Bear Digest

Bears 38, Bills 0: The good, the bad and the ugly from a total rout

Only the injuries removed some of the luster from this one for Chicago as Caleb Williams started it out right and Tyson Bagent excelled as well.
Gene Chamberlain|
Ian Wheeler plows into the end zone as the Bears running game accounted for 171 yards in a 38-0 win over Buffalo.
Ian Wheeler plows into the end zone as the Bears running game accounted for 171 yards in a 38-0 win over Buffalo. | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Does beating a team in preseason 38-0 like the Bears did with Buffalo mean anything?

The Bears' 38-0 win over Buffalo kind of softens a bit when you consider they beat the same Bills 33-6 in preseason last year. Eventually Josh Allen and the Bills were in the AFC championship game and within a few points of the Super Bowl while the Bears were looking to hire a new coach.

Then again, that new coach is probably why their offense looked so sharp.

The Bears hadn't beaten anyone by more than 38 points in preseason since they blasted the St. Louis Gunners 59-0 in August of 1940, and that was a week after they beat the Calumet Indians 52-0.

So it's been a while. Even the team from the CFL they played in 1961 preseason, the Montreal Alouettes, stayed within 34-16.

Johnson and the Bears can't claim this as a perfect game when there was bad news in the end.

It's still better than the terrible offensive picture many of the national narratives have been painting after seeing one practice when there were some minor problems.

"I thought it was outstanding work from the joint practice and then the game tonight," Johnson said. "Our guys really took it to heart. They knew how important this stretch of the training camp was as a team. They came out and they competed hard on Friday (at practice). And then certainly tonight they came out and played their tails off as well."

Here's the good, the bad and the ugly from a Bears night when it's really difficult to find bad and ugly anywhere.

The Good

Play design

Johnson's offense is just so pretty to watch, even when it doesn't work it's worth seeing.

Caleb Williams

Maybe the best thing wasn't even his 6-for-7 start en route to a 130 passer rating. It was the way he responded after the game when talking about what went wrong on the failed third-down pass to Rome Odunze to end the first-team offense's second possession.

“I think on that play, I think everybody did right except for me," Williams said. "I believe on that play I ended up flipping the protection, and I didn't have full belief. That's what it comes down to. "They had a blitzer come in an open gap and the back picked him up perfectly, did his job, and I didn't stand and deliver the right ball. Took a few too many steps, retreated back, trying to gain a little bit of ground instead of standing there delivering the ball. Everybody did their job, all 10 guys except for me, and that's delivering the ball to Rome for the first down.”

As recently as earlier in camp, Williams might not have been so quick to fall on the grenade. Now he's learning to be the guy.

Running game

Ian Wheeler with 4.2 yards per carry and who could have expected 4.6 yards a carry from Brittain Brown, who has had about a week to learn the offense after signing. They might have to sign more backs if their luck keeps going the way it his, but Brown's ability to run with lean and refuse to lose is very impressive. Wheeler is looking like the back he was before his ACL tear.

Olamide Zaccheaus

Thank the Commanders for not keeping him. His 36-yard TD catch was on a big-time open-field move, looking a bit like Renaldo Nehemiah by hurdling over a tackle attempt before exploding for the score.

Luther Burden

Because of Zaccheaus, his reps might be limited. His three catches for 49 yards say it shouldn't be that limited.

Cole Kmet

His one catch for 29 yards pulled the Bears out of a hole and answered the questions about what the team could do in the passing attack with him when they have Colston Loveland on the field, as well.

Tyson Bagent

Leading three TD drives and a field goal march must firmly entrench Bagent as the No. 2 QB. Austin Reed followed him and Case Keenum was the odd man out. Bagent's 13 of 22 effort for 196 yards and a TD was made possible by his ability to move around and throw, as he seemed to borrow a page rom the Williams passing handbook.

"I've obviously been watching a lot of football the last couple of years," Bagent said. "Been seeing 18 (Williams) be a magician in that way. I would love to be able to be dynamic both on my feet extending plays, gaining first downs with my feet as well as in the pocket. I just try to keep my whole game open so no one can hone in on one thing.”

Austin Booker

Once again he got in a sack early, and really should have been given half a sack more on the one they gave Andrew Billings. He also tipped a pass.

The Bad

Tyler Scott return man

Botching the attempt to field the opening kick definitely doesn't help Scott's bid to avoid being cut. The way he fielded the kick at the goal line would have been fine a couple years ago but now it must be returned if it wasn't already n the end zone. Fortunately for Scott, he made up for setting the Bears up from their own 8-yard line to start the game by catching three passes for 54 yards, including a 35-yarder.

The Ugly

Injuries

This was more than ugly. It was terrible, especially for cornerback Terell Smith. He had been making a resurgence in battling for his cornerback job in recent practices, but Sunday he injured his knee and was carted off.

"Obviously Smitty's was the most concerning of that bunch (injuries) that didn't look good," Johnson said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with him going forward. "

They held out Devin Duvernay because of illness and Kyle Monangai because of a practice injury, and then it all quickly started to multiply.Running back Deion Hankins was out early. Defensive end Dominick Robinson followed. J.P. Richardson was another injury victim.

The most destructive one was to defensive end Austin Booker. With another sack and pass deflection, he is fitting in nicely and with four sacks this preseason is showing he can make the step up in his second year to provide relief help in the rotation. At least he did before he had a knee injury trying to stop a kick return of all things. Now they have another knee to worry about.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.