The Chicago Bears were hoping to keep the good times rolling, but they hit a wall in Week 2 of the preseason with a 27-9 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Nothing was overly concerning about the offense, but they settled for three field goals and missed a fourth. The Bears' defense got exposed in the secondary and lacked a pass rush throughout the night.
Eight initial thoughts came to mind throughout the contest. Here are the eight that Bears fans saw on the field.
Initial reactions to Bears' preseason showdown against the Bengals
Caleb Williams looked pretty good, but not great
Williams played in one drive with the Bears' offense, alongside most of the starters. He completed 2-of-5 passes for 28 yards, and it led to a field goal. Not a bad showing, but better accuracy would be great. Good thing he played one drive.
Dayo Odeyingbo is starting to emerge the way he should have been
On back-to-back plays late in the first quarter, Odeyingbo was in the backfield pressuring Bengals quarterback Josh Johnson. He is starting to look like the pass rusher the Bears need. Now Bears fans need to see it in the regular season, consistently, with some sacks mixed in.
Sam Roush is more than just a blocking tight end
Everyone talks about how good a blocking tight end Roush is, but he's also a good receiver. He caught two passes for 30 yards, including a 26-yard completion. Roush deserves more respect as a pass catcher than he gets, so the Bears should feed him the ball more.
Dontae Manning got picked on...a lot
Manning had three pass deflections and had a lot of good moments, but he had too many rough moments. He got burned on two touchdowns in the contest. Manning showed great potential, but those two scores made it hard to see him make the team.
The Bears are nowhere closer to figuring out the RB3 job
Roschon Johnson and Salvon Ahmed both played exceptionally well. Johnson rushed for 42 yards on 12 carries, and Ahmed had 50 yards combined between rushing and catching. Good luck trying to pick between those two, but if Kyle Monangai's injury is serious enough for him to miss Week 1, Johnson and Ahmed should both be on the 53-man roster.
Bears' pass rush leaves a lot to be desired
Chicago got four quarterback hits, but did not get a single sack on the Bengals. The pressure did get to the Bengals at times, but Cincinnati got the ball out quickly, which worked against the Bears. The Bears were much better last week against the Cleveland Browns, but facing a better team shows that Chicago's defensive line still has some work to do.
Cairo Santos is starting to worry people in the preseason
While Santos is still hitting most of his field goals in preseason, he has had two straight weeks of at least one miss. It's not a major problem right now, but Bears fans would definitely prefer him to be more consistent when he is out there.
Read more: Bears defender had Ja'Marr Chase 'fuming' after joint practice with Bengals
Skyler Thomas threw himself in the conversation to make the Bears' roster
The undrafted rookie out of Oregon State made an impressive interception in the fourth quarter. Thomas also had a pass deflection in the game. It wasn't a perfect night for him, but the Bears might have something with Thomas, where he could either make the roster or be a practice squad member.
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