Ladies and gentleman, after six months of waiting, football is finally back.
Sure, it's a preseason game and you probably won't recognize roughly 50 percent of the players on the field, but it is football and there will be plenty of things to watch for when the Ravens battle the Bears in Canton, Ohio on Thursday night.
For one, there's a good chance that we're going to get our first look at Lamar Jackson. Although the Ravens have made it clear that Joe Flacco will be the team's starting quarterback this season, Flacco likely won't be playing against the Bears, which means we should see a heavy dose of Jackson and his electrifying skills.
During an interview this week, Jackson sounded a lot like he was expecting to play. The first-round pick said he wanted to use the Hall of Fame game to prove to America that he's "a quarterback."
"And just show the growth from college to my new chapter," Jackson said.
Besides Jackson, the Ravens also have another intriguing option at quarterback in Robert Griffin III, who you might remember more as the the last quarterback to lead the Browns to a win. Although we'll likely see both of those players in action, Ravens coach John Harbaugh wouldn't reveal any details about who he plans to play in the game, despite knowing exactly who he plans to play.
"We have that set," Harbaugh said of the QB plans for the Hall of Fame game, via the AP. "I never really talk about that. We just go do it. But we have the quarterback rotation set, and then we'll organize the rest of it ... There'll be some guys who won't play in that game, probably you might guess the guys who haven't practiced as much that first week."
So why should you be excited for the Hall of Fame game?
Because Aston Kutcher's excited.
You know you’re excited about football when you wake up on Wednesday and get dressed for the game that doesn’t start until Thursday. pic.twitter.com/t0CdFZGtw7 — ashton kutcher (@aplusk) August 1, 2018
If that doesn't get you to watch, nothing will.
Here's your TV and streaming information.
How to watch
What: Baltimore Ravens vs. Chicago Bears
Baltimore Ravens vs. Chicago Bears When: Thursday, Aug. 2, 8 p.m. ET
Thursday, Aug. 2, 8 p.m. ET Where: Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, Canton, Ohio
Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, Canton, Ohio TV: NBC Play-by-play: Al Michaels Color analyst: Cris Collinsworth
NBC
Bet all your money on the Ravens
The return of football doesn't just mean the return of football this year, it also means you'll be getting your first chance to gamble on football since the Supreme Court paved the way in June for legalized gambling across the country.
With multiple states now accepting NFL bets, people can wager on anything and everything, including preseason football. If you're thinking on putting some money down on this game, history says you should probably go with the Ravens, who are currently a 2-point favorite. Not only have the Ravens won eight straight preseason games, but they've also covered in nine straight games dating back to their preseason finale in 2015.
The NFL Preseason kicks off Thursday with the Hall of Fame Game
Odds (@BovadaOfficial):
Bears +2
Ravens -2
OU 33
Trends:
1. The Ravens are 8-0 SU in their last 8 preseason games and 9-0 ATS in their last 9.
2. Favorites are 15-6 SU and 11-7-3 ATS in the last 21 HOF Games. pic.twitter.com/KQ3qLjx3F3 — OddsShark (@OddsShark) July 30, 2018
Of course, if you're not quite sold on the Ravens, we understand. For a closer look at the gambling aspect of this game, be sure to click here and for an even deeper dive, make sure to subscribe to Sportsline, where we'll be offering in-depth NFL gambling tips all year.
Why Ravens vs. Bears
Finally, if you're wondering why the Bears and Ravens were picked to play in the Hall of Fame game, there's an answer for that. The NFL generally picks two teams that both have a connection to Hall of Fame weekend, which made Chicago and Baltimore the perfect choices for 2018. Not only will the two teams be squaring off Thursday, but if fans stick around, they'll be able to see one former legend from each team enshrined into the Hall of Fame on Saturday.
For the Bears that will be linebacker Brian Urlacher. For the Ravens, that will be Ray Lewis.
The 2018 NFL preseason officially begins tonight with a highly anticipated Hall of Fame game between the Baltimore Ravens and Chicago Bears at the Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio. It’s been six months since the Super Bowl and the long offseason stretch has had fans clamoring for pigskin action, something they can finally experience again this evening. This is also the first of many chances bettors will get to wager on pro football during the 2018 NFL season.
