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Bears' shaky step back vs. Chiefs sparks real concerns about the offensive readiness heading into the regular season

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Kole Noble | Last updated Aug 23, 2025 12:03 AM ET

With a chance to send a strong message going into the regular season, the Chicago Bears starting lineup took a noticeable step back on Friday against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Let's start with the offense, led by quarterback Caleb Williams, which looked flawless last week in the opening drive against the Buffalo Bills, which was rewarded with some high praise by head coach Ben Johnson.

"He did a great job with the operation, getting the play call in, getting the guys lined up and going," Johnson said of Williams last week. "I think there was a time he had to switch protection and I thought he did a nice job on that. He made a couple of big time throws in there, too. More than anything, we had some pre-snap issues over the course of camp that plagued us and the first unit didn't have any of those (against Buffalo)."

Things could not have been more different at Arrowhead on Friday night.

On the first offensive play, the unit had a botched play in which wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus motioned for a jet sweep. Williams and Zaccheaus were simply not in sync, leading to a dropped handoff that Williams fortunately recovered.

On the next play, rookie tight end Colston Loveland was called for a false start on a motion, leading to a 2nd-and-19. Protection broke down on that next play, leading to a incompletion and then a pass caught short of the sticks on third-down.

Bears offense certainly isn't executing like last week

1st down - muffed jet sweep exchange between Caleb and Zaccheus

false start

2nd & 19 - Caleb forced out of the pocket, throwaway

3rd &19 - Gain of 14 while Chiefs covered the sticks
— Josh Norris (@JoshNorris) August 23, 2025

The second drive had some forward progress with head coach Ben Johnson looking to establish the run early in the drive with running back D'Andre Swift. However, that drive quickly stalled after Williams was sacked on second-down and had another completion short of the chains.

The Bears were finally able to put some points on the board after stalling in the red zone and settling for a field goal. Shockingly Johnson gave his unit a fourth drive in a two-minute situation to see how they would respond following the bad start, and it was the right call.

Williams led the unit down the field with some big completions to Zaccheaus and Rome Odunze on a drive that ended with a touchdown. A much more encouraging sight, albeit it was against the Chiefs second string defense. Overall, Williams finished 11/15 for 113 yards, one touchdown, and one sack.

.@CALEBcsw with a dart to @RomeOdunze for 6

: FOX32 pic.twitter.com/ilCodOpgDq
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) August 23, 2025

Defensively, it wasn't much better of a start. Cornerback Nahshon Wright notably had a bad showing after giving up 30-yards worth of penalties on the first drive followed by a 58-yard completion on the second drive.

The pass rush, led by Montez Sweat and Dayo Odeyingbo, created little to no pressure on quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who threw for 143 yards and a touchdown with multiple chuck plays in the passing game.

For this being the team's first road appearance of the 2025 season and the final of the preseason, concerns are warranted after this kind of showing. Luckily, the team will have over two weeks to finish ironing out these wrinkles before the regular season opener at Soldier Field against the Minnesota Vikings.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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