The preseason is officially in full swing for the , who played their second game Saturday against the . It was also the first game action for the majority of the starters on offense and defense, most notably rookie quarterback , who made his long-awaited debut. Williams played just a couple of series but led the Bears to a pair of field goals before exiting for the day.
The Bears starting defense played a similar amount of snaps before the reserves took over. It was a fairly quiet game going into halftime, but the Bears came out swinging in the second half. A pick-six and a few rushing touchdowns turned this one into a laugher as Chicago throttled the Bills 33-6 in a complete team effort.
Though it's just preseason and the games don't count, there was plenty to take away from Saturday's game. Here were our takeaways from the victory: There was a sense of nervous and excited energy going into Saturday's game when it came to Williams. This was the first time he would see action in any sort of game setting since last November, and while he has all of the tools to succeed, you couldn't help but wonder if he would struggle out of the gate due all that time off.
That was definitely not the case. Williams looked like a natural out there, something past Bears quarterbacks failed to do in their debut. Aside from the stats where he went 4-of-7 for 95 yards and a passer rating of 101.
8, Williams simply looked the part. His footwork was solid and deliberate, he kept his eyes downfield when having to bail out of the pocket, he was making checks at the line of scrimmage, and he stepped into his throws, releasing the ball with a velocity we haven't seen since the days of . Williams even quickly diagnosed the Bills defense moving to a Cover 2 man on one play after they showed him a different look where he tucked and ran for a first down.
Of course he wasn't perfect, though. The two passes to were off the mark, even if he was bailed out with a penalty. Still, Williams not only showed the flashes of brilliance, like his plays to and , but he showed how he can operate an offense.
That's the most encouraging part of his debut, and it should have Bears fans ecstatic for what's to come. The Bears may have found a gem in Austin Booker. The rookie defensive end built on his debut in the Hall of Fame game and gave fits to the Bills' offensive line for much of the afternoon.
Booker produced five total tackles (two for a loss), 2.5 sacks, and three QB hits in 32 snaps. He got after them every which way, too.
Booker used his power to overwhelm a guard on one play and used a spin move to keep pursuing the quarterback on another. His motor never quit, either, getting a pair of sacks after the quarterback tried to scramble away. In fact, the entire Bears front seven was superb in their efforts to stifle Buffalo's protection.
In total, they combined for eight sacks and nine tackles for loss. But Booker stands out among them and is quickly making a name for himself. He's much more refined than anyone thought coming out of the draft, and he's showing he deserves to play meaningful snaps when the regular season starts.
Coleman Shelton is the team's center by necessity at this point in time, but after seeing his performance early against Buffalo, the Bears may want to end the position battle between him and . Shelton held up well against the Bills defensive line, sustaining his blocks and even getting out in front to lay a key hit on the screen to Swift. Shelton isn't the world's greatest center, but he's showing to be capable enough to do an adequate job.
If ' availability is going to be a question mark going forward, the best course of action is to move Ryan Bates to right guard permanently and give Shelton the job. Continuity is important, and he and Williams are establishing good chemistry. The other quarterback storyline aside from Williams' debut heading into this game was whether or not Tyson Bagent could hold onto the backup job with breathing down his neck.
Rypien made some noise in last week's Hall of Fame game with three touchdowns, and another strong performance could open the door to a change in the (unofficial) depth chart. That didn't happen. Bagent wasn't spectacular, but he was efficient, completing 5-of-8 passes for 47 yards.
He narrowly missed another completion when he and connected for a beautiful toe-tapping catch on the sideline with the ball going just past the defender, but the ball was bobbled going to the ground. Rypein, meanwhile, only completed one pass for 10 yards. It's a small sample size for both, but Rypien couldn't take advantage on Saturday.
Bagent did enough to remain QB2 going into next week's tilt against the . Six Flags Great America's should rename one of their rollercoasters "Vertical Velus-icty" to honor , who continues to have extreme highs and lows during his Bears career. That was the case once again on Saturday.
Jones played all of his offensive snaps at running back with mixed results. On his first carry, Jones tripped over Bagent to lose yards, but then he gathered himself to have a few solid carries, which included a four-yard touchdown. He finished the day with six carries for 34 yards and a score.
Of course, the good times couldn't last. Jones was on one of the kick returns and muffed the catch, but did recover to gain 13 yards. It's just never easy for the 27-year-old speedster, and while he shows promise as a running back, he still needs to clean some things up.
Until then, we will all keep riding the rollercoaster. Speaking of running backs, undrafted rookie Ian Wheeler stole the show at the end of the game. Wheeler put the contest away with a pair of rushing touchdowns, showing a nice mix of burst and strength.
Wheeler led the Bears in rushing with five carries for 43 yards and the two touchdowns, the second of which he carried the ball the entire drive. This was Wheeler's first game action since he missed out in the Hall of Fame game with an injury, but there has been a buzz surrounding him throughout camp. The Bears' running back situation appears to be fluid at the back end, and Wheeler could surprise these next couple of games to steal the final spot away from someone like or even .
You may have noticed a few shaky moments from the Bears' special teams unit, particularly on a pair of extra points from . That was partly due to the high winds in the stadium, but the Bears were also missing their reliable long snapper. Patrick Scales has been out with an injury, and the Bears needed to turn to Cameron Lyons, who was recently brought back to the team after he was waived.
Lyons struggled a bit, which goes to show how vital Scales is to the operation. It's something that isn't thought about much until punts and field goals start to go haywire. Hopefully Scales can return sooner rather than later.
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