Oddsmakers are projecting a low-scoring, closely contested affair, installing the Ravens as the favorite in this preseason opener. Baltimore is currently going off as 2.5-point chalk, a small spread that coincides with one of the lowest totals you will see at this level. The over/under for points scored opened at a mere 32 points, and even then the over side of the bet looks to be a risky proposition. Considering four of the last six Hall of Fame matchups failed to eclipse the 30-point mark, there is a good chance that this one winds up playing in the 20s. It certainly would be fitting to see another defensive slugfest in the Hall of Fame game, especially with a pair of former star linebackers, Ray Lewis of the Ravens and Brian Urlacher of the Bears, on hand for their enshrinement in Canton this weekend.
Will defense once again take center stage tonight, or will offense somehow find a way to shine through in the first game of the preseason? Jon Price of SportsInformationTraders.com has a prediction on the outcome that you won’t want to miss. Before getting to the pro handicapper’s pick for this matchup—his first of plenty planned for the preseason—have a look at the complete schedule, start time, TV channel, live stream coverage and updated odds for the Chicago Bears vs. Baltimore Ravens. You can also find a breakdown of the matchup, relevant tweets, quotes from star players and more for the 2018 NFL Hall of Fame game.
Hall of Fame Game 2018 Viewing Guide
Time (ET) Matchup TV Live Stream Line Total 8 p.m. Chicago Bears vs. Baltimore Ravens* NBC NBC Sports Live BAL -2.5 32
*Matchup takes place at neutral site
Hall of Fame Game 2018 Preview and Predictions
Baltimore has been a good side to back in recent years during the exhibition slate, as the club has won all eight preseason games it has participated in dating back to 2016. Head coach John Harbaugh is an impressive 28-12 during preseason matchups since taking over the reins in 2008. His Chicago counterpart, Matt Nagy, will be making his head coaching debut after serving as the Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator under Andy Reid for the past two seasons. Kansas City went 4-4 overall—2-2 in both 2016 and 2017—in the preseason with Nagy directing the offense.
Nagy will get the first of five chances to showcase his new offense tonight and fans in the Windy City will be hoping to see a big improvement over last year’s abysmal showing on that side of the ball. The Bears ranked amongst the worst in the league during the 2017 campaign in terms of total yards (287.4, 30th), passing yards (175.7, 32nd) and points (16.5, 29th) per game. They’ll have their work cut out against a tough Ravens defense that ranked sixth in points allowed (18.9) last year. The Ravens offense wasn’t much better than Chicago in terms of yardage—they averaged only 305.4 yards per game in 2017—but still managed to score at respectable rate and averaged 24.7 points per game, the ninth-best mark in the NFL last season.
Larry Myer noted a trend that should make Chicago fans happy that their team is involved in this game:
#Bears have made the playoffs each of the last three times they've played in the Hall of Fame Game: As a wildcard in 1977 and as a division champion in 1990 and 2005. — Larry Mayer (@LarryMayer) July 31, 2018
It wouldn’t be wise to expect an explosion of offense in this game, especially with both coaches likely to keep things simple in terms of game planning and instead concentrate on evaluating talent. One player that is likely get a long look is Baltimore’s rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson. After nabbing tight end Hayden Hurst at No. 25 overall, the Ravens elected to trade back into the first round, acquiring the No. 32 pick from the Philadelphia Eagles and using it on the Heisman-winning Louisville signal-caller. The speedy, 6’2” rookie has been turning heads all offseason, putting together a series of exciting practices and workouts leading up to his preseason debut.
Veteran linebacker Terrell Suggs is impressed by what the 21-year-old quarterback has shown so far, as per the Associated Press (via Yahoo! Sports):
He likes to run, very fast. He's very exciting, a young talent, and he approaches the game with the kind of requirement that quarterbacks are held to in this league. He could have a promising career.
Sporting News tweeted a clip of Jackson throwing a touchdown pass to veteran QB Joe Flacco during practice:
Lamar Jackson to WR Joe Flacco.pic.twitter.com/RSMgG5fxwH — Sporting News (@sportingnews) July 28, 2018
The Bears could be debuting a number of key offseason acquisitions, including a slew of pass-catching options for second-year signal-caller Mitchell Trubisky. The organization was able to lure explosive receiver Allen Robinson away from the Jacksonville Jaguars, plus signed former Philadelphia tight end Trey Burton and Taylor Gabriel of the Atlanta Falcons. Chicago also added another skilled wideout in the draft, selecting Anthony Miller out of Memphis in the second round. These represent major improvements over last year’s receiving corps, a group that paced by a mediocre 59-catch, 614-yard, one-touchdown season from Kendall Wright, a player now with the NFC North rival Minnesota Vikings.
