Bears Beat Titans In NFL Preseason Game

By ESPN

Chicago coach John Fox thinks having a whole week to prepare for an opponent helped Mike Glennon turn in a strong performance for the Bears.

How much Glennon helped himself to the Bears' starting quarterback job remains to be seen.

Glennon capped an opening 96-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Dion Sims as the Bears beat the Tennessee Titans 19-7 Sunday in the third preseason game.

"We're very happy with the way Mike responded as far as a real game plan and what he did, I thought he played very well," said Fox, who also noted coaches will keep evaluating.

Glennon was an efficient 11 of 18 for 134 yards passing despite losing starting wide receiver Cameron Meredith late in the first quarter. Meredith was carted off with a suspected left ACL injury, which Fox said must be checked by an MRI exam first.

Having a week to prepare and study for an opponent fits Glennon's strengths.

"That's kind of what I pride myself on, being well-prepared and working hard through the week," Glennon said.

Mitchell Trubisky, the second overall pick out of North Carolina, opened the third quarter with the Bears' starters. But Trubisky threw two incompletions as the Bears (2-1) went three-and-out. Trubisky also fumbled a snap on his next series, though he rebounded with a 45-yard TD pass to Tanner Gentry for a 19-7 lead in the fourth quarter.

The Titans (1-2) had issues on offense, defense and special teams. The Bears could have led 14-0 if Adam Shaheen controlled the ball before going out of bounds after Roy Robertson-Harris blocked a punt into the end zone early in the second quarter. Instead, Chicago led 9-0 after referee Ed Hochuli finally changed his ruling of a touchback to a safety.

Tennessee's offensive struggles prompted coach Mike Mularkey to keep his first-team in until Mariota tossed the ball to Derrick Henry on the first play of the fourth for a 3-yard TD that kept Tennessee from being shut out. Mularkey said he wanted the first team to finish the drive in a game that featured too many mistakes.

"We've got a lot of work to do," Mularkey said. "We've got two weeks to do it."

Colts 19, Steelers 15

Scott Tolzien has spent most of training camp watching Stephen Morris inch closer and closer in the race to be the Week 1 Colts starting quarterback if Andrew Luck's surgically repaired right shoulder doesn't heal in time.

Tolzien may have provided just enough breathing room to get the nod in a 19-15 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday night.

Tolzien led a pair of long scoring drives while completing 7 of 10 passes for 123 yards against Pittsburgh's first-team defense. Morris finished 12 of 16 for 143 yards after coming in, mostly against the backups.

"Felt like we started fast," Colts coach Chuck Pagano said.

Which was something Tolzien and the rest of the first-team offense needed to do following ineffective play last week against Dallas. He hit Donte Moncrief for a 55-yard gain on the Colts' first snap, setting up a 1-yard Frank Gore touchdown run. Tolzien also threw an interception in three series of work.

"There's going to be times when you're not clicking or not starting games fast," Tolzien said. "You can't let that keep you down. If you do that, you'll just bury yourself. It's good that we had a better start tonight."

Morris again had the better overall numbers, going 12 of 16 for 143 yards. Like Tolzien, Morris guided Indianapolis to a pair of scores. Indianapolis converted 5 of 11 third downs, a marked improvement after going 5 for 30 on third down.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said he was "ready for the regular season" after working a pair of series in his lone exhibition appearance. Roethlisberger completed 6 of 9 passes for 73 yards but also fumbled while getting sacked by linebacker John Simon to end Pittsburgh's first drive. Pittsburgh settled for Chris Boswell's 36-yard field goal on their second series when the offense bogged down inside the Indianapolis 20.

"We'd like to put seven points on the board both times, but it was good," Roethlisberger said. "We got done what we wanted to accomplish."

Wide receiver Antonio Brown caught two passes for 28 yards, including a twisting over-the-middle grab. Like Roethlisberger he took the night off after the second series, spending a portion of the down time running 40-yard dashes during timeouts.

Roethlisberger and Brown's roles are assured when the Steelers open the 2017 season in Cleveland in two weeks, a common thread for a team expected to challenge for a Super Bowl berth. The same can't be said for Indianapolis, which could start the season in flux without Luck, whose right shoulder has been slow to mend from offseason surgery.

Steelers backup Landry Jones completed 21 of31 passes for 163 yards after sitting out the first two games with an abdominal injury. Jones hit tight end Xavier Grimble for a 10-yard score in the third quarter, but was intercepted in the end zone with less than five minutes to go and Pittsburgh trailing.

Saturday, August 26 Scoreboard

Arizona 24,  Atlanta 14

Baltimore 13,  Buffalo 9

New York Giants 32, New York Jets 31

Indianapolis 19, PIttsburgh 15

Cleveland 13, Tampa Bay 9

Los Angeles Chargers 21, Los Angeles Rams 19

New Orleans 13, Houston 0

Dallas 24, Oakland 20

Denver 20, Green Bay 17

Sunday, August 27 Scoreboard

Chicago 19, Tennessee 7

Washington 23, Cincinnati 17

Minnesota 32, San Francisco 31

Thursday, August 31 Schedule (All Times Central)

Los  Angeles Rams at Green Bay, 6 p.m.

Jacksonville at Atlanta, 6 p.m.

Cincinnati at Indianapolis, 6 p.m.

Philadelphia at New York Jets, 6 p.m.

Detroit at Buffalo, 6 p.m.

New York at New England, 6:30 p.m.

PIttsburgh at Carolina, 6:30 p.m.

Washington at Tampa Bay, 6:30 p.m.

Miami at Minnesota, 7 p.m.

Baltimore at New Orleans, 7 p.m.

Cleveland at Chicago, 7 p.m.

Dallas at  Houston, 7 p.m.

Tennessee at Kansas City, 7:30 p.m.

Arizona at Denver, 8 p.m.

Los Angeles Chargers at San Francisco, 9 p.m.

Seattle at Oakland, 9 p.m.