Bears and Bills In-Game Blog: Bears 33, Bills 6 FINAL

Reporting and analysis during the preseason game as quarterback Caleb Williams makes his debut and the Bears try to go 2-0 in exhibition play.

D'Andre Swift breaks a screen pass upfield against Buffalo in the first quarter. / Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

Fourth Quarter

• That's it. Bears win 33-6. They outgain Buffalo 340 yards to 200.

• The Bears with 142 yards rushing is pretty impressive, since they haven't really done any full-speed tackling to the ground other than in the first preseason game. Their run blocking in this game was one of the real highlights. Backs were cutting behind the first-, second- and third-team lines before they had a defender near them. TWO-MINUTE WARNING!!!!

• Wheeler with another run for the TD similar to the last one after a fourth-down stop got the ball back. A tackle by Reddy Steward and Khalid Kareem made it possible. Officially a preseason rout. Bears 33, Bills 6

• Ian Wheeler powers in from the 7 for the TD after Austin Reed hit Dante Pettis for a 33-yard strike and the Bears are salting this one away. Bears 26, Bills 6

• Then he caps it off with the sack on third down of Bueschel. Booker officially has been given 2 1/2 sacks on the day. He had his hand in on another one earlier in the game.

• Even better play by Booker on the ensuing run play to set up third-and-7. He stayed home at end on a run, then peeled off and came across the field for a tackle. That one will win him plenty of brownie points with Matt Eberflus, who stresses stopping the run.

• Fifth sack by the Bears is from Austin Booker. He hadmade the play but couldn't get the tackle, then kept fighting to get the sack.

• Austin Reed at QB now and his bootleg pass to Brenden Bates works for a first down but the undrafted rookie tight end suffered an injury on the catch.

• The Hound of Baskerville! Micah Baskerville with the pick on a checkdown throw to Gore and takes it to the house 50 yards. Bad snap on PAT results in missed kick. Bears 19, Bills 6

• After Frank Gore Jr. gained a first down for the Bills, their false start following an incompletion leaves them in second-and-15.

Third Quarter

• Quarter ends as Carl Jones and Jamree Kromah combine on a stuff. The run defense has been nearly as impressive as the Bears pass defense this week, even with the subs in the game. Bears 13, Bills 6

• Corliss Waitman replaces Taylor at punter after Rypien's first drive goes backwards due to penalties. Waitmann has been excellent in camp and last week in the game but his short punt sets up Bills in good position with 59 seconds left. Ball at the Bills 43.

• The great fear for Velus Jones is handling the kickoffs and he muffs the kick before reconnecting and going upfield to the 18. His body was not square when he tried fielding it and that's a problem he had with fielding punts. Brett Rypien is on now, last week's hero.

• Strong pass rush up the middle from Michael Dwumfour forces a hold and then Daniel Hardy's sack lead to a 49-yard Buffalo field goal so the Bears dodge a bullet on that drive. Bears 13, Bills 6

Velus Jones Jr. with his first career (albeit, preseason) rushing touchdown. Looks pretty natural back there as a RB.

So far, I’d say the experiment has worked. #Bears up 13-3 in the 3rd quarter.

— Aaron Leming (@AaronLemingNFL) August 10, 2024

• Bueschel hurts the third-team Bears defense with a scramble but the Bears had an illegal contact penalty so now Buffalo facing first down at the 20. Officials can't get the ball spotted right.

• Steve Bueschel at QB for Bills and Andy Isabella takes a screen for a first down, then after a run off tackle Buffalo is into Bears territory.

• Velus finishes the drive with a TD on a 4-yard toss play. Just an old student body play and it worked well. Perfectly blocked again. The run blocking in this game has been very sharp for the Bears except for a third-and-1 try on their first field goal drive. Bears 13, Bills 3

• After a first-down run by Travis Homer, Velus trips over his own feet as the running lanes opened wide. But Bagent comes right back with a seam route to Tommy Sweeney for the first down to the 6.

• What do you know? Velus looks like an actual running back with a 5-yard gain off right guard. Put his head down and rammed into the line hard to get tough yards.

• Tyler Scott fumbles the jet sweep and gets it back for a 4-yard loss. That play is a staple of this offense so they better start getting it down.

• Bagent a much more aggressive fake on bootleg pass on first down. He was kind of tentative with it in the second quarter. It let Stephen Carlson get open for a first-down catch.

• Bears have Bills backed up to third-and-10. Buffalo buried in a pile of flags and punts so the Bears start from their own 44 after Josh Blackwell returns it. Blackwell is just the kind of guy they should be using at punt returner. He's fast, he's not a starter so they aren't being risky by using him. It's better than using Rome Odunze there and they don't use up an extra roster spot like they would if they went with Dante Pettis. DeAndre Carter might be doing it if the Bills hadn't knocked out of the game with the cheap shot by Kendall Williamson.

