Everything That Went Wrong For Chicago Bears in Preseason Win Over Browns

A look at the biggest negatives from the Chicago Bears preseason-opening win over the Cleveland Browns.

Chicago Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent (17) passes the ball against the Cleveland Browns during the first half at Soldier Field. Credit: Patrick Gorski | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Despite not having the vast majority of their starters playing, the Chicago Bears beat the Cleveland Browns easily in preseason Week 1, 34-10.

While a score like that would seem to indicate everything went very smoothly for Chicago, there were definitely some negatives worth pointing out from the preseason opener on Saturday.

With that in mind, here's a look at the biggest things that went wrong from the Bears' first preseason game of 2026.

Blocking

Chicago Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent (17) drops back to pass against the Cleveland Browns during the first half at Soldier Field. Credit: Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Tyson Bagent was sacked twice and the Browns notched five QB hits in total. Jedrick Wills, who is battling for the left tackle job, got beat badly on a few occasions in pass protection and was responsible for one of the sacks given up.

The run blocking wasn't much better. Chicago averaged less than four yards per carry, something we know Ben Johnson won't like because of his emphasis on the run game.

“That's a hard one to assess right now," Johnson said when asked about the left tackle battle. "With trench play, you've got to look at it from behind on film. Overall, our quarterbacks got hit more than I'd like, Tyson in the first half, and we still felt pressure on Case and Miller in the second. The run game was spotty, too.”

Not exactly a ringing endorsement for the play of the offensive line. Granted, it wasn't the first-team group, but some of these players could get called into action during the regular season, which is why this is worth noting.

Injuries

Chicago Bears safety Xavier Woods. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Safety Xavier Woods was the most notable injury for the Bears. He came down with a groin injury and was forced to exit early. As if the Bears needed more injury issues in the secondary.

Along with Woods, Ruben Hyppolite also left early because of a shoulder injury, so his status bears monitoring moving forward.

Less notable injuries included tight end Nikola Kalinic (knee) and linebacker Nephi Sewell (concussion).

As of this writing, we don't have any specifics on these injuries.

Special teams issues

Chicago Bears place kicker Cairo Santos. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

On special teams, Chicago gave up three kick returns of 25 yards or more, including a long of 27, and the Browns ripped off a 31-yard punt return.

Adding to that, Cairo Santos missed one of his three field goal tries, which came from 50 yards out. Santos did, however, rebound by making his next two attempts, one of which was from 51 yards.

When asked about the missed field goal, Santos said there was an issue with the snap and hold, according to Zack Pearson of Bear Report, but the Bears' trio managed to iron things out after that.

Nothing earth-shattering here, but we'll be looking for a better showing in preseason Week 2.