Bears and Chiefs Live Blog: Bears 34, Chiefs 21 FINAL

Analysis and reporting on the Chicago Bears and Kansas City Chiefs final preseason game with roster cutdown approaching and job battles taking priority as starters sit.

Travis Homer looks for running room against the Chiefs in the first half for the Bears at Kansas City. / Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Fourth Quarter

Game ends with Bears fans in attendance chanting "Green Bay S--- (inhales vigorously).' Bears win 34-21.

• Velus at the 111-yard mark and Bears are downing it. This is going to leave them with some tough cuts. They're never easy. But they could sure use another rush man, either from inside or the edge, doesn't matter.

• Jackson holds on a toss play when Bates and Collins had already cleared the way for a big gain by Jones. So it's wiped out and it's second-and-15. Jones doesn't care, just breaks off a run behind Tommy Sweeney block to the Chiefs 31. He just cut it inside just off tackle instead of the outside. A very professional run by Jones and he surged after only looking for a brief second. TWO-MINUTE WARNING!!!!!

• Cornell Powell with a cheap shot grabbing Scott's facemask on the return and yanking around his head. A 15-yard penalty. It's fortunate for Scott he didn't get injured badly on it.

• Book beats Jonathan Owens and Torrence with deep ball to Montrell Washington, then throws a short TD pass to Baylor Cupp to cut defict with 3:29 remaining. Bears 34, Chiefs 21

• Murray gets up limping after a 4-yard Jones run up the middle and Reed throws too hard incomplete to Scott on third down. So they''ll punt. Surprising that Scott is still in the game this late, but losing Nsimba Webster might have been the reason for this. They're down in numbers at receiver.

• Ruling is out of bounds so Chiefs on fourth-and-7 can't get the pass awy cleanly. Book hit by Khalid Kareem and it would have been sack but he just threw it up in the air and it was swatted to the turf. Bears dodge the big mistake with 6:40 left.

• Ro Torrence forces a completion for the TD to wind up out of bounds. Knee hit down out of bounds after only one foot. Chiefs decide to challenge it but it's pretty obvious. The replay shows the elbow might have hit down, though before the knee was out of bounds.

• Jackson fumbles a short pass and the Chiefs return it to the Bears 9. Then Jackson made the mistake of not getting the tackle when he could have done it, or even could have stripped it away. Officials reviewing the play but it looked pretty obvious. However, it's possible the return might get knocked off of it.

• Jones gets through the middle of the line for a first down and officials are late blowing the whistle when he's down. They're going to get someone hurt that way.

• Jones with a 5-yard run on a toss left. He needs to put the ball away better and commit quicker to a hole. He's a bit too hesitant.

• It's been 35 days since the Bears reported for camp. We're ready for this thing to end.

• Book throws a TD pass of 7 yards to Cornell Powell. Reddy Steward in coverage. Bears 34, Chiefs 14.

• Kansas City drove to the Bears 30 and Book ran around left end for a first down on what looked like a busted play, or a poorly executed RPO. No one home on the side of the line where Daniel Hardy was playing.

Third Quarter

• There's Velus Jones with a 39-yard TD run in the open field, a chance to use his 4.31-second speed cutting back downfield all the way across the grain. A simple toss left and the blocking caved in the right side of the defense. Then he came across field to the right pylon. Bears 34, Chiefs 7

• Play-action from Reed to Tyler Scott for the first down and Jaylen Watson leaves with an injury for the Chiefs. Reed is mobile, has a strong arm, just needs to work in the offense some and read better.

• Bears face fourth-and-inches after Eberflus loses the challenge. Reed gets the first down with a tush push.

• Matt Eberflus challenges whether Reed picked up the first down on a scramble that appeared to be about an inch or two short, but he's up 20 in preseason. Let's get on with this game.

• They're really giving Velus Jones all the chances possible to do something. He took a screen that set up well for 7.

• Bad handoff between Velus Jones and Austin Reed and you have to think it was not the QB's fault.

• If it's me, Hardy made this team a long time ago and Dominic Robinson is the odd man out on the edge.