Trubisky spoke about Nagy’s offense and coaching style ahead of the Hall of Fame game (via USA Today):
I mean, what's not to like about this offense? I love it. There's a lot of options. We throw the ball around a lot and we're going to balance it with a great running game. Lets me go out and play and be myself and not worry about mistakes. But we do go in the film room and correct them. There is a big emphasis on not making the same mistake twice. Just go out there and play freely and let your instincts take over. And then when we make mistakes, just go back and learn from it. It allows me to go out there and be myself and play freely.
Chris Emma thinks that the new Chicago offense will be a boon for the club’s receivers, with seventh-rounder Javon Wims turning some heads in practice:
This Bears offense is one that showcases its receivers well. Rookie Javon Wims, the seventh-round pick out of Georgia, has made a good impression in camp. — Chris Emma (@CEmma670) July 30, 2018
The Hall of Fame game is still one traditionally for young players and those battling for a spot on the final 55-man roster, so expectations should be tempered due to less-heralded talent taking the majority of snaps. Jon Price believes that points will be at a premium in this contest due to a lack of offensive cohesion and unfamiliarity amongst the players on the field. Defense tends to do better in these situations, as a quick glance at the score lines from every opening preseason game since 2010 will reveal. Here’s how the last six matchups in Canton have shaken out:
Hall of Fame Game Scores (2010-2017)
Year Result Total 2017 Cowboys 20 – Cardinals 18 38 2015 Vikings 14 – Steelers 3 17 2014 Giants 17 – Bills 13 30 2013 Cowboys 24 – Dolphins 20 44 2012 Saints 17 – Cardinals 10 27 2010 Cowboys 16 – Bengals 7 23
Please note that the Hall of Fame Game was not played in 2011 and 2016.
Only one team, the Dallas Cowboys in 2013, even managed to eclipse the 20-point mark during the last six Hall of Fame games. In that span, only two games have surpassed a total of 30 points, while one score has decided the winner in four of the last six contests. With many key veterans on both squads expected to be sidelined for all or most of this game, more of the same should be in store. Price suggests bettors back the under tonight, foregoing the point spread in a bout that could realistically go either way since neither side has an incentive to win.
For those in picks pools or wanting to select make a bet against the spread, the Vegas expert believes that the Ravens have a slightly better chance of covering. The Bears underwent a major offseason makeover, drastically reshaping the roster and coaching staff. They’ll need time to gel, while the Ravens have kept their core together, which means they should play better together right out of the gate due to an increased level of familiarity. Don’t be afraid to lay the points, but get ready for a low scoring evening to open the 2018 NFL season.
Pick: Under 32
Prediction: Ravens 17 – Bears 14
If there is a singular indicator of the scope of skillset of Brian Urlacher spanning his 13-year Hall of Fame Bears career, it is perhaps that he was voted to four Pro Bowls while playing in one defensive scheme that kept blockers off of linebackers, and four Pro Bowls in an entirely different one that did anything but. Urlacher initially disliked the latter – the Cover-2 of Lovie Smith – but in the end it was the showcase that took him to the heights that culminated in his selection for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
And if the scheme ultimately brought out the best in Urlacher, he did the same for it. “Brian Urlacher changed the way you could play Cover-2,” said former Bears center Olin Kreutz.
It was a scheme that Urlacher and running mate Lance Briggs effectively customized with their play, leading to what amounted to changes in the playbook. Briggs recalled rookies being given the playbook but also that caveat that a few things weren’t done exactly the way the textbook showed them to be.
“We could freelance a little bit, and Brian was a big part of allowing that,” Briggs told NBC Sports Chicago. “We could trust each other doing things even when maybe we weren’t supposed to do them. We each knew we would be there for each other and cover for each other. It allowed us to really play fast, and even to change the defense.
“We did things in blitz packages that really changed the defense, unique things from how they were done. We’d practice everything, sharpening that iron, and we weren’t going to out-trick you; we were going to out-play you.”
Urlacher was drafted in 2000 into the defensive scheme of coach Dick Jauron and coordinator Greg Blache. It was a system with massive defensive linemen (Phillip Daniels, Bryan Robinson, Keith Traylor, Ted Washington, Mike Wells) charged with controlling gaps on either side of an offensive linemen. Those space-eaters effectively allowed Urlacher to run free, posting as many as 214 tackles in 2002.
