Bear Digest

Bears Report Card: Strong Finish Completes Productive Preseason

Tyson Bagent, Austin Reed and Brett Rypien all performed efficiently in the preseason finale and left the Bears with a difficult roster decision.

Gene Chamberlain

Austin Reed throws to Tommy Sweeney in the second half of Thursday's 34-21 Bears win over Kansas City.
Austin Reed throws to Tommy Sweeney in the second half of Thursday's 34-21 Bears win over Kansas City. / Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
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Grading a final preseason game when no starters play and the real goal is to get out without injuries is probably a more difficult task than examining a regular-season game.

Interest is usually the defining quality to look for from players in these but the Bears went beyond this and replaced it with actual effort and tenacity as they won 34-21 over the Chiefs in a game not nearly as close as the final score indicated.

When the Bears went 3-0 in 2022 preseason, tentative optimism surfaced. It was quickly dashed after a 2-1 start, as they won once in the next 14 games.

That's because their performance in the three preseason wins were more sketchy and in some cases they won simply because of their subs performing better a the end.

This Bears team went 4-0 in preseason because they played better in every game as a complete team. They played convincing football, executed with precision and made fewer silly mistakes than opponents.

This is a winning formula regardless of whether subs play or starters.

BEARS TRADE WITH SEATTLE FOR EDGE RUSHER

Here's how the Bears graded out in their final preseason game before the Sept. 8 opener with the Tennessee Titans.

Passing Game: A-

A 103.5 passer rating from the QBs as they continued to execute with few mistakes made everything work. Tyson Bagent came out of it with the worst rating but only threw six passes, completing three, and led a pair of scoring drives. His TD dive for the pylon looked more like a running back than a quarterback. Brett Rypien's effort allowed him to finish preseason averaging 9.8 yards per attempt, which puts you in the MVP discussion during the regular season. Maybe the most surprising thing was Austin Reed's efficiency as a passer. His 8-of-10 effort with a 126.2 rating after both Bagent and Rypien had big preseasons confirms work Shane Waldron and Kerry Joseph are doing with QBs. Now they only need to do it with Caleb Williams. Tyler Scott gets kudos for sticking it out into the fourth quarter when they were short on receivers. Coaches might have been looking at his performance for roster purposes, for trade purposes, or simply because there weren't enough healthy receivers in uniform left to play. Freddie Swain was out injured and none of the top three receivers nor Dante Pettis played. Bears pass blocking was solid throughout preseason and only later in the second half did they become a bit inconsistent. They gave the quarterbacks plenty of time to look downfield for the big gainers.

Running Game: B-

The Bears had only 31 yards rushing at halftime and only Jones seemed able to get anything going on the ground. Losing Ian Wheeler to a knee injury ruined chances to assess his abilities. Jones seemed to improve as he went along and had enough carries to understand the running style as opposed to how he carried it as a receiver. His 111-yard day should satisfy coaches as to his value to the team. However, he did have two bad handoffs that looked like he had caused them. Run blocking again look dominant in the second half with the wide zone sscheme, as tight ends Tommy Sweeney and Brenden Bates made key contributions blocking on the edge.

Run Defense: C+

The 27 runs for 135 yards and a 5.0 average might have been the best thing the Kansas City offense did against the Bears defense. Wrecking ball Carson Steele, in particular, bruised up the Bears front for power yardage with 50 yards on four carries. That's the kind of thing which should always be of concern for a defense. Too many missed tackles occurred once he broke containment. It could have been expected, though, with defensive tackle Zacch Pickens not playing due to an injury and starting linebackers not involved. They did make a stand early and took the ball away on downs on two runs inside, with Austin Booker making a key stop.

WINNERS AND LOSERS FROM BEARS PRESEASON FINALE

BEARS CLOSE OUT PRESEASON PERFECT 4-0 IN 34-21 WIN

Pass Defense: A

The secondary limited Chiefs starter Chris Oladokun to a passer rating of 26.6 and Reddy Steward came away with two interceptions. KC's Montrell Washington was the only Chiefs receiver to make a reception longer than 20 yards. KC managed only 137 passing yards, so obviously they missed Patrick Mahomes. The heat on KC passers was sufficient, even if they only came away with one sack. The safety blitz caused one interception, which is something they could unleash in the regular season.

Special Teams: C

Cairo Santos' three field goals were shorter and he didn't power two of them through, but got the job done. The fumble DeAndre Carter got credited with on the punt by being blocked back into the ball as it rested on the ground is a mistake no NFL return man should make. They're told to get away from the area of the bouncing ball and he was burned by a high school level tactic. Bears kick and punt return teams struggled to stop the Chiefs, particularly on kickoffs where KC averaged 34.1 yards and had six kick returners with returns of 30 yards or longer.

Coaching: A

The fact they kept everyone interested in playing this game when the subs were all on the field was a credit to coaches, but also to the starters who were watching. They could have acted disinterested but they were up cheering on the offense and defense. Jon Hoke's touch working with cornerbacks is apparent with the success of Reddy (pronounced ready) Steward. Matt Eberflus' willingness to go to more blitzing showed up but it's not something they'll want to use as much immediately in the regular season. Shane Waldron's goal of balance with the offense became evident in the second half. The offense appears to have the concepts down now but the timing of the first-team receivers with Caleb Williams will be the concern to address in coming days.

Overall: B

If the subs can be as explosive and dominant as they have been both on offense and defense throughout camp, it stands to reason they should expect something similar from the starters come Tennessee on Sept. 8.

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.