• Dashaun Mallory with the sack but Daniel Hardy flushed him out. Forces a punt. Bears have it with 4:13 left in the third quarter.

• Ian Book in at QB for the Chiefs now to mop up.

• Terrible RPO decision by Austin Reed on second down and he gains a yard but then his play-action pass on fake to Velus Jones lets Sweeney get wide open and it's a TD catch. An 11-play, 92-yard TD drive. Bears 27, Chiefs 7

• After an illegal man downfield penalty on Jerome Carvin, Brenden Bates toughs out a catch and run to the 7-yard line and it's second-and-3.

• Tyler Scott end around gets to Chiefs 13. Excellent blocking from Tommy Sweeney and Brenden Bates.

• Jones comes up a yard short at the sidelines on a toss play right but then keeps his feet churning on third down to gain the first down. Looked like a back on that one seeking out the half yard he needed.

• Defensive pass interference on a long ball to Scott and the Bears get away with the third-down conversion at the 38.

• Chiefs think they have an interception and pick-6 but Peter LeBlanc dropped it and it hit the ground, leaving a third-and-7 from the 11.

• From the 8, Velus Jones lowers his shoulder like a running back and scratches out a 3-yard gain.

• Linebacker Carl Jones snuffs out a scramble and forces a punt. A tough tackle for him because Oladokun could have gone any direction from the middle of the field and Jones hit him in the legs high. Bears have it back after a punt and Austin Reed is in.

• Two runs and the Chiefs get across midfield. Almost another Micah Baskerville interception on second-and-7 deflection.

• First play and Douglas Coleman III was injured for the Bears making the tackle on a short pass. They have brought out a stretcher and are taking Coleman from the field on it. Taken away in an ambulance as the players showed concern and the fans gave him a hand.

• Second half starts with more poor Bears kick coverage, a 42-yard kick return.

• The Bears had only 31 first-half rushing yards. Need better blocking up front to shorten this half.

Second Quarter

• Half ends. Bears defenses makes up for allowing those big runs. And it was Tolbert, who had the big hit to force the interception, who had a missed tackle resulting in the Chiefs TD.

• Tolbert with the safety blitz forces the throw and Reddy Steward with the pick-6 from the Chiefs 48. The Bears have their second pick-6 of preseason and there is your more aggressive Bears defense. Bears 20, Chiefs 7

• Jonathan Owens with a good, physical tackle on the kick return but the Chiefs again get good field position against Bears special teams at Chiefs 37.

• Brenden Bates overthrown in the end zone on third-and-8 and Santos comes in and kicks a 37-yard field goal with 47 seconds left. Bears 13, Chiefs 7.

• Scott can't hold a ball thrown over the middle at the 2 after taking a big hit high.

• John Jackson, Caleb Williams good buddy from school, catches a slant for a first down at the 42, then Tyler Scott with the bomb to the 21 with 1:34 left in the half.

• TWO-MINUTE WARNING!!! I've got a feeling we'll see a lot of QB Austin Reed in the second half. His parents will be happy. They keep showing up on Hard Knocks and don't get to see him play enough.

• Bears get caught with a safety blitz but Adrian Colbert bails them out by knocking down a sure touchdown. Chiefs punt and Carter returns it 17 yards to the 27.

• Daniel Hardy with a big run stop for a yard loss after Chiefs running game had momentum. Again, like with Booker, a run stop by Hardy is what they want to see because they've seen both can rush the passer.

• Chiefs pick up a first down on a third-down conversion and gets to the 20. Then more problems with tackling against the running game and KC has another first down. Noah Sewell missed a tackle. He's getting his first action of preseason.

• After a punt to the 5, the Chiefs have it with 6:30 left in the half.

• Ian Wheeler had the left edge of the line set up for him and then stops instead of going around end. He loses a yard and injures his foot on the play, or ankle.

• LANDING ZONE PENALTY! Kick landed at the 21, which is a yards short of the landing zone. At an airport this is very dangerous, but here it gives the Bears the ball at the 40. On first down Rypien hits Peter LeBlanc for 8, back now with the team after Freddie Swain went on IR.

