The Chicago Bears overcame an 18-point deficit to defeat the Kansas City Chiefs, 29-27, in their preseason finale on Friday night at Arrowhead. But it wasn’t because of their starters.
But it was backup quarterback Tyson Bagent, fresh off a two-year, $10 million contract extension, that led Chicago back from an 18-point deficit with three second-half touchdowns, including the game-winning score to undrafted rookie wide receiver Jahdae Walker.
For the final time this preseason, here’s a look at our studs and duds from the Bears’ comeback win over the Chiefs:
Stud: RB D’Andre Swift
There wasn’t much to love about the Bears’ starting offense on their first three series, but the running game was one of the positives with D’Andre Swift leading the way. The veteran running back had seven carries for 28 yards, averaging 4.0 yards per carry. He also had one receptions for six yards, where he had an impressive leap over a defender to gain additional yardage while providing for one of the lone offensive highlights at that point.
Stud: WR Olamide Zaccheaus
Another bright spot on offense was wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus, who continues to show why he can be a big part of this offense. Zaccheaus, who had an impressive touchdown in last week’s preseason win, had three receptions for 37 yards. That included a 25-yard reception from Caleb Williams that led to a touchdown during the final two minutes of the first half. Zaccheaus looks like a steal for the Bears as he continues to showcase a strong chemistry with quarterback Caleb Williams.
Stud: QB Tyson Bagent
The newly-extended Tyson Bagent closed out the preseason with his best performance of the summer. Bagent played the entire season half, where he led Chicago on an 18-point comeback with three touchdowns in the final half. Bagent completed 20-of-28 passes for 212 yards and three touchdowns for 128.9 passer rating. He capped it off with an impressive 10-play, 87-yard, game-winning drive that resulted in a 6-yard touchdown to wide receiver Jahdae Walker for the 29-27 win.
Dud: Bears pass rush
Now, let’s get to the bad. The Bears have a huge problem with their pass rush, which was nonexistent against the Chiefs and made life easy on Patrick Mahomes behind a revamped offensive line. While Mahomes was able to extend plays with his legs, Chicago struggled to bring pressure off the edge or up the middle, and the two-time MVP made them pay with three scoring drives. With pass rusher being arguably their biggest hole right now, would the Bears explore a potential trade for Trey Hendrickson or Micah Parsons? While that might be unlikely, Dennis Allen needs to find a way to get something out of this pass rush.
Dud: CB Nahshon Wright
Veteran cornerback Nahshon Wright has been one of the feel-good stories of training camp, where his strong performance earned him a legitimate chance at the second cornerback spot opposite Jaylon Johnson. Wright has been battling Tyrique Stevenson for the job, but Wright’s disastrous outing against the Chiefs might’ve given the edge to Stevenson. Wright committed 29 yards of penalties on a single play while also giving up a 58-yard completion from Patrick Mahomes. While it’s just one performance amid a larger evaluation, it certainly wasn’t a good look.
Dud: Offensive operation
While the Bears offense had a clean operation in last week’s blowout win over the Bills, but that wasn’t the case against the Chiefs. The same pre-snap issues that have plagued the Bears all summer long reared their ugly head against Kansas City. The first series was a disaster for Chicago, which went botched snap and handoff, false start, throwaway and a completion short of the sticks. It was an ugly start for the Bears offense.
Dud: K Cairo Santos
It was a rough night for special teams, and especially kicker Cairo Santos, who had a couple of misses on the night. Santos had a brutal missed 47-yard field goal, which doinked off the left upright (with Matt Nagy on the opposing sideline, no less). He also had a blocked extra point, where tight end Stephen Carlson whiffed on a block. Still, it wasn’t the most reassuring night for Santos, who will be their starting kicker after they released undrafted rookie Jonathan Kim earlier this summer.
