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5 quick takeaways from Bears' 34-21 preseason win over Chiefs
By Josh Skluzacek,
5 hours ago
The Chicago Bears finished off a 4-0 preseason with a 34-21 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night at Arrowhead Stadium.
The team can now turn its full attention to the regular-season opener on Sept. 8 against the Tennessee Titans, although the front office will have to make some tough roster calls over the next few days.
Here are five quick takeaways from Thursday’s preseason finale.
Bears QBs look good
Chicago might have three legitimate backup-level quarterbacks on the roster.
Tyson Bagent looks like the clear-cut second-stringer, Brett Rypien the third-string and Austin Reed in the fourth spot, but all looked good Thursday night and could draw interest from teams around the league if they become available.
After years of struggling with quarterback play, look where the Bears are at now: A franchise quarterback at QB1 and not enough room for the rest of the talent. How things have changed.
V12 gets good look at RB
The Bears first started trying Velus Jones Jr. at running back the second week of the preseason.
After flashing great upside on six carries against the Bills, he struggled more on his six carries against the Bengals, but he got his biggest opportunity on Thursday night.
The Bears fed him 13 times and he racked up 111 yards and a touchdown. That includes carries of 23, 33 and 39 yards, certainly showing that explosive ability.
He’s in an interesting spot, having basically fallen out of the returner competition, being shifted completely off receiver and now learning a new position on the fly. It’ll be interesting to see if he did enough for the Bears to keep him around.
Tyler Scott makes strong final impression
Speaking of bubble guys, Scott did all he could to show he’s deserving of a roster spot, hauling in six passes for 99 yards on Thursday.
Coming into the final preseason game, he had just one catch for 17 yards this summer but his work in practice combined with Thursday’s game could be enough to earn him the WR5 job, assuming Dante Pettis — who didn’t play in the preseason finale — is already WR4.
Good defense is fun
Man, isn’t it fun to watch a good defense?
Even in the preseason, Chicago’s defenders have been flying around and making plays.
Several guys fighting for roster spots had nice nights, none more so than undrafted cornerback Reddy Steward, who had two interceptions, including a pick-six.
Tarvarius Moore had a key pressure on Steward's pick-six and a diving pass breakup, Austin Booker looked good again, and Daniel Hardy racked up four more tackles.
Overall, though, it was just fun to watch this defense play stout up front and quick on the back end all preseason. Hopefully that continues into the regular season.
Scary injuries
Unfortunately, amid all of the good on Thursday, there was also some bad.
Offensive tackle Larry Borom left on the cart about halfway through the first quarter. He’s been fighting for a swing tackle spot.
The scarier, though, was safety Douglas Coleman III, who went down after making a tackle on the first drive of the second half. He was stretchered off after being down for several minutes.
Those injuries are never good to see, so hopefully those guys are both OK.
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