Schrock’s Report Card: Grading Bears’ offense, defense in preseason win vs. Chiefs originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
It wasn’t perfect, but the Bears finished off their first 4-0 preseason since 1994 Thursday with a 34-21 win over the Kansas City Chiefs at GEHA Fields at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bears outscored their opponents 115-47 in the four exhibition games.
Quarterback Caleb Williams and the starters didn’t play, but the Bears’ second- and third-teamers jumped out to a 34-7 lead on the Chiefs’ backups before Kansas City scored two late touchdowns to make the score less lopsided.
With the preseason slate done and dusted, head coach Matt Eberflus and his staff now turn their attention to Tuesday’s roster cut deadline before a highly-anticipated 2024 season begins.
Here’s a final preseason report card for a Bears team with a lot of potential and some work to do:
Passing offense
The Bears didn’t exactly air it out Thursday night in Kansas City.
Backup quarterback Tyson Bagent started and went 3-for-6 for 57 yards in two drives. Third-string quarterback Brett Rypien relieved him and went 9-for-13 for 106 yards, including a 37-yard strike to Tyler Scott down the left sideline.
Scott caught six passes on 10 targets for 99 yards in an extensive outing Thursday.
Undrafted rookie quarterback Austin Reed was an efficient 8-for-10 for 63 yards and a touchdown in clean-up duty.
It was good to see Scott have a productive day. The second-year receiver has looked good in camp and should be the No. 4 receiver on the depth chart when camp breaks.
Swing tackle Larry Borom suffered an ankle injury and will have an MRI on Friday. Borom entered the game on the roster bubble, and this injury could burst it. If Borom doesn’t make the 53-man roster, that leaves Matt Pryor and rookie Kiran Amegadjie as the Bears’ backup tackles.
GRADE: C
Rushing offense
Travis Homer started the game at running back, but it was Velus Jones Jr. who got most of the work after undrafted rookie Ian Wheeler left the game with an injury.
Jones, who transitioned to running back two weeks ago, rushed for 111 yards on 13 carries (8.5 per carry), including a 39-yard touchdown.
The Bears are deep at running back, but Jones looked explosive on outside runs.
“When you have your roster set up the way we have moving him to that new position, we wanted to see all the reps we can at that position,” Eberflus said after the win when asked why Jones got so much work in the preseason finale. “Protecting, going out on routes, running the ball the way he did. So we wanted to get another look at him. He put a really good foot forward today.”
GRADE: B+
Passing defense
With Patrick Mahomes and Carson Wentz both inactive, the Bears’ deep defense made life tough on third-string quarterback Chris Oladokun.
Undrafted rookie cornerback Reddy Steward picked off Oladokun twice, including a pick-six, as the Bears held Oladokun to 66 total yards passing.
Fourth-string quarterback Ian Book threw two touchdown passes in garbage time.
The Bears’ pass rush didn’t do anything special Thursday night.
Rookie Austin Booker made his presence felt once while Dashaun Mallory notched the Bears’ lone sack.
Eberflus admitted after the win that the Bears’ lack of depth at defensive tackle is a concern. The Bears have Gervon Dexter and Andrew Billings, but second-year defensive tackle Zacch Pickens is injured, and there is no reliable depth past him.
That’s a position the Bears will look to address in the coming week.
GRADE: A
Run defense
Chiefs rookie running back Carson Steele rushed for 50 yards and a touchdown on four carries Thursday. Steele ripped off a 31-yard run that included a massive stiff arm to safety Tarvarius Moore.
All told, the Bears’ defense gave up 135 yards rushing on 27 carries (5.0 yards per attempt). The interior of the defensive line failed to get a consistent push, but the Bears did get a good all-around game from Daniel Hardy, who continues to cement his spot on the 53-man roster.
GRADE: C+
Special teams
Veteran wide receiver and return specialist Deandre Carter is battling for one of the final spots on the Bears’ roster, but an inexcusable special teams mistake Thursday won’t help his case.
Carter went back to return a punt but elected to let it bounce. Carter went up to block the gunner but wound up getting pushed back, and the ball bounced off his leg, and the Chiefs recovered.
With Dante Pettis missing Thursday’s game due to injury, Carter still should have a good chance to make the roster.
But at a time when every rep matters, that muff could wind up being costly for Carter.
