Bears HC Ben Johnson confirms what the preseason has already revealed about how NFL teams treat exhibition games with the Chiefs
Even in the preseason, the Kansas City Chiefs are the ultimate measuring stick game for NFL teams.
The Kansas City Chiefs are getting ready to play the Chicago Bears in the preseason finale at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Friday, Aug. 22.
The Chiefs are 0-2 in the preseason thus far, but they’re looking to change things in preseason Week 3. They won’t get any favors from the Bears when it comes to the level of competition they’ll face in the upcoming exhibition game, though. Chicago’s new head coach, Ben Johnson, confirmed to Kay Adams on a recent episode of “Up & Adams” that the Bears would play their starters for the preseason finale.
“Are you playing the guys against Kansas City?” Adams asked.
“Yep, yeah, we’ll go ahead and we’ll play (the starters),” Johnson said. “We’ll see how long it is. We’re going to get through a couple of days here of practice, and then we’ll determine for how long, but we need to go through this.”
This shouldn’t come as a big surprise, especially when Chiefs HC Andy Reid has confirmed that the team plans to get the starting offense and defense some work on Friday. Both the Arizona Cardinals and the Seattle Seahawks also played the majority of their starters against Kansas City because the Chiefs remain the ultimate measuring stick game for NFL teams. They want to see how their teams, schemes, and personnel stack up against one of the league’s best.
Steve Spagnuolo says Chiefs will be ready for the measuring stick game vs. Bears after falling short in Seattle
Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo admitted some shortcomings in their game plan and execution against the Seahawks the week prior, specifically in run defense. But he also felt that head coach Mike McDonald and his Seattle team had a chip on their shoulder with something to prove that Kansas City simply wasn’t prepared to counter.
“It just felt like they came out with the intent to prove to the Kansas City Chiefs, and they did,” Spagnuolo said. “They were coming out of the huddle fast. They were running right at us. I’m just not sure we were ready for that, and shame on us, but I think our guys will be ready to play good football this week.”
Now, it’s not unnatural for the Chiefs to roll out vanilla game plans during the preseason. They like to save their best stuff for the games that count. At the same time, the coaching staff wants to give guys a chance to go out there and have success to put good work on film. They didn’t meet that standard a week ago, but he’s hoping the message has been received loud and clear about what needs to change in preseason Week 3.
“I’m really hoping that we come out with a purpose early on,” Spagnuolo said. “I think Andy (Reid) has stated that our guys are going to play a little bit. I don’t know how far that’ll go, but for as long as we’ve got the so-called guys out there, that we’re going to roll within a couple of weeks, I think we need to step up and show that we’re better than what we were last week. I think the guys will do that. That’ll be the intent. We’ll see what happens. It’s good offense we’re playing. I mean, that quarterback is really good. The offensive-coordinating head coach does a really good job, scheme-wise. I’m sure, like everybody that comes in here, it doesn’t matter whether it’s regular season or preseason. You play the Chiefs, they’re all jacked up. So, we’re going to get a good shot from them.”
In years past, the final preseason game has served as an opportunity for players on the roster bubble to make their case. This time around, it feels like everyone on the roster has something to prove.
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