going to be important to keep an eye on several things if you are curious as to how the Bears are doing in training camp and how the roster may look prior to the start of the season.

Here are five keys and things to watch for the game coming up this Saturday between the Bears and the Chargers.

1.  Watch the offensive line

Everyone talks about how the offense line is going to look, and we will get our first real look at how well this unit performs against another team.  The starting line heading into this game should be Olin Kreutz at center, Lance Louis and Roberto Garza at guard, and Chris Williams and Frank Omiyale at the tackles.

The Bears feel that they may go with this unit during the regular season, so we will get a chance to see if this is the right combination.  Granted, it’s still pretty early and there is a lot that can happen, but it will be important not only for the Bears to see what they have but for this group to start to play together in real game situations and begin to become a cohesive unit.

2.  Keep an eye on the quarterbacks

Even though quarterback Jay Cutler may not play that much, it’s important to watch the quarterbacks because they will all be running the same plays that we will see during the season.  It will also be interesting to see the chemistry that both Cutler and second string quarterback Caleb Hanie have developed between their receivers.

Hanie traditionally does very well in the preseason, so we will get a chance to see if he can keep this going.  We will also get to see Dan LeFevour play as well.

3.  How well will the receivers run their routes?

Yes, it’s the first preseason game and not everyone is perfect, but it’s going to be interesting to see what routes new offensive coordinator Mike Martz rings up for his wide receivers to run and how well they run them.  Don’t put too much into sloppy route running or missed passes right now.

Hopefully the Bears will spread the ball around and let us see how they will connect with their tight ends, running backs, and wide receivers.  

4.  If Peppers plays, see how his play changes the play of the other defensive linemen.

The Bears starters aren’t going to get a lot of time in the first preseason game, but watch the starters closely.  It will help us see how the starter is doing and how he is affecting others around him.  It’s been said (and seen) that Peppers is making a huge impact with the other defensive linemen and that he has even inspired the previously uninspired Tommie Harris to play better.

Hopefully what we have been seeing in practice will translate to the field. Having a good pass rush can really help the Bears out on defense so Peppers, along with the rest of this group, has to produce.

5.  Watch the secondary.

Not only should you keep an eye on safety Chris Harris and rookie Major Wright, but you should also check to see how well cornerbacks Charles Tillman and Zach Bowman are adjusting to their new positions.  Also keep an eye on the younger guys to see how they are doing.

Who Will Win

This is a preseason game, so it’s pretty tough to say.  The Chargers have some younger players that they will want to get into the game, as will the Bears, so we will see a lot of second and third string players after the end of the first quarter.

The Bears should play their starters through the first quarter and possibly into the second quarter.  It’s not known how long the Chargers will play their starters but they should get about as much time as Chicago’s first team.  The Bears are going to want to try some things with their first team players in this situation, so look for Chicago to try to get a few runs in with both Chester Taylor and Matt Forte as well as send a few passes toward the tight end and H-back. 

They will also take some shots down the field with the wide receivers to see how well they are coming along with running routes.

On defense, they will try out some new things that they have been working into practice, such as some line stunts, to see how well the defensive line works.  The coaching staff will look at how well the secondary is performing.

Prediction

This is the first preseason game for both teams, so they are bound to make some mistakes.  These games really get good (when it comes to who wants to win more) when the third teams are in, the game is almost done, and the score is close.  

Bears 21, Chargers 14.

Read more Chicago Bears news on BleacherReport.com

"Some say the 46 defense is just an eight-man front. That's like saying Marilyn Monroe's just a girl."- Buddy Ryan, Chicago Bears former defensive coordinator and creator of the 46.

The 1985 Bears were arguably the greatest team of all time. But what made the 15-1 Bears so dominant? The pass game was average. The run game was sweetness. The defense, most importantly, was monstrous. 

The Bears' defense coordinator, Buddy Ryan, designed the 46 defense when he arrived in Chicago in 1978. Ryan inherited a team that was atrocious at stopping the run and rushing the passer. He designed the 46 to essentially be an ultra-aggressive version of the 4-3 defense. 

The defense started off as a simple blitz package, but by 1981, it was Chicago's base defense. By 1985, Ryan had finished tweaking and perfecting his brainchild, and by then it was nearly unstoppable.

The personnel is the same as in a 4-3 defense, possessing four down lineman, three linebackers, two corners and two safeties. The difference was in the lineup.

One the weak side, the  defensive end lines up outside of the tackle. The defensive tackle lines up on the weak-side guard. On the strong side, the defensive end is head up on the strong-side guard and the tackle is lined up over the center.

The "jack" linebacker, or the strong-side backer, lines up outside shoulder to the tight end on the line of scrimmage. The "charlie" linebacker, or the weak-side backer, lines up on the tight-end's inside shoulder. These two could either pin their ears back and rush the passer or they could drop back in coverage. The "mike" backer lines up directly across from the strong-side tackle and two yards back.

Doug Plank, the strong safety for whom the defense was named (his jersey number was 46), played as a hybrid safety-linebacker. He lined up directly in front of the weak-side tackle and a couple yards back. The free safety lines up 12 yards back and over the weak-side guard. The corners line up on their receivers.

The 46 essentially put a steel wall of defenders in front of opposing offenses, forcing them to throw the football. The eight-man front made it extremely difficult to run against the 46, but it was vulnerable to short passing routes. The corners would play bump and run coverage, in order to disrupt the quick, "West Coast-type" patterns that were so dangerous to this defense. 

Buddy Ryan used the formation to create mismatches, overload gaps, and make life miserable for offensive linemen. The defense put a defender directly in front of every lineman, making it difficult to execute second level blocking. Pulls and traps were also limited by the formation, as each lineman had to account for the defender immediately in front of him.

The Bears' run defense was top two in both run and overall defense every year from 1984-1988. So why is the 46 so uncommon now?

First off, the 80's Bears had one of the best front sevens of all time, including Hall of Famers Mike Singletary and Dan Hampton and All-Pro selections Wilber Marshall and Richard Dent. Also, their corners were extraordinary at pressing receivers, making them the perfect fit for the 46.

No modern team has the talent to run this defense effectively.

Buddy's son, Rex Ryan, and the New York Jets ran it occasionally in 2009, but its not their base defense and they have a very gifted secondary. Today's emphasis on passing makes it to too risky to field an eight-man front as a base defense. 

Buddy Ryan was ever the innovator. He was a mastermind at disguising coverages and creating havoc in the backfield. He was adept at designing defenses that fit his team's strengths and hid their weaknesses.

The 46 was specially tuned to the personnel of the '80s Bears, which is why few teams use the 46 nowadays, and why no one uses it as a base defense. 

Read more Chicago Bears news on BleacherReport.com