Bear Digest

Bears Preseason Week 2 Report Card Against Buffalo Bills

Analysis: Few flaws could be detected in Saturday's second Bears preseason game and the final 33-6 score definitely reflected complete dominance by first, second and third teams.

Gene Chamberlain

Steve Buechele cam't escape as the Bears pass rush dominated play in the second half Saturday during a 33-6 Chicago win.
Steve Buechele cam't escape as the Bears pass rush dominated play in the second half Saturday during a 33-6 Chicago win. / Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
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The second preseason game for the Bears was so positive even another Velus Jones Jr. muff could be overlooked.

Jones himself could only be classified as a success in his debut as a running back during a 33-6 rout of the Buffalo Bils.

And no one had a better Bears debut than Caleb Williams as the passing game flourished.

“It was great. Everybody was open today,” wide receiver DJ Moore told reporters. “Yeah, it gives you hell of a confidence going into the season.”

Matt Eberflus talked about getting back to work and the coming practice and game with Cincinnati this week, but even he had to admit the team looks solid through two preseason game.

"There's certainly positivity there and we're not going to squash that," Eberflus said.

Here are the grades from Saturday's Bears win.

Running Game: A

Five ball carriers had a run of 11 yards or longer and both Khalil Herbert and Ian Wheeler ran hard. Herbert's strong effort isn't entirely reflected in his 3.4 yards per carry because the line got stuffed on three straight rushes he made on the first Bears drive to a field goal. However, he also had a 14-yard run while Ian Wheeler had a 21-yard gain in a 43-yard effort with TDs of 7 and 8 yards. Jones averaged 5.7 yards and put his head down to drive through tacklers like a real running back and not a receiver. The best thing their running game showed was powerful outside zone blocking even with guard Ryan Bates out of the lineup due to an injury. The 30 runs for 141 yards would be fine for a regular-season game let alone a preseason effort.

Passing Game: B

An 89.8 team passer rating won't guarantee anything but Williams' 101.8 with a 42-yard screen and 26-yard toss to Cole Kmet included enough big plays to excite anyone. He converted a third-and-long with his arm and one with his feet. DJ Moore's 27 yards on two catches were big on the first two drives and welcome, too, because he and Williams hadn't seemed to connect as much in the passing game at training camp as other receivers had. Tommy Sweeney's seam route for a 25-yard reception proved huge and in all they had six receivers catch passes of 15 yards or longer. The offensive line gave up only one sack in the process. They even got away with Jones pass blocking on a few plays, and this was definitely not something they had planned out back in the beginning of OTAs.

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Run Defense: A-

A few runs popped for Buffalo but its biggest rushing gain was a QB scramble of 14 yards. Allowing 3.0 yards per rush on the day is what they're looking for and Gervon Dexter and Andrew Billings led the gap charge that limited running backs to 38 yards. The rest of the rushing yards came from quarterback scrambles or wide receivers. Tackling was sound all game.

Pass Defense: A

For once, the rush came up even bigger than coverage. With eight total sacks, the Bears looked dominant and did it without Montez Sweat. Austin Booker and Daniel Hardy were relentless and their second effort caused some of the sacks as they had 2 1/2 each. A pick-6 by Micah Baskerville met one of the constant goals of Eberflus' scheme -- they not only took it away but scored off it. In all, they held the Bills to paltry 3.2 yards per pass attempt. No one wins with numbers like this.

Special Teams: C+

Jones got away with muffing a kickoff and nearly didn't pick it up in time. Cairo Santos' missed field goal was the result of a poor operation on snap and hold, but not surprising because long snapper Patrick Scales missed the game with an injury. Overall, they played the new kick rule correctly and benefited with better field position because of two touchbacks. Tory Taylor's debut went nearly as well as Williams' did. He had a coffin corner punt go out of bounds at the 10.

Coaching: A

The innovation showed by Shane Waldron by using Jones in the backfield is exactly what they need to help balance out the attack. It was more a trailer, the movie highlights of coming attractions more than the beginning of the Williams saga. It's not certain whether Eberflus is calling the defenses in preseason or Eric Washington is but

holding any team to six points in any point of a season is getting it done. Special commendations for defensive line coach Travis Smith, whose group looked docile in the first preseason game. You don't find many preseason games with eight sacks and your best defensive lineman was sitting on the bench all day.

Overall: B+

Even if Williams hadn't played, a result like this one would have been considered a smashing success. It's even more so with the rookie delivering in his first game. If they keep getting a rush like they had from the defense, the takeaways will come flying into their arms.

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.