The Chicago Bears returned to Soldier Field for their second preseason game Saturday, where they welcomed the Buffalo Bills. Unfortunately for Chicago, it was a 41-15 beatdown by Buffalo, led by former Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, who led the Bills to 34 first-half points.
Following a brief appearance in last week’s preseason opener, the Bears’ starting offense saw an entire half of action. For the first quarter, it was more of the same, as Chicago opened the game with a pair of three-and-outs. A Damien Williams fumble on the third series stalled the momentum Andy Dalton and co. had been building.
No doubt the highlight for the first-team offense was a 73-yard touchdown from Dalton to wide receiver Rodney Adams, who grabbed the ball over a defender and sprinted into the end zone. Adams once again led all receivers with 89 yards on three receptions.
Adams continues to impress, as he’s made plays throughout training camp and in last week’s preseason opener against the Dolphins, where he had an impressive catch from Justin Fields. With the competition at wide receiver, Adams is making a strong case for one of those two roster spots.
Fields played the entire second half, where he used his mobility to evade Buffalo’s pass rush and make something out of nothing on a few occasions with the struggles behind the second-team offensive line and with some drops by receivers.
Fields finished 9-of-19 for 80 yards and had four rushes for 46 yards, including an impressive 16-yard run. Fields’ best throw was a 32-yard dime to tight end Jesse James, who made a diving grab.
There was a scary moment in the fourth quarter when Fields took a brutal helmet-to-helmet hit from Bills linebacker Andre Smith, which sent Fields’ helmet flying off as he fell to the turf. Fields got up and shook it off like it was nothing, but it was still a moment that left Bears fans breathless for a few seconds.
The game also marked Trubisky’s return to Soldier Field, where he got the start for Buffalo. Trubisky had his way against his former team, completing 20-of-28 passes for 221 yards with one touchdown for a 106.4 passer rating.
This game also highlighted some of the biggest concerns heading into the season, including a porous offensive line, tackling issues and special teams struggles in coverage.
While Fields’ stat line wasn’t as impressive as last week’s opener, his performance continues to put pressure on Matt Nagy and his plan to run with Dalton as the starter. At the very least, Fields deserves some reps with the first-team, something Nagy said was on the way.
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