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Brasard Smith makes a catch in the middle of the field against Bears safety Jaquan Brisker in Friday night's preseason finale. Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Shameful outing for Chicago Bears starters on both sides of the ball

Originally posted on Chicago Bears on SI
By Gene Chamberlain | Last updated Aug 22, 2025 9:42 PM ET

If the first and only Bears preseason test of starters facing opposing starters indicated anything, it's that they're fortunate to have a few weeks still to get ready to face the Minnesota Vikings in the regular season opener.

Also, that they're fortunate they don't have to play the Kansas City Chiefs this season.

It was a total disaster from the start for the Bears both individually and as a team. The Bears fell behind 17-0 against Chiefs starters in the second quarter, and they trailed 17-3 when defensive starters exited.

It showed the defense better get Jaylon Johnson back quickly from injury at cornerback and that maybe they need to quit talking about top five finishes in the league defensively after they gave up three scores in three drives to Patrick Mahomes.

Not much has changed. Gonna be a long season I’m afraid.
— Joel Hemingway (@JoelTHemingway) August 23, 2025

If they really were actually considering starting Nahshon Wright at cornerback over Stevenson, this start against Mahomes had to make them think twice. Wright, the replacement for Jaylon Johnson, got flagged for a both face masking and pass interference on the first play from scrimmage. Then he gave up a key 12-yard complet ion on Kansas City's eight-play, 70-yard drive to a touchdown.

Wright's bad night got worse the next series when former Patriots receiver Tyquan Thornton, who ran a 4.28-second combine 40 time, burned past him for a 58-yard completion to set up a 31-yard Harrison Butker field goal. That drive would have been a TD, as well, if not for Kareem Hunt dropping a wide open touchdown throw in the end zone.

This is an ass whooping

Chiefs are showing the Bears that they’re aren’t in the same class

The best thing that could have happened to the Bears tonight

Learn the lessons and get ready for the Vikings
— Herb Lawrence (@Ecnerwal23) August 23, 2025

They made up for the mistake with another TD drive on their third possession but this time it was Stevenson getting burned by Rashee Rice for a 4-yard TD pass.

Mahomes finished 8 of 13 for 143 yards and a TD against a Bears defense without Jaylon Johnson and Tremaine Edmunds due to injuries. The offense held out left guard Joe Thuney despite promises to use starters.

The offense's start was just as bad as Wright's, if not downright embarrassing. A fumble by Caleb Williams on an attempted handoff and a false start by Colston Loveland helped kill the first drive and a sack of Williams by Chris Jones after he got past Drew Dalman led to two punts and only one first down of offensive production.

With his running and passing, Williams did help the offense save face with a 12-play, 61-y ard drive to Cairo Santos' 28-yard field goal but missed a chance on a third-and-5 incompletion in the end zone from the 10. He could have checked down to D'Andre Swift for the easy first down, instead.

After the third series, the Chiefs had pulled their defensive starters but Ben Johnson stuck with his starters on offense until halftime. Williams then directed a 78-yard TD drive against Chiefs backups, finishing with a 37-yard pass to Rome Odunze and then a 4-yard TD throw to Odunze

The best thing about the first half for the Bears was they got Gervon Dexter on the field after he'd been hurt in Wednesday's practice. Also, Kyler Gordon looked ready for the regular season after a two-week injury.