Bear Digest

Bears Overpower Chiefs 34-21 for Perfect Preseason

The Bears went 4-0 in preseason and dominated Thursday en route to a 34-7 lead before coming away with an easy victory and some tough injuries.

Gene Chamberlain

Velus Jones Jr. cuts and heads upfield on a run against the Chiefs in Thursday's 34-21 Bears victory.
Velus Jones Jr. cuts and heads upfield on a run against the Chiefs in Thursday's 34-21 Bears victory. / Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
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The Bears left Kansas City feeling quite different about themselves than last September when they departed the same stadium.

With subs playing all game for both sides, the Bears crushed Kansas City 34-21 and finished their preseason with a 4-0 record, which means absolutely nothing now.

What did matter was how the Bears played with intensity throughout, as coaches were given plenty of difficult decisions to make by players who might be on the roster cut line come Wednesday's deadline.

"I thought the guys performed tonight like they've performed all throughout, not only in the games, but in in the practices," coach Matt Eberflus said. "You know, so I've always said that you see in the games is what you see in practice every single day out there."

One of those players was Velus Jones Jr., who gave them a glimpse of what could be with a 39-yard twisting touchdown run on a toss play. He led a 164-yard rushing attack with 111 yards rushing on 13 carries in his conversion project from receiver to multi-purpose back.

"So some really good performances by a couple guys," Eberflus said. "You know, Velus Jones had a couple nice breakout runs, but he doesn't do that without his offensive line, you know, in the perimeter blocking. Obviously Velus is very fast and was able to, you know, make it turn into a touchdown."

Receiver Tyler Scott made a statement with six catches for 99 yards, while their defense again dominated and led the way to a 34-7 lead before the Chiefs closed the big deficit in the fourth quarter.

The pass rush, a source of great concern, got after Chiefs QBs but produced only one sack. However, a blitz by safety Adrian Tolbert forced a wild Chris Oladokun pass that Reddy Steward intercepted and returned for a 48-yard TD and 20-7 Bears halftime lead. Steward picked off a pass to prevent a TD.

They had already scored on Tyson Bagent's diving 5-yard TD scramble and Cairo Santos field goals of 32 and 37 yards.

It quickly got out of hand in the second half when Austin Reed came on and authored a 92-yard drive to Tommy Sweeney's 6-yard TD catch, before Jones broke off his long run.

The staff must make tough decisions at defensive end, where Daniel Hardy, Austin Booker and even Khalid Kareem were more impactful throughout preseason than 2022 fifth-round pick Dominic Robinson.

A tough decision will come at quarterback, as well. Brett Rypien showed he's worth keeping as a third-team quarterback or that he might be worthy of being claimed by some other team as a backup if waived. He went 9 of 13 for 106 yards.  Reed was 8 of 10 for 63 yards and a TD, while Bagent was 3 of 6 for 56 yards.

"Yeah, Bagent's been good," Eberflus said. "I think the training of all those quarterbacks, you know, you think about, you know, (QB coach) Kerry Joseph, you know, (OC) Shane (Waldron), you know, all the guys that are in that quarterback room have done a really good job of of training those guys in the system that's new, you know.

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"When there's the guy that's trying to make the team and he's doing things right and he and he's going through his progressions and doing things the right way our way and not making mental errors, that means you coachced him up the right way. So that's really a tribute to the coach and the player."

The Bears also might have too many defensive backs to keep. Steward, who has been noticed throughout training camp and preseason.

They also will need to make cuts on the offensive line, where an injury during the game to backup left tackle Larry Borom could influence what they do.

Cutdown day will be a difficult one, as GM Ryan Poles predicted in the offseason.

"We've got a few days before we get to make that decision," Eberflus said.

One other injury probably wouldn't impact their roster but was a scary situation, as reserve defensive back Douglas Coleman III was taken from the field on a stretcher to start the second half after making a tackle.

Last year the Bears left Kansas City 41-10 losers Sept. 24 in a real game.

This time they left in preseason with an easy win. Subs played the entire game for both teams, but it didn't diminish the glow building around the team after a 4-0 preseason and the improvements obvious in their offense.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain

GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher 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.