Chicago Bears vs. Kansas City Chiefs: 4 storylines to watch in preseason finale

The Bears will get one final tune-up before the real thing. They’ll play the Kansas City Chiefs on Friday night at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, in their preseason finale.

The third preseason game doesn’t usually get much attention. It’s usually a game featuring backups who are fighting for the final roster spots. But Friday’s game will have more intrigue than usual.

Both Bears head coach Ben Johnson and Chiefs head coach Andy Reid announced their starters will play in Friday’s game, including quarterbacks Caleb Williams and Patrick Mahomes. Neither coach said how long their starters will play. But there will be plenty to watch in the Bears’ last game before the start of the regular season against the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 8.

Here are four storylines to watch Friday night.

1. Caleb Williams