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Jack Sanborn shines in Bears’ 19-14 comeback win over the Chiefs

Originally posted on ChiCitySports  |  By Daniel Solesky  |  Last updated 8/13/22

Jack Sanborn led the Chicago Bears’ rally in the second half grabbing two takeaways and setting up the offense for 19 points to close out a preseason opening win against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Jack Sanborn is showing why so many undrafted free agents go on to make NFL rosters, contribute and have good careers.  Sanborn is not a world beater in the athletic department but he is a football player, PERIOD.  Jack Sanborn finished with multiple big tackles, an interception, a fumble recovery, a pass break up a key special-teams tackle in the open field that held the returner to only a one yard return.

When you have guys like Jack Sanborn on your team, they simply go out and continually make plays because they give maximum effort and have a nose for the football.  Jack Sanborn is not fast, he’s not agile he’s not ideally suited for the NFL game from an athletic standpoint.  But because Jack Sanborn is such a dog of a player he stands out and puts himself squarely in position to be back up linebacker.

Teven Jenkins played some of the first half and then almost entirely the second half at right tackle and showed up big.  He had a couple of shaky plays to start but then settled in nicely.  Jenkins is super talented but more than anything if he gets his hands on you, he locks on and buries his defender.  If Jenkins gets his hands on the defender, that player is not getting away.

Jenkins put himself in position to compete for the starting right tackle spot from here on out.  Riley Reiff didn’t play and Larry Borom started at RT ahead of Jenkins, but Jenkins made numerous big blocks on the defender that are reminiscent of why he was drafted.  Jenkins is an absolute bully and seems to enjoy going from quiet and soft spoken young man to putting dudes underneath the turf at Soldier Field.

The passing game is going to need time to develop get their timing down and gain consistency but once it happens, the Bears should be in a good position to succeed on offense.  The Bears used the outside zone and outside power to run the football well and set up play-action.  Trevor Siemian finished 7 for 13 for 89 yards and two touchdowns.  He hit a big touchdown on this corner route to Dazz Newsome.

Newsome struggled a bit in the first half but played better in the second half.  The real key to the touchdown was the play design that set a virtual pick and got Newsome wide open on the corner route.  Excellent design and call from Getsy to get this touchdown.  Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come.

The Bears’ defense was the star of the second half as the Chiefs only mustered six yards of offense in the entire second half up until a very late broken play scramble from the QB.  The defense was led by Sanborn and linebacker DeMarquise Gates in the second half.  Overall the linebackers were free to roam and make tackles.  They have clearly bought into the hustle and intensity philosophy preached by Matt Eberflus.

Rookie Dominique Robinson also had a sack, showing off an explosive burst to get up the field and bring the QB down. Overall the Bears looked organized and they looked coached up and as if they had a purpose and a direction on the field.  Under Matt Nagy the Bears seemed to always look discombobulated but today the Bears played with a guidance that never existed under Nagy.  There was a new sense of urgency and it hopefully will carry over onto the field during the regular season.

This article first appeared on ChiCitySports and was syndicated with permission.

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