Chicago Bears vs Kansas City Chiefs rapid reaction

The Chicago Bears may have rested their starters against the Kansas City Chiefs, but there was plenty to be excited about.

The biggest news of the game came before the ball was even kicked-off when the Chicago Bears announced none of the starters would play in the game against the Kansas City Chiefs. The decision drew strong opinions from fans, who seemed pretty split on the issue.

However, after seeing how the second-team offense performed, perhaps fans and the media should take a wait and see approach before judging the move to rest the starters.

The offense wowed

And what a performance it was for the second-team offense who faced the Chiefs starters on defense for the entire first half and part of the third quarter. The Bears’ offense seemed nearly unstoppable. They scored touchdowns on their first three possessions of the game, sustaining drives of 6 plays for 60 yards, 9 plays for 77 yards, and  7 plays for 91 yards. The second score was a 29-yard strike to Kevin White, which must have felt terrific for the former first-round pick.

We saw the tight ends featured heavily again, which seems like it will be a cornerstone of Matt Nagy’s offense. However, the most encouraging sign was the performance of Javon Wims. Wims had flashed early in the preseason but did it against third and fourth stringers. However, Wims looked superb today against the Chiefs’ starting unit.

On the Bears third scoring drive, Wims opened up with a simple nine-yard catch but put a nifty move on the defender to pick up the first down when the Bears were backed up in their own territory. Later in the drive he took a shallow crossing route and turned it into a 54-yard gain, showing off his speed.

Wims capped it off with a dazzling seven-yard touchdown catch. In total, Wims finished with four catches for 114 yards and a touchdown.

The defense would not be outdone

The defense, which also rested its starters, did not get off to the best start. The Chiefs took the opening drive 74 yards on six plays for a score. The drive included a play where Isaiah Irving appeared to lose contain on Tyreek Hill who took a short pass for 28 yards. It also included an apparent missed assignment on which Kareem Hunt was left wide open for a Chiefs’ touchdown.

However, the defense tightened up considerably the rest of the way. The Chiefs scored a field goal on the next drive, but then the Bears forced consecutive three-and-outs. What was most promising is the fact that they managed to get pressure on Patrick Mahomes, whom some in the Chicago media have already anointed.

This included an impressive stop near the goal-line on the Chiefs’ first drive to open the second half. After letting the Chiefs move the ball down the field, the defense buckled down and stopped the Chiefs as they went for it on 4th and 2 from the Chicago 5-yard line.

Bottom Line

For all of the talk that the starters should have played, the second-unit showed the fans just what a Matt Nagy led offense is capable of. The most exciting aspect though is that Nagy showed virtually none of what this offense will look like come the regular season. Yet for a vanilla game plan, the offense still looked pretty darn impressive.