Bears backups chase Chiefs
CHICAGO COACH SITS OUT 13 PLAYERS AGAINST FORMER TEAM
Bears coach Matt Nagy decided to rest starters for the next-to-last preseason game rather than use it as the customary regular-season tuneup.
And the backups proved that they’re also ready for the regular season. Backup quarterback Chase Daniel directed touchdown drives on the first three possessions and the Bears defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 27-20 on Saturday.
The Bears (2-2) played in the Hall of Fame Game and have been practicing since July 20, and Nagy liked what he’d seen from the starters in practices.
So he decided Friday to keep starters out of what normally would be a dress rehearsal for the regular-season opener at Green Bay on Sept. 9.
Daniel replaced Mitchell Trubisky against the Chiefs (1-2), the team Nagy last year served as the offensive co-ordinator.
Playing against both the Chiefs starting defence and then the backups, Daniel led the Bears to a 24-10 halftime lead.
Daniel, a Chiefs backup quarterback from 2013-15, finished 15 of 18 for 198 yards and two touchdowns. The first two Bears touchdown drives came against Kansas City’s starting defence, minus injured safety Eric Berry and four other injured players.
Wide-open receiver Kevin White caught Daniel’s 29-yard TD pass in the first quarter to break a 7-7 tie, and Daniel then found Javon Wims for a 7-yard TD pass in the back corner of the end zone and a 21-10 lead.
Benny Cunningham ran in from 13 yards for Chicago’s first TD and Cody Parkey added a 48yard field goal just before halftime.
The Bears sat out 31 players, including all potential opening-day starters except wide receiver Taylor Gabriel, defensive end Jonathan Bullard, linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski and guard Eric Kush. Nagy informed players on Friday morning about his decision.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes II and the starting offence played into the third quarter against the backup Bears defence, and showed inconsistency.
Mahomes flipped a short pass to the right side and Kareem Hunt turned it into a 19-yard TD for a 7-7 tie, and led a 49-yard drive ending in Harrison Butker’s second-quarter 47-yard field goal.