Ben Johnson no longer has a perfect preseason record.
That fact seemed to annoy him, too, as the Bears coach was a little testy following a 27-9 preseason loss to the Bengals on Saturday.
Despite Cincinnati sitting every player of note, the Bears failed to find the end zone, couldn’t convert a third down (2-for-14) and drew a steady stream of laundry from the officials (11 penalties for 81 yards).
Maybe that’s to be expected in a game where Case Keenum and Miller Moss are leading most of the game, but that’s not going to help anyone escape Johnson’s wrath once he gets a closer look at the film.
The good news: Anyone who came up short in his eyes will get a quick chance to reprove himself with the Bears traveling to Tennessee this week for a repeat of the joint practice-preseason game routine.
The bad news: They don’t have much more time. Roster cut-down day is slated for next Sunday.
A few more takeaways from Cincy before we move on …
1. We saw Caleb play!
It was a nice surprise to learn that Caleb Williams would start the game, even if the appearance was an abbreviated one and some of us watched through our fingers given the way this injury-riddled preseason has played out.
There was a little of everything in Williams’ nine snaps against the Bengals backups. He converted a big chunk play to Rome Odunze for 18 yards and got all of our juices flowing with a 10-yard pass to Colston Loveland to get into the red zone.
And then — stop me if you’ve heard this before — the drive stalled. A Braxton Jones holding penalty halted momentum by sticking the Bears with a 1st-and-20 and Williams couldn’t connect on any of the next three passes.
End result: A 45-yard field goal from Cairo Santos and an end to the 3:19 of game play that we’d see from the starters.
Williams and the starters got two drives in the second game of last preseason, but Johnson got his fill after just one on Saturday.
Will we see Williams against the Titans? Johnson told reporters next Saturday’s game is to be determined. FWIW, Williams played four series over the first half of last season’s preseason finale against the Chiefs.
2. Three preseason favorites created a few highlights — and maybe a new one joined the group
It doesn’t take much for Bears fans to get excited about training camp standouts and there were three plays that showed the excitement is warranted.
A fourth player also got into the act.
Wide receiver Jahdae Walker hauled in a long pass from Keenum that should’ve been an overthrow but instead went for 36 yards.
Rookie lineman Jordan van den Berg was a beast all night, showing off his athletic ability on a few occasions by going all the way to the sidelines to make a play. That included a Dennis Rodman-like dive to make sure Bengals QB Sean Clifford went out of bounds on a scramble.
The returning Dayo Odeyingbo inspired some optimism by laying a big hit on 40-year-old Josh Johnson on a pass attempt in the first quarter.
And then there was rookie tight end Sam Roush, who reeled in two passes for 30 yards and looked great rumbling up the sidelines after one of them. Good luck to any defense looking to limit his YAC when the ball starts coming his way this season.
3. The left tackle position does not inspire confidence right now
Braxton Jones may win the Week 1 starting job, but it’s going to be by default. His holding penalty in the red zone on the first drive was bad, as were the several times he was beaten in pass pro by a second-teamer.
How big an issue this is for the Bears probably depends on your view. With four of the other five offensive line spots locked down, I’m confident Johnson and Co. can game plan around it. But Jones needs to get back to being his “passable” self until Ozzy Trapilo can work his way back into the mix and the offensive line needs to continue last year’s injury luck, which is no guarantee.
As for my big worries? They start and end with that shallow secondary that let Josh Johnson and Sean Clifford have a nice night in front of the home fans.
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