In 2004, Lovie Smith replaced Jauron and installed his Cover-2 scheme with its undersized, speed-based linemen (Alex Brown, Tommie Harris, Adewale Ogunleye). Smith’s system tasked linemen with responsibility for getting through a single gap, with linebackers similarly responsible for designated gap.
Urlacher had seen the Smith defense in operation and didn’t like it. Or at least what he thought it was.
“Initially Lovie’s scheme was the middle linebacker running [backwards] down the middle of the field every play,” Urlacher said. “Every play it felt like the middle linebacker was out of the play. If that was going to be the case, I wasn’t super excited.
“But they changed that right away. Lovie said, ‘We’re going to keep you on the line of scrimmage, we’re going to modify our defense,’ and we did. There were some plays where I went down the middle but it was really plays where I was taken there by a receiver or tight end. It wasn’t like I was just running out of the play.”
Smith laughs when told of Urlacher’s initial impression of what has been a time-honored system that is still functioning. Smith and coordinators Ron Rivera, Bob Babich and Rod Marinelli knew what Urlacher represented – a middle linebacker with the speed to position himself to both defend the run and also drop into coverage in passing situations, when MLB’s are routinely pulled in favor of an additional defensive back.
“There’s always been a little bit of a misconception about our defense,” Smith said. “The ‘Mike’ linebacker does run down the middle of the field, but only in certain circumstances. And if that’s all the Mike linebacker did, Brian definitely wouldn’t like playing in our system.
“But that was just a small part of what it did. The system is a linebacker-friendly system, and it could produce Hall of Fame linebackers, Mike linebackers and ‘Will’ [weak-side] linebackers. It was ideal for Derrick Brooks. It was ideal for Brian.”
Ironically, Smith was on the sideline, just not on the Bears’ side, when Urlacher made his debut at middle linebacker. Smith was Tampa Bay’s linebackers coach when the Buccaneers mauled the Bears 41-0 in week two of the 2000 season, and Smith remembered watching with great interest when Urlacher came off the bench. Smith and the Bucs had spent time scouting and meeting with Urlacher before the 2000 draft.
“When he came into the game, we were on the sideline watching,” Smith recalled. “I remember he made a great tackle on our sideline. Sometimes I’ll think back on that play, because you could see he was a great player, and of course the rest is history.”
Briggs and Urlacher effectively rewrote portions of the defensive playbook and concepts. Coaches created situations in practice without telling either of them, look for a certain reaction to the situations, and when Briggs and Urlacher reacted differently, that’s how it was entered into the playbook.
“We’d do something and they’d say, ‘OK, that’s how we’re going to write it up,’” Briggs said, laughing. “There was a lot of things in that playbook, from a base standpoint, that we had evolved so far. Coaches would tell rookies when they came in, ‘Look, the ‘base’ is not necessarily exactly how we’re going to play our base,’” Briggs said. “We evolved very far in that defense.”
The evolution was accelerated by Urlacher’s understanding of both opposing offenses and every assignment of every player in his own defense.
“He would never get credit for how smart a player he was,” Smith said. “Brian knew what every player – every player – was supposed to do. You talk about quarterbacks knowing everybody’s job. Well, Brian did all of that, and if a play broke out against you, he would know exactly who to say something to.”
Urlacher is mystified at the criticism leveled at Smith that the scheme was too passive. To Urlacher, it was exactly the opposite.
“That defense was aggressive,” Urlacher said. “When we played, it was ‘run through your gap,’ solo gaps, get downhill. That’s why Lance and I had so many tackles for losses. We were aggressive and when we played Cover-2, we were just solid. We knew what we were doing, everyone knew their jobs, and we just didn’t screw up.
“The Cover-2 is good for any scheme. You get a team that runs all those gadgets behind the line – stuff that Kansas City did, like with Tyreek Hill – and if you have your corners looking in, it’s like a nine-man box. It’s not a great, great defense, but it’ll get you to the next play. We were always sound and knew exactly what we were doing. They couldn’t fool us, that’s for damn sure.”
The 2018 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Week Powered by Johnson Controls kicks off with the annual Hall of Fame Game on Thursday, Aug. 2.
The Ravens are making their first-ever appearance in the Hall of Fame Game while this year’s game will mark the fifth time that the Bears will play in the preseason classic. Chicago has posted a perfect 4-0 record in the previous trips to Canton with victories over the Miami Dolphins (27-24 in 2005), Cleveland Browns (13-0 in 1990), New York Jets (20-6 in 1977), and Dallas Cowboys (30-24 in 1968).
