this last preseason game just revealed a brand new area of this team that has incredible depth and I'm talking about the Chicago Bears Nickelback depth and that Nickelback depth is led by Kyler Gordon and he just looked great on two consecutive drives I mean we're talking with sweat and woodside's face that's who is quarterbacking for the Bengals not the starters the quarterback threw a quick pass to receiver kwami leder the second and within a moment Gordon he had the receiver wrapped up in the open field a loss of three yards and it was just it was just the start of the first heavy hit on that swing pass after just a beautiful pump by Taylor and four plays later coach Matt ibrao he called a nickel Blitz and it actually wasn't coach Eber for I'm going to cover that but Gordon sprinted just absolutely untouched towards the line of scrimmage and he laid out Woodside for an eight- yard loss in the Bears first sack of the day I'm going to go to this story on chicagobears.com you guys actually check out this breakdown but what are we looking at this from this sack the sack was from the top side in tandm with a nice bull rush by Billings up the middle just a disruptive series and this was also with Montes sweat spending a ton of time in the back field and this is just a really awesome development yet another area of depth on this Chicago Bears defense and here straight from Gordon it's an exciting feeling and this is talking about the nickel Blitz play call obviously you want to stay calm be a master of disguise so that's what was going through my head surprise them don't give it away and sure enough the sack came so the Bears I mean they consistently hit the pass rush with four guys the key is to do that make it feel like five or six right coach Flo loves his defensive play with a low Blitz rate and um playing with a low Blitz rate is so key to this defense we want the three Tech to be the engine of the defense we want um we want pass rush consistently from the right and left side and then we have that steady presence of Billings also the option of linebackers going back in coverage or also coming at the quarterback I mean there are so many exotic ways that this defense can be deployed if you simply are able to have a low Blitz rate and it's is just really just a lot of fun to see and it looks like this appears what's coming to fruition and all we can go by is what we're seeing so good to have Spider-Man back and man he is going to be a problem I'm gonna close that down and then to look forward we're looking at you know some injuries in Camp right but now this team is starting to get healthy it's starting to come together and finally we're getting an opportunity to start seeing what has been put together here the next drive another strong tackle in space for a gain of only three on first down it's not just making a a play it's just watching him stick The Tackle with zero gain after contact he just really looks ready to go and Kyler Gordon is looking like a legit threat to be a key cog of this defense and I think we're seeing him come into his own here he really took over the beginning of this game and he can be used a lot a lot of different ways coverage he can do that they can Blitz him but it's the open field tackling that this guy's doing is the most impressive thing just two really good ones in the first quarter just versatile just quick but it's this ability to wrap in tackle that we're seeing just a nice player we are so blessed you're kind of looking at the player last year right what happened he broke his hand against Green Bay out for about a month but then he came back and he really settled in he had a really nice year in this line the way they're collapsing offensive lines another third down play Gordon was once again right in the thick of it sticking a tackle through the middle of the line to hold them back once again just solid tackling and they made a play for the first down on the next play but a few years a few plays later Blackwell he hits the quarterback amen gets the pick then just a beautiful wrap up in the open uh in the second quarter and Eber Flo he decided to Blitz again well to get back to that it wasn't coach Eber Flo it was coach Washington he was handling most of the play play calls for this game super brilliant too other teams are getting zero bead on the call Tendencies on defense heading into the season and that's a really smart play and nine plays into the Bengals following possession uh quarterback Josh Blackwell let's break that down just a little bit this is the guy this is why I'm talking about we have nickel depth because this is a guy that replaced Gordon as Cincinnati approached the red zone for the first time right he lined up on the left side of the defense same spot up here to be matched up with the lasted same receiver but when the ball was snapped black off he Blackwell he just took off toward the back field and he went on touch just like Gordon just hit Woodside he was thinking after the game he told us I better make the play and he made contact with the quarterback right as we want to throw that sent the ball up in the air for linebacker amen o I say o because that name is Tough uh to snatch and return 10 yards to the Chicago 26 and just a really nice thing like KY goes out it's a preseason um Blackwell goes in and picks up right where he left off and he's being used the same so that's showing that the coaching staff sees the versatility of both players so to hear it from uh to hear it from Blackwell we called the blitz Kyler had the same exact Blitz earlier in the game and we disguised it well I thought they'd Slide the protection to me they didn't so I came free and you got to just make the play When the opportunity presents itself I looked up and saw amen catch the ball so it was awesome and we're just looking at some things here the Christmas of the tackle the crispness of the tackling on this defense already the full Buy in on the hits principle just so encouraging and we're looking at consistent pressure on the quarterback from multiple layers in the defense it feels like this is coming together and granted it wasn't against starters but man how can you not be encouraged here we're looking at Randolph and Booker working together collapsing the pocket in the second quarter just young pieces flashing together and then on top of it you guys saw it if you watch the whole game Terrell Smith delivers with a high point pick in the third and with this Nickelback group that consistency at every single level of the depth chart it manifests in the meeting rooms and on the practice field and Greg stman um is saying Blackwell knows everyone knows Greg strowman knows all the Nickels we have have are ready to know from vets rookie there's no drop off and Gordon also said we hold a high standard in our room we all get on each other and correct each other to be the best so Excellence is all we want and um you're looking at we have Gordon we have Blackwell but the cornerbacks as a whole just showed off their playmaking ability and Terell Smith he got the turnover and it's just so nice because it wasn't just that turnover in the opening drive of the second half Smith got this second takeaway of the day and it was the way that he intercepted it it was it was he skyed up he High pointed the ball just a really nice play on the ball and uh it was at the Chicago 39 and this is a he from Terell the receiver had a cut split so I was really just thinking he was going to run out a quick or something fast so I just played it slow at the top of the route and was able to jump it and we're just kind of looking at this whole defense firing on all cylinders no matter what the Personnel was on the field we've been talking a lot about ends we've been talking a lot about you know our coverage Corners we've been talking a lot about safeties but this niichel corner spot that Kyler Gordon is Manning now that he's fully healthy it's so good to have Spider-Man back and uh man just so encouraging that yet another spot on this defense is showing depth is showing turnover ability is showing aggressiveness and the way that Kyler Gordon just sticks tackles man it is just so much fun to see I just want to get on here and like this you guys that preseason game was so much fun you guys are so much fun on the message boards you guys continue I will interact with you as I can and Bear Down friends this is going to be fun see you