• Moore and Adrian Tolbert with missed tackles on the second long run. Then Steel burrows in for the TD on a 1-yard run, ending Bears' 11-quarter TD-less streak on defense. Bears 10, Chiefs 7

• Three missed tackles and Carson Steel breaks a 32-yard touchdown run after he ran one 18 yards on the prior play. TD overturned because he was out inside the 1 on replay.

• Corliss Waitman's 44-yard punt gets brought back 16 yards to the Bears 40. The Bears have had problems on punt coverage in preseason and it wasn't exactly a strength last year when they finished 30th at covering those.

• Bill Murray holds on third-down scramble for the first down. So a third-and-13 dumpoff to Jones after his shoe is fixed and the Bears must punt. This probably isn't a good sign for Jones to be in after Wheeler, and after Homer at running back.

• Webster with some type of injury on a 2-yard gain on first down. Velus Jones does get into the game and takes a second-down run for 3 yards, then he has something wrong with his shoe and leaves.

• On second-and-goal from the 3, Reddy Steward steps up with the pick and returns to the 11. The Bears have still not allowed a TD since the Hall of Fame Game. Steward, the undrafted free agent from Troy. He first was noticed at practice when he had one of back-to-back picks on Caleb Williams. Bears with tremendous depth at slot cornerback, a tough position to fill. Steward and Greg Stroman Jr. can play there if Kyler Gordon or Josh Blackwell are out.

• On fourth-and-4 after a scramble that comes up short, Chiefs punt it from midfield and DeAndre Carter commits a fatal flaw. He lets the ball hit behind him, then got blocked back into the ball on the ground. Chiefs take over the ball inside the 10. Carter can't be hanging around there. Dumb mistake.

• Reddy Steward joins the hard open-field tackle club and forces a third-and-7.

• Bears 124 yards to Chieves 41.

• Matt Nagy out on the field, the former Bears coach. Chiefs OC not too happy as they need a timeout coming out of a kick return.

• Mecole Hardman showed what can happen with a speed guy if he gets a block on the new kick returns. Broke through the first wave and nearly took it to the house. Chiefs have it at their own 44.

• Pass came beyond line of scrimmage so Bears settle for a 32-yard field goal Cairo Santos field goal. Bears 10, Chiefs 0

• Rypien threw a TD pass but the Bears committed about every form of penalty known to man on the play.

• Wheeler's blocking broke down and instead of taking inside and getting a yard, he bounced it outside and took a loss. Third-and-7. Not smart.

• Bears start the quarter facing second=and-4 after the 6-yard run by Wheeler.

First Quarter

• If I'm Velus Jones Jr. I have to be nervous. Ian Wheeler just ran hard for a nice gain on first down. The kid has power and deceiving speed. He isn't a project. They could use another good back instead of a kick returner who is a liability on offense. That said, Jones hasn't played in the last preseason game and these other players are, and that can say something about the situation. If they had decided already that Jones was gone, they'd be using him instead of sitting him, and they'd let the other guys play that will be gone. Quarter ends.

• Bears beat the blitz and Tyler Scott with a big gain to the 13. Another third-down conversion.

• Webster with a third-and-13 catch for a first down. Rypien made the play by looking off the zone defenders and Nsimba was wide open. The key to the play was great pass blocking because the play took forever to execute. They have Aviante Collins in at left tackle for Borom and he and Ja'Tyre executed well on the left side of the line.

• Matt Eberflus unhappy about something on sidelines and they take a timeout.

• Brett Rypien now in for Bagent at QB and throws deep to Webster incomplete when Webster wasn't open at all. Should have looked to dump it down or run it.

• Ja'Tyre Carter illegally downfield wipes out a big gain on a screen by Ian Wheeler to the Chiefs' 35. Back to Bears 46.

• Booker has done enough against subs to make you think he can be impactful enough to be a situational pass rusher but the play against the run he had on second down is the big thing. If he can consistently play the run like that then they could have him as a top 3 edge and he'd have a big role.

• Austin Booker making himself known again, first a tackle for no gain on a run and then a quarterback hit and pressure forcing an incompletion. Harrison Butker had a 59-yard field goal try and was wide right. Still Bears 7, Chiefs 0.

