5 Storylines to watch in Bears' preseason game vs. Bills

USA Today

3 days ago

The Chicago Bears are gearing up for their second preseason game against the Buffalo Bills, fresh off a competitive joint practice on Friday.
Buffalo has top-flight players at every position, including their MVP quarterback Josh Allen. On top of that, there are enough high-end players on both sides of the ball to keep them in contention all season long. They are one of the five or six teams with a "Super Bowl or bust" label.
The Bills are what the Bears aspire to be. With them in town for joint practice and a preseason game, head coach Ben Johnson can use them as a true measuring stick. They have a lot of things that Chicago would love to develop, including a quarterback who can single-handedly win them games.
With that in mind, here's what we'll be watching for as the Bears battle the Bills in prime time.
How does Caleb Williams perform in his first live game action?
The Bears have been working diligently to get Caleb Williams what he needs to take a step as a quarterback. His rookie season had some up and down moments, but there were some encouraging signs. With Ben Johnson in charge now, Williams will finally have a chance to play in a game. He didn't dress against the Miami Dolphins, but he will have his chance to go for a while in this game against the Bills.
Whether it is right or wrong, Williams is going to be picked apart in this game. That could be positive or negative, depending on how he does. This could be his one dress rehearsal before the regular season begins in a couple of weeks, so this is his chance to make a good first impression in a game setting.
Who will become Caleb Williams' favorite targets?
The Bears have supplied Williams with a lot of great weapons, including wide receivers DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, Olamide Zaccheaus and Luther Burden, as well as tight ends Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet, who are all expected to play on Sunday. His running back room, led by D'Andre Swift, could help him along as well. Which of these weapons will be Caleb's go-to? Moore has established himself as a top receiver in the league, but this could be the year that Odunze takes over as the number one receiver in the room. He has had some chemistry with Williams in the past, but time will tell who becomes the most reliable.
Loveland played against Miami, but not for very long. This will be his first chance to take reps with the first-team offense in a preseason game. He has had some nice (explosive) plays with Williams in practice, so it will be interesting to see how things go in this game. With Kmet and Burden as depth players at their positions at this point, there are enough weapons on the team for Williams to play well if he does his job right.
Will there be clarity in the left tackle battle?
The Bears completely rebuilt their offensive line this offseason, which included overhauling the interior with the additions of Joe Thuney, Drew Dalman and Jonah Jackson. Right tackle Darnell Wright is the only returning starter from last year, but there's still a big question mark at left tackle. On Friday, Ben Johnson made it clear the team is still looking for clarity at left tackle, and they didn't appear to get it in the joint practice against the Bills.
Rookie Ozzy Trapilo worked exclusively at right tackle in the past couple of practices as the team looks to get him reps on that side. It's been Braxton Jones and Theo Benedet rotating at left tackle with the first team. So the question is whether Trapilo will see reps at left tackle or if the team will continue to play him at right tackle. Meanwhile, it's a safe bet that Jones and Benedet, as well as Kiran Amegadjie, will get plenty of reps at left tackle. Will there be clarity after this game against the Bills? We shall see.
Can Austin Booker repeat his performance from the first preseason game?
Edge rusher Austin Booker was the player of the game against the Dolphins last week, recording three sacks and forcing a fumble. To call him a disruptor would be an understatement. Can Booker repeat a performance like that against the Bills? If they start their starters early in the game, Booker could see some time against them. Josh Allen is a lot different from Tua Tagovailoa, Quinn Ewers, and Zach Wilson. Even Mitch Trubisky and Mike White could be a good challenge.
The Bears need to improve their pass rush. They don't have enough guys getting to the quarterback with enough consistency, so Booker could be someone who saves them from that issue again in 2025. He had a good pre-season last year, but it didn't translate to the regular season as much. Will another year of football maturity change that?
Can the Bears match their aggressiveness from last week?
In the first preseason game, the Bears acted like an aggressive football team. Ben Johnson is not afraid to take risks on offense. We saw it when he was the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions, and he showed some of that in preseason week one against the Dolphins. On defense, Dennis Allen was aggressive as well. The most notable example was the blitz they ran on their final play on defense last week. They sacked the quarterback and took the Dolphins out of field goal range. They didn't win, but they tied, which is better than giving up a game-winning field goal. The result doesn't matter, but the process that led to it was encouraging.
Those are the types of things that the last coaching regime failed to do. When they did go for it on fourth down, it was always a play that never made sense. They were also incredibly conservative defensively, which doesn't always play in the NFL. If these traits continue in preseason week two, it may be the new way of life for the Bears. That would be welcomed.