The Chicago Bears took the field for their second preseason game of the year against the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday, and to the surprise of many, head coach Ben Johnson decided to play his starters to begin the game. That included quarterback Caleb Williams, who saw a series with the majority of the starting offense in Cinncinati.
The Bears elected to receive the ball during the coin toss, giving Williams and the offense a first crack to put points on the board. The third-year signal caller looked dialed in to begin the drive. Williams completed passes to wide receiver Rome Odunze on a left-side bootleg and found tight end Colston Loveland on a short out route. Meanwhile, running back Roschon Johnson carried the ball well to help move the ball into Bengals territory.
Unfortunately, the offense stalled out shortly after. Following a holding penalty against left tackle Braxton Jones, the Bears were unable to gain any more yards the rest of the drive. Williams barely overthrew an open Loveland, while he and Odunze couldn’t connect after the receiver got tangled up with the Bengals’ secondary. Chicago settled for a Cairo Santos field goal from 45 yards out as Williams ended the day going 2-for-5 for 28 yards.
Defensively, Chicago’s starters also saw just one series and had a similar result. The Bears defense forced Bengals reserve quarterback Josh Johnson into long third downs, which he was able to convert to keep the drive alive. Eventually, however, the Bears wouldn’t break in the red zone and forced the Bengals to kick a short field goal to tie things up 3-3.
After Williams exited, some of the Bears’ starting offense remained on the field for one more drive with veteran Case Keenum. The same goes for the defense, which forced a three-and-out on their second series.
This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: How did Bears starters look vs. Bengals?
Reporting by Brendan Sugrue, Bears Wire / Bears Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Brendan Sugrue, Bears Wire | USA TODAY Network