• Tarvarius Moore with another solid play, tackling Irv Smith on a short catch for 3 yards in the open field.

• A 9-yard completion on a slant to Nsimba Webster set up Bears for fourth-and-2 and Travis Homer dropped a first-down gamble. Wasn't the best pass but was good enough Homer should have caught it. And receiving is supposed to be Homer's strength.

• Larry Borom down on one knee after a short second-down run. They have depth at tackle but Borom has the experience edge there on Aviante Collins. Kiran Amegadjie is in the mix now, too, but no one would want to count on someone that inexperienced in the regular season. He has about three practices to his credit, counting the offseason. Borom had to leave on a cart.

• Bears start at their 46 and Bagent still at QB but Tyler Scott drops a throw. Kind of surprised he's actually playing in this. Maybe his spot isn't as secure as you'd think for a second-year pick from Round 4.

• Tarvarius Moore comes up from the safety spot and snuffs out a fourth-and-1 run in the backfield. Bears stop a promising drive for QB Chris Oladokun and company with back-to-back stops on 1-yard to gain situations.

• Michael Dwumfour with an excellent tackle on the first-down stop going low and after a hold the secondary breaks down and gives up a long pass to the 48.

• Travis Homer with a very smart run on first down as he cut it inside instead of trying to take it around the edge and gained 5. Set up Bagent for a TD scramble on second down of 5 yards. Dove for the pylon, looking like a running back diving for it and the TD. Seven plays and 73 yards. Bagent led two TD drives last week. Bears 7, Chiefs 0

• Defensive holding call bails out the Bears from a sack and they have first down at the 11. The pass blocking totally caved in on that one.

• They've really reached down the into the bottom of the barrel for receivers to start. Nsimba Webster with a 44-yard completion at the 20. He has actually had a good camp and preseason. But he's facing such an uphill fight.

• Bears start at the 27 after the return.

• DeAndre Carter needs to show what he can do on returns. He's back to receive. He's probably battling with Velus Jones and Velus Jones Jr. for roster spot.

Pregame

• Get ready for Matt Eberflus the mad blitzer. That's probably a great exaggeration but he did hint this week at schematic changes coming in the next few weeks while the team works at Halas Hall prior to the start of the regular season. On the pregame show with Jeff Joniak on AM-1000, GM Ryan Poles even discussed it. The slot blitzes last week seemed to indicate this. Poles said he went in Eberflus' office and compared Flus to being "...a mad scientist in there with things he's putting together." Theres obviously going to be a lot in common with what we've done in the past but I know he's coming up with a lot of the new things as well."

• Poles had nothing new to offer up on the possible acquisition of a pass rusher but did say he'll be getting together after this game with his pro side people to find out what's available in terms of trades. That could also apply to players who could be waived at cutdowns as well as unnamed free agents still out there (Yannick Ngakoue). Poles did say they could be cutting players they may not really want to but the roster has improved enough for this to be happening.

• Patrick Mahomes gained quite a bit of attention for his behind-the-back pass to Travis Kelce for 8 yards. They say Caleb Williams is the closest thing to Mahomes to come along. I guess here's the proof.

TRENDING: #Bears rookie QB Caleb Williams was practicing BEHIND THE BACK PASSES during practice.

This comes a week after Patrick Mahomes completed a behind the back pass in a real game.

(🎥@dave_bfr)
pic.twitter.com/QkT5fkEhoO

— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) August 22, 2024

• Albert Breer of SI posted his mailbag and part of it deals with a comparison of Caleb Williams to top overall draft picks of other years.

• It's not always easy to watch for position battles on the offensive line but you can notice if someone fouls up on a pass block. Watch the tackle spot with Larry Borom and Aviante Collins. With Kiran Amegadjie coming back now, someone is going to need to go, if not two of them. Remember, guard Matt Pryor could also be a tackle if he had to, so the tackle spot and the guard spots are under severe scrutiny tonight.

Things are unraveling for the #Packers https://t.co/lNWGRKap8k

— Silvy (@WaddleandSilvy) August 22, 2024

Twitter: BearsOnSI