The 2023 preseason is officially in the books for the Chicago Bears following their 24-21 loss to the Buffalo Bills. The Bears were down from the start after the Bills, with quarterback Josh Allen, took their opening possession 72 yards on 12 plays to get a touchdown. Chicago never led in the game, but did cut the deficit a few times.
The Bears got touchdowns from backup quarterbacks Tyson Bagent and P.J. Walker while Cairo Santos converted all three field goal attempts. Bills backup quarterback Kyle Allen, however, kept the Bears at bay as he led three scoring drives of his own. But the Bears wouldn’t go away easy.
Walker’s touchdown to Robert Burns late in the fourth quarter and a two-point conversion got the Bears within three, but it wasn’t enough as the Bills chewed up clock to ice the game. The Bears finished the preseason 1-2, their first losing preseason since 2019.
Here is everything we know about Chicago’s preseason loss.
Final score: Bills 24, Bears 21
Keys to the game
Poor ground game: Running the ball was tough for the Bears on Saturday, even with Bagent’s rushing touchdown. He was the leading ball carrier for the Bears with just 23 yards. Running backs Khalil Herbert, D’Onta Foreman and Roschon Johnson combined for 13 carries and 32 yards. The Bears faced long third downs all day and it was in part due to minimal gains when running the ball early.
Poor run defense: Keeping things on the ground, the Bills conversely had no problem running the ball against the Bears run defense. Buffalo gained 173 rushing yards on 34 carries with two touchdowns. The longest run came from former Bear Darrynton Evans, who broke through for a 35-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Those big gains helped keep drives going for the Bills all day long.
More penalties: For the third preseason game in a row, the Bears had at least seven penalties. They’re not playing smart football and it cost them points on Saturday. In the first quarter, a Josh Allen sack inside the red zone was wiped away due to a defensive holding call Early in the second quarter, the Bears were called for offensive pass interference that negated a Cole Kmet catch that would have placed the ball inside the five-yard line. Those types of penalties can change scores and it’s worrisome this continues to be an issue, preseason or not.
It was over when...
It was over when the Bills converted on a third down with five yards to go on the final possession. The Bears had just scored a touchdown to narrow the gap to three points and needed a stop on defense to have a chance at winning. Unfortunately, Bills quarterback Kyle Allen found Marcell Ateman for seven yards with tight coverage from Michael Ojemudia to move the chains with 1:40 to go.
The Bears had just one timeout remaining and time expired as the Bills won.
3 stars of the game
***D.J. Moore: The top receiver for the Bears only needs one catch to show what he can do on the field. Moore caught one pass for 40 yards to move the offense into scoring position. Fields found Moore in the middle of the field and the receiver broke tackles to gain plenty of yards after the catch. It was the most explosive play of the day for the offense.
**Tyson Bagent: The Bears entrusted Bagent as their QB2 and while he wasn’t as sharp as last week against the Indianapolis Colts, the undrafted rookie still made enough plays to get points. Bagent scored a rushing touchdown and led the Bears with 23 yards on the ground. He finished 7-of-14 with 43 yards through the air and an interception.
*Michael Ojemudia: It wouldn’t be a final preseason game without a stellar performance from a bubble player. Ojemudia was all over the field making plays, especially in the second half. He finished the day with four total tackles and three pass breakups.
What's next
General manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus will make tough decisions by finalizing the 53-man roster and the practice squad beginning on Tuesday. From there, it’s all about preparing Week 1 when the oldest and best rivalry in the NFL is renewed as the Green Bay Packers come to town.
