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With the preseason in the books, the Bears’ attention has turned to their regular-season opener against the Rams, where it’ll be veteran quarterback Andy Dalton getting the start under the lights on Sunday Night Football.
From what we’ve seen in the preseason, the starting offense has a lot of work to do. In eight possessions, the Bears offense scored just six points, totaled 144 yards and had five punts, two turnovers and just four first downs.
But it’s also worth noting Chicago’s starting offense never played in a game together during the preseason, where there were a handful of players sitting out here and there.
Dalton is confident that when they all come together they’ll be able to find a rhythm.
“That’s the confidence that we have in our group,” Dalton said. “When we’re all together and we’re all playing like we know we can play, there’s a lot that we can do.”
Dalton says that confidence stems from offense’s performance in practice, which is where the starting skill players have been working together as a unit.
“That’s been big for us to know the potential of what we can be and to be excited about what we have,” Dalton said.
While the Bears starting offense didn’t play together in the preseason, last week’s preseason finale marked the first time the starting offensive line took the field in game action. Dalton recognizes the importance of the offensive line finding cohesion and its impact on the offense.
“With our group, just getting them more opportunities to mesh as a unit, I think that’s the biggest thing at this point,” Dalton said. “The more time that they have together, the more time that they’re able to work as a unit, it’s going to make us better.”