Bears vs. Bengals score, takeaways: Caleb Williams sharp in home debut, Chicago rolls in Week 2 preseason game

Caleb Williams impresses in his Soldier Field debut

In their first home preseason game of the season, Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears defeated the Cincinnati Bengals, 27-3. Chicago played most of its starters while Cincinnati held its key players out Saturday afternoon.

Williams and Co. got off to a slow start to the afternoon, going three and out on each of their first three drives as they struggled to get anything going either on the ground or through the air. In the second quarter, though, they picked up a bit of a rhythm, with Williams showcasing his incredible improvisation ability. 

The No. 1 overall pick threw a long pass up the sideline to fellow rookie Rome Odunze after spinning out to his left and throwing back across his body. He nearly had a touchdown to Odunze in the back of the end zone on a scramble to his right, but Odunze's foot was out of bounds. Williams then made up for it with another scramble to his left, scampering away from pressure and around the corner for a touchdown.

The Bengals' backups played quite well on defense early on, but the offense mostly struggled to get anything going against Chicago's first-team defense, with Kyler Gordon, in particular playing a huge role in shutting them down. Chicago's rookies on the second-team defense did the same. Cincinnati did get some splash plays from Jermaine Burton, Trayveon Williams and Kris Jenkins, but things were otherwise uneventful on that side of the ball.

In the second half, Tyson Bagent and Dante Pettis hooked up for a pair of touchdown tosses, while the Bengals' second- and third-team offensive units continued to struggle. Third-year Bears defensive end Daniel Hardy had himself a monster game, wrecking everything the Bengals wanted to do offensively, as he finished with four tackles (two for loss), a sack, two quarterback hits and a forced fumble.

Here are a few big takeaways from the game.

1. Caleb Williams flashes playmaking potential

The most important thing, from Chicago's perspective at least, is that the Bears' starting offense finally started to get untracked toward the end of the first half. They tried to get Williams going with some half-field reads early on, but it just didn't work out. Once they let him put his athleticism and second-reaction ability to use, that's when the fireworks started.

First, there was a long completion to Odunze up the sideline for a 45-yard gain.

A few plays later, Williams was at it again. For a second time, he scrambled away from pressure to his left, utilizing a spin move to break contain from the pocket. This time, he directed traffic ahead of himself and scampered his way into the end zone behind Teven Jenkins.

Williams was only 6 of 13 for 75 yards, but he also had a long completion erased by a pass interference penalty and, of course, had the two huge plays on his final drive.

2. Bears defense slows the Bengals

Chicago's starters played early on against Logan Woodside and the Bengals' backups, and they quickly got to work shutting down Cincy's offense. The Bengals totaled just 226 yards on their 60 plays, an average of 3.8 per play. Woodside was also picked off twice and sacked twice, with the right side of the offensive line failing to contain blitzes from the Bears out of the slot.

In the second half, Hardy went to work and continued his monster preseason. He now has 3.5 sacks, five tackles for loss, five quarterback hits and a forced fumble in three preseason contests.

3. Bengals struggle on both sides, but rookies make splash plays

There wasn't much to like about the Bengals' performance on Saturday afternoon. They lost 27-3, after all. They averaged 3.8 yards per play and allowed the Bears to average 6.0 per play. They turned it over three times and didn't force a turnover. They took 11 penalties for 123 yards and the Bears took just four for 38 yards.

But the Bengals did at least get a sack from second-round pick Kris Jenkins in the red zone, plus a pair of big plays in the return game from third-rounder Jermaine Burton, who also added a 19-yard catch. 

Those guys are down the depth chart right now, but they flashed the kind of skill that led to them being Day 2 selections.  

[Aug 17, 2024 at 3:17 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Bears DE Hardy continues strong preseason

Third-year Bears defensive end Daniel Hardy, a seventh-round pick back in 2022, is having a big preseason. He picked up a tackle for loss in the Hall of Fame Game, then racked up 2.5 sacks, two TFLs and three quarterback hits last week. And he just notched another sack in this one. That's one of his two QB hits this afternoon. Oh, and now Hardy just picked up a forced fumble. Guy is DOMINATING this preseason.

[Aug 17, 2024 at 3:08 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Bagent and Pettis hook up for another Bears score

The Bears appear to have a strong connection on their second-unit offense. After connecting for a short touchdown on their first drive, Tyson Bagent and Dante Pettis went to work again on their next possession. Bagent first hit Pettis with a strike over the middle for a 24-yard gain, then found him on a slot fade from 25 yards out for their second score of the afternoon.

[Aug 17, 2024 at 2:52 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Tyson Bagent leads touchdown drive

Following the Smith interception, the Bears quickly marched down the field for a nine-play, 42-yard touchdown drive. Bagent went 3 of 4 for 30 yards and a touchdown, with the score coming on a nifty corner route by Dante Pettis.

[Aug 17, 2024 at 2:45 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Another interception for the Bears

Logan Woodside has actually thrown the ball decently well so far in this game, as he is 16 of 24 for 131 yards. The issue is that two of his eight incompletions have been interceptions. The first of those wasn't necessarily his fault, as he got absolutely drilled and had the ball pop up into the air. This second one, though, is just a bad throw. And Bears DB Terrell Smith capitalized on it with the pick.