Second Quarter

• Just four penalties for 31 yards in a preseason game for the Bears so far is a good performance compared to the way they looked in a lot of the practices.

• Half ends on a strong pass rush by Zacch Pickens and tackle on Trubisky in open field as he tried to scramble. Bears 6, Bills 3

• Amen Obgongbemiga with a great deflection in pass coverage. Had some poor coverage in the opener but was all over that one.

• Tory Taylor with the coffin corner punt at the 10. A 48-yarder and with 1:11 left the Bills are backed up.

• Bagent called for grounding on a third-down pass after being hit and the Bears go nowhere. Nsimba Webster might have been his target but he was well downfield and nowhere near the throw.

• Bills punt and Bagent has a chance for a two-minute drill. TWO-MINUTE WARNING!!!

• Austin Booker in for pass rush off the edge. Daniel Hardy and Booker team up for a third-down sack. Pass blocking fell asleep for the Bills on it totally.

• After a false start, a pass breakup by Jones leaves it second-and-15.

• Jaylon Jones back in the game was not hurt. All the sub defense is in as Bills pick up a first down.

• Tory Taylor makes his first punt and has 54 yards to work with and K.J. Hamler does an excellent job of a punt return after Taylor made a nice, high punt inside the 10. Need better coverage for punts like that. Bills take over at their 21.

• Stephen Carlson does a toe tap and gets the call for a first down on third-and-10 but it looks like his left foot didn't touch the ground before he went out of bounds on the desperation throw Bagent made under pressure. Bills called for a replay.

• DeAndre Carter totally clocked out of bounds looking for a catch in obvious unsportsmanlike conduct. Bagent threw it up because Bills were offsides anyway. So a first down. Bills' Kendall Williamson, who made the cheap shot, was the Bears' seventh-round draft pick last year.

• Velus Jones package now in use. He had to pass block on first play after a false start and that's the real issue with that formation.

• Tyson Bagent now on and finds Stephen Carlson on route to sideline for 3. He had only three throws last week before coming out.

• Another touchback. Someone should explain the new rules to Buffalo.

• Jaylon Jones looked like he got away with interference on third down incompletion so Bills get a chip shot field goal. Bears 6, Bills 3

• A gold medal tackle by Jonathan Owens with the goal line defense on, then Jaylon Johnson with a pick he should have had. Looked like offensive interference on Coleman.

• Offsides on DE Daniel Hardy for Bears gives Bills chance for easier first down on third-and-4.

• Keon Coleman for the first down catch. Was a potential pick for the Bears if they hadn't gotten Rome Odunze in Round 1. Buffalo at the Bears 17.

• Most of Bears defensive starters are still in, at least those able to play. Would expect they'll be out after this drive.

• Trubisky beats the blitz and also slot corner Josh Blackwell on a fourth-and-2 gamble and the Bills are at the Bears 30.

• Bears 7-2 in first downs, 142-31 in yardage in first quarter. Mitchell Trubisky in for Bills at QB.

First Quarter

• Josh Allen does what Josh Allen does and scrambles for the first down, but Bears close the quarter with Gervon Dexter stuffing the running play. Bears 6, Bills 0

• Rare blitz and Tremaine Edmunds has a chance to sack his old teammate but hesitates and still gets his hand on the pass to knock it down. Great reach and height lets him tip plenty of throws.

• CB Jaylon Jones took an injury making a tackle on the first Bills pass play of 15 yards to Curtis Samuel. He's a sub, replacing an injured starter, so it could mean Greg Stroman Jr. playing cornerback on the outside, even though he's a natural slot cornerback.

• Might be surprising if Williams plays another series. He wanted to go in after a penalty on the field goal against Buffalo and go for it on fourth-and-4 but they chose the field goal. Two scoring drives in two series is pretty impressive. He had a 101.8 passer rating, 4 of 7 for 95 yards.

• DJ Moore couldn't hold onto the sliding catch at the sticks and then Williams took a hit when he overthrew Rome Odunze on a pass so they settled for Santos' 31-yard field goal. Bears 6, Bills 0

• Great scramble and an ugly slide by Williams after the first down. They did that slip n slide during the week that was shown on Hard Knocks and he wasn't good at sliding then, either. But he got the first down.

• Fantastic classic Williams pass to Cole Kmet out of the pocket, pumping and then a completion to get the Bears into field goal range with five minutes left in quarter.

• DJ Moore makes like a running back on a bootleg pass as he gained 8 yards after contact and broke two tackles for a first down.

• Illegal contact call bails out Williams, who took a ridiculous risk by throwing to Odunze when he wasn't open near the 15-yard line.

