Five things to watch in Bears-Chiefs preseason finale, including a big measuring stick for the defense against Patrick Mahomes
Another big challenge coming up.
The Chicago Bears are hitting the road for the final preseason game of the 2025 slate to take on the defending AFC Champs at Arrowhead Stadium.
This will be a big one for the Bears and head coach Ben Johnson. Not only is it Johnson’s first road game as a head coach, it’s also another date against a legit Super Bowl powerhouse opponent before turning the page to the regular season.
Coming off a 38-0 win against the Buffalo Bills backups, the Bears will be going up against the majority of the Kansas City Chiefs starters this time around, while playing the majority of their own starters. So, it should be a fun little exhibition matchup. Here are five things to watch:
Big measuring stick for the starting defense
From what we’ve seen out of the Bears defense over the last few weeks, it’s been a unit that’s ready to compete against some of the best offenses in the league.
Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen has done a remarkable job getting his unit playing at a top level and it’s showed against two really good quarterbacks in Tua Tagovailoa and Josh Allen during joint practices the last two weeks. Now, the unit will have to prove they belong on the game field with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
In two regular season games against Chicago in his career, Mahomes has thrown for a total of 523 yards and five touchdowns with zero interceptions. The Bears also have to be prepared for the sneaky athleticism Mahomes can pull out to make plays with his legs to move the chains.
The best way to beat this guy is to bring the fight to him, but in a strategic way. No one knows how to do that better than Allen with his exotic blitz packages and aggressive defensive front. We’ll see how well the unit can hold up and if they can force Mahomes into any mistakes.
No steps back for Caleb Williams
Last week against the Bills, Caleb Williams took the field for the first time under Ben Johnson’s offense and executed a 92-yard drive capped up with a touchdown to wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus. You couldn’t have asked for a better opening drive for this HC-QB duo.
The second drive was less fruitful and ended with three straight incompletions by Williams before the reigns were handed back over to backup quarterback Tyson Bagent.
Williams, once again, will be getting the start on Friday and it’s still up in the air how much playing time he will actually see against the Chiefs. The main thing to watch for out of Williams is whether or not the young quarterback takes another step forward, or a step backward.
Chicago’s offense reportedly had a tough practice with pre-snap penalties again on Wednesday, so having a clean operation and stringing together more than one successful drive would certainly be a big step forward and lead to some positive encouragement going into Week 1.
Any creative plays for DJ Moore?
We all know these are in the playbook and we’ve seen them being practiced on the field throughout training camp. The question is, will Ben Johnson dial them up before the regular season?
DJ Moore got his first preseason action last week as well with the rest of the starters. On the first two drives of the game, Moore caught two passes for 16 yards (one outside stop route and one out route from the slot to move the sticks on third-down).
What we didn’t see was Moore lined up in the backfield, something the Bears have toyed with multiple times in practice, including on Wednesday. Will we see some of that against the Chiefs given the lack of depth in the backfield?
Time to wrap up the LT battle
Personally, I think it’s already a decision that’s been made within the staff that hasn’t been publicly announced yet.
Braxton Jones has the clear hold on the starting position for the fourth year in a row despite a lengthy competition that ended up including four different tackles getting an opportunity to win the job, barring anything extreme happening on Friday.
If Jones takes the field with the starting offense, the battle is over. Something that can throw a wrench into everything is if Theo Benedet is the one at left tackle with the starting offense.
At this point, I believe it’s in the best interest of the team to keep the consistency and give Jones the nod on Friday and for Week 1 and see how he holds up consistently after that. But again, how he actually looks on the field could shake things up in a major way.
Final showcase for other roster battles
I know I said five things to watch, but this one can be broken down into a few different positions to watch. Since it’s the final preseason game, it’s worth spending more time looking at some of the battles going on to secure a final roster spot.
RB3/4: We haven’t seen Roschon Johnson at all in the preseason due to a foot injury and didn’t see rookie Kyle Monangai against the Bills due to an undisclosed injury. Will we see either back get some carries on Friday? Behind those two, Ian Wheeler has continued to impress and is someone I believe has earned a spot on the roster because if he’s cut, another team will likely claim him.
WR6: Multiple wide receivers have stood out throughout the two preseason games behind the five players locked into the roster. Jahdae Walker and Maurice Alexander did so in each game while Tyler Scott put his name back in the conversation last week. One player who’s steam has died down in the preseason has been JP Richardson, who suffered an ankle injury against the Bills.
DT5: This has actually been a tight one to decide who gets a final spot on the interior of the defensive line between Chris Williams and Zacch Pickens. Williams has impressed more in practice and earned some praise from his defensive coordinator while Pickens has received a lot of playing time and made some plays pushing into the pocket. I think the spot goes to Williams unless Pickens can ball out.
CB6/7: The final cornerback spot will be an interesting one following Terell Smith’s season-ending knee injury. Right now, I’m certain Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, Nahshon Wright, Tyrique Stevenson, and Josh Blackwell make the roster. Behind those five, I’ll be watching to see how Nick McCloud plays on Friday and whether or not Zah Frazier sees some action (Frazier has missed all of camp due to a personal matter but was seen on Wednesday, although he did not practice).
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Tyson Bagent reveals why he chose to stay with the Chicago Bears on a new extension instead of pursuing a starting role with another team
It’s the best step for his career.