[Aug 17, 2024 at 2:19 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Williams makes magic with another scramble, finds paydirt

This was a big drive for Williams' ability to make things happen outside of structure. After the big completion to Odunze down the sideline, Williams narrowly missed another one with an absolute laser to Odunze in the back of the end zone because Odunze's left foot was out of bounds. It didn't take long to make up for that near-miss, though, because Williams again broke contain in the pocket with a spin move and roll out to his left, then scampered around the corner and into the end zone for the first-team offense's first touchdown of the preseason.

[Aug 17, 2024 at 2:13 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Bears rookies connect for highlight-reel completion

Chicago's first-team offense has struggled for much of the first half against the Bengals, but just before the two-minute warning, we got a sign of what the Bears hope are things to come. Caleb Williams flashed that escapability we consistently saw from him at USC, spinning out to his left and then unleashing a throw back across his body and up the sideline to fellow first-rounder Rome Odunze. The toss was absolutely perfectly-placed over the top of the defender and Odunze hauled it in for a 45-yard gain. Gorgeous stuff from both players.

[Aug 17, 2024 at 2:03 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Bengals' Day 2 picks flashing talent

After third-round pick Jermaine Burton had a 29-yard kick return, a called-back 23-yard punt return and a 19-yard reception earlier in the game, second-rounder Kris Jenkins made his presence known by dragging Caleb Williams down for a sack to end Chicago's fourth drive of the game and force a field goal. Jenkins pulled off a late spin move and corralled Williams as he tried to step up and through the pocket.

[Aug 17, 2024 at 1:54 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Another Bears blitz gets home, leads to pick

The Bengals are having some pass protection issues on the right side of their offensive line, particularly with blitzes from the slot. After Kyler Gordon picked up a sack of Logan Woodside in the first quarter, Josh Blackmon came screaming off the edge to clock Woodside and force a drive-ending interception by Amen Ogbongbemiga early in the second.

[Aug 17, 2024 at 1:37 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Bengals rookies shut down third Bears drive

Chicago went three-and-out for a third consecutive drive with the starters on the field. The Bears picked up nine yards on first down with Williams hitting Cole Kmet over the middle of the field, but then undrafted free agent Maema Njongmeta broke through the line to tackle Khalil Herbert for a loss on second down and Josh Newton stuck tight to D.J. Moore in coverage to force an incompletion and a punt.

[Aug 17, 2024 at 1:31 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Big series for Bears DB Kyler Gordon

On the first play of Cincinnati's second drive, Kyler Gordon came down and tackled Bengals receiver Kwame Lassiter behind the line of scrimmage to create a three-yard loss on a play-action bootleg. The Bengals picked up a first down with an 11-yard run by Trayveon Williams and then a 12-yard pass to Tanner Hudson, but Gordon shut the drive down by coming unblocked off the corner with a blitz to pick up a sack, leveling Woodside in the process.

[Aug 17, 2024 at 1:22 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Bears go three-and-out again

After the Bengals' backups stalled out after picking up a pair of first downs, the Bears again had a quick, going-nowhere drive against Cincinnati's defense. A pair of Khalil Herbert runs totaled just five yards on first and second down, and Williams' first completion of the game gained just three yards on third-and-5. 

Instead of allowing the first-team offense to go for a fourth-and-2 from the 38-yard line, Bears coach Matt Eberflus sent out the punting unit again. That seems like a big missed opportunity for a good test in a game where the result doesn't matter. Why not let Williams try to pick up the first in that situation? There's no real downside.

[Aug 17, 2024 at 1:10 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Caleb Williams misfires early

The Bears got the ball first in this one, and they tried to get Williams on the perimeter for some quick throws. But Williams' first-down throw intended for Keenan Allen missed high, his second-down throw for Gerald Everett missed low and his third-down throw sailed out of bounds with no receiver in the area and resulted in an intentional grounding penalty. So, the Bears punted after just 21 seconds ran off the clock. 

Bengals rookie Jermaine Burton ripped off a nice return, but it's wiped out by a facemask penalty during the kick.

[Aug 17, 2024 at 12:58 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Weather issues in Chicago

Surprise, surprise. There is some inclement weather for this preseason game at Soldier Field. Because what is a game in Chicago without poor weather? It sounds like the skies might clear up eventually, but we could be seeing Chicago's starters in the rain. (Cincy's starters are not playing, for the most part.)

[Aug 17, 2024 at 12:48 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Olympic legend in the house

United States Olympic gymnast Simone Biles -- whose husband, Jonathan Owens, is a defensive back for the Bears -- is in town to watch this game. Biles is fresh off winning three gold medals (Team, All-around, Vault) and one silver medial (Floor exercise) in Paris. Owens briefly left training camp to watch her compete.

[Aug 17, 2024 at 12:06 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Issues with Soldier Field grass

There are apparently issues with the grass at Soldier Field, which appears to have been re-sodded after concerts held there last week. GM Ryan Poles is examining it ahead of the game. Could be an issue for this game.