• Drive starting from 3 because Tyler Scott misplayed the punt and let it get downed inside the 5. A good test for Williams. Herbert's two short runs leave them facing third-and-6.

• Jaylon Jones starts fo injured Tyrique Stevenson and makes a solid second-down tackle after a 6-yard catch, then they stuff the third-down run to force a punt. Good containment and then tackle by Dominique Robinson. They have liked Robinson's run stopping improvement in camp. But his pass rush is what worries everyone else.

• Andrew Billings and Gervon Dexter stop up the first-down run.

• Three straight runs by Khalil Herbert and they have to settle for a 30-yard field goal by Cairo Santos. Matt Pryor playing right guard on that drive as Nate Davis is out, of course, and also Ryan Bates had some sort of injury late during the week at camp. Pryor played that position almost all of OTAs. Bears 3, Bills 0

• Crafty shovel screen by Williams to Swift and it breaks for a 42-yard screen that might have gone inside the 10 if he had kept his feet.

• Williams stands and delivers on third-and-long for the first down to DJ Moore. That's good to see because Moore hasn't had as many camp catches as some of the other receivers and that connection needs to build.

• Darnell Wright holds on first pass by Caleb Williams, which is an ugly out-of-pocket extended play for an incompletion. The ugly part was Williams holding it too long near the sideline and then getting hit after he threw it away.

• Bad spot already on first run by Swift. Ed Oliver, best Bills D-lineman injured on the play. Just what you want in preseason.

• Bears receiving to start game 2 of preseason. A touchback and they get it at the 30. That's a rule change.

HERE'S WHAT OTHER QBS DID IN THEIR PRESEASON DEBUTS

BEARS LOOKING FOR MORE FROM GERVON DEXTER THAN DEFLECTIONS

Pregame

• I don't understand the fascination for Velus Jones Jr. as an all-around threat as if he's Deebo Samuel. He's only 200 pounds and 6-foot. A running back is bigger than that. Samuel is a bigger guy. This isn't worth trying. Just stick to the running backs in the backfield.

• The most significant thing said at Halas Hall this past week other than Matt Eberflus confirming the start for Caleb Williams? Easily the fact Nate Davis could be in danger of losing a chance to be starter at right guard if his injury continues: "If a person’s out for an extended period of time and the player that’s in that position is playing very well, at a starter level, and doing a good job there, then you create the competition. You say, 'hey, there’s a competition.' People say you can’t lose a job because of injury. I don’t think that’s true. I think if the guy that’s playing there gives our team a good look and a good benefit for him being in that position, then it’s a competition. Or the other guy could take it over. That’s not just at guard. That’s at all positions."

The future of The Chicago Bears is here

Williams x Odunze 🤝 pic.twitter.com/Gp4kGCS3S3

— Just Another Year Chicago: Bears (@OfficialJAYCHI) August 10, 2024

• Josh Allen will find a much different Bears starting secondary today than a team in the regular season will, with Greg Stroman Jr. or Jaylon Jones at starting cornerback while both Tyrique Stevenson and Terell Smith are on the mend. At least it would appear Smith is a concern as he left a practice on Wednesday and didn't practice Thursday. The edge rushers, again without Montez Sweat, will need to pick it up from the start.

• Matt Eberflus said there will be limits to what the starters will play. Expect it to be no more than early second quarter, if that. Next week they have the Bengals coming to town and they expect the practice on Thursday itself to be like a preseason game. So no sense overdoing it.

Bears Football will be played with starters today!! Invading Buffalo!! 🐻⬇️ @ESPN1000 pic.twitter.com/slZfm1QtB2

— Jason McKie (@Jmack37) August 10, 2024

• Offensive line might be the real place to watch in this game. They need the starting group to begin to work better together, but then again they might not even have two of the starters on the field depending on Ryan Bates' condition after he had come out of practice Thursday and also after Darnell Wright had been injured earlier in the week. They already know they're without right guard Nate Davis.

• Former Bears guard Tom Thayer, the current analyst on team broadcasts, was among the large group of former teammates who surrounded Steve McMichael at his home on the presentation of the Hall of Fame bust.
  
  "You know it was kind of a double-edged sword," Thayer told ESPN AM-1000.
  
  It was fantastic the Pro Football Hall of Fame did the presentation at McMichael's Homer Glen home but they all wished it had been 20 years ago so they could have enjoyed hearing McMichael make the acceptance speech.
  
  Even 4 years ago McMichael could have done this.
  
  The Hall of Fame busts often don't resemble a player but Thayer said it wasn't the case with McMichael's.
  
  "It's probably one of the nicest look-alike busts that I've ever seen presented to a Hall of Famer," Thayer said.

Steve McMichael is presented his bust at home with former teammates in the view they saw on a big board at Canton. / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Twitter: BearsOnSI