CHICAGO — Caleb Williams took advantage of his first preseason playing time, connecting with Olamide Zaccheaus for a 36-yard touchdown on the opening drive as the Chicago Bears cruised to 38-0 preseason victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night.
After sitting out a 24-24 tie with Miami last week, Williams came out firing against Buffalo (0-2) in his first chance to operate coach Ben Johnson’s offence during a game.
The first pick in the 2024 draft completed throws of 18 yards to rookie first-round pick Colston Loveland and 29 yards to tight end Cole Kmet on a game-opening 92-yard march that concluded when Zaccheaus snagged a throw in the middle of the field on third-and-6, hurdled a tackler and went the distance.
Williams’ play throughout training camp has been spotty but he was sharp from the start. He hit on six of his first seven throws, then left after the second possession. He finished 6 of 10 for 102 yards.
Tyson Bagent came on to lead three second-quarter touchdown drives as the Bears (1-0-1) took a 28-0 halftime lead.
Bagent finished a 61-yard drive by rifling a 10-yard strike in the corner of the end zone to Tyler Scott. Before halftime, newly acquired Bears running back Brittain Brown finished an 86-yard drive with a 1-yard TD plunge, and Ian Wheeler’s 1-yard TD run completed an 84-yard drive.
Bills coach Sean McDermott held reigning MVP Josh Allen and all of his other starters out of the game. Buffalo’s backups struggled throughout the first half on both sides of the ball.
After Wheeler’s TD plunge, the Bears had outgained the Bills 343 yards to 22 and owned an 18-1 advantage in first downs.
Bagent played until midway through the third quarter and went 13 of 22 for 197 yards, while Wheeler rushed 19 times for 80 yards and Brown 16 times for 73 yards.
Former Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky relieved Bills starter Mike White and completed 7 of 13 passes for 56 yards. White went 4 of 11 for 54 yards.
Allen hasn’t played in either of Buffalo’s preseason games. He has thrown at least three passes in every preseason since he came into the league in 2018.
Also held out was running back James Cook, who had been staging a hold-in before getting a contract extension. Cook returned to practice this week.
Bills: DB Jordan Hancock left in the third quarter with a shoulder injury.
Bears: Second-year DE Austin Booker injured a knee covering a kick return and did not return. Booker was off to a fast start with 4 1/2 preseason sacks, including 1 1/2 in the first half against the Bills. … Rookie RB Deion Hankins suffered a knee injury on the second possession and did not return. The Bears were already without RBs Roschon Johnson and Travis Homer. … CB Terell Smith suffered a knee injury while making a tackle just before halftime and left the field on a cart. … DE Dominique Robinson left in the second half with an ankle injury. … Rookie WR J.P. Richardson (ankle) left in the fourth quarter.
Bills: Wrap up the preseason by playing at Tampa Bay on Saturday.
Bears: Finish the preseason Friday at Kansas City.
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