The momentum generated by the Chicago Bears after a week of solid practices and a resounding victory over the Buffalo Bills quickly vanished on Friday night during their third preseason game in Kansas City. The encounter, which culminated in a dramatic touchdown on the last play, when the Bears’ substitutes overcame a 17-point deficit in the second half to beat the Chiefs 29-27, began in a way that irritated coach Ben Johnson.
The quarterback Caleb Williams and the offensive starters played 27 snaps during two full quarters in the Bears’ last preseason game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.Offensively, the first two possessions were very sloppy football that has been affecting us throughout camp so far, and unfortunately that’s what we got tonight.
Ben Johnson
Chicago’s first two series totaled 22 yards and ended with consecutive punts. On the first play of their first series, Williams botched an exchange with wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus on a sweep play. On the next play, tight end Colston Loveland was penalized for a false start. The Bears faced a second-and-19 from their own 21-yard line and were unable to generate any momentum.
In the following offensive series, Williams held the ball for almost six seconds before being brought down by Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones as he tried to escape the protection pocket. That turned a second and 3 near midfield into a third and 8, and the series’ progress quickly dissipated. Johnson said he felt the Bears were overcoming the routine issues that had hampered the offense early in training camp.Williams, who finished with 11 of 15 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown, completing 73.3% of his passes, acknowledged that Friday highlighted how much work needs to be done with the Bears’ offense.It’s offensively disappointing to me, for sure. I thought we were past that.
Ben Johnson
Williams and the starters came out of the locker room in street clothes for the second half, when backup quarterback Tyson Bagent entered the game. Two days after signing a two-year, $10 million contract extension, Bagent completed 20 of 28 passes for 212 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winner he threw to undrafted rookie free agent Jahdae Walker. With 1:29 on the clock and no timeouts, Bagent targeted his receivers near or on the sideline so they could preserve the clock while continuing to advance the ball down the field. He targeted Walker four times during the team’s final drive, which ended with a 6-yard touchdown. With just over two weeks until the Bears host the Minnesota Vikings on September 8, Johnson said he will need to assess the direction the offense has taken in recent weeks to determine if he needs to scale back what he has been asking of the players based on the type of progress he is seeing.We all see it in the sense that we all see what we can be. We all see these flashes and, often, there are some pretty good moments in practice and in the games we’ve had so far.
Caleb Williams
And, to be honest, we might have to gel a bit after that first game. It’ll usually take until the bye week. I think it’s located at the right time (Week 5) to really identify who we are and what we’re going to be for the rest of the season.
Ben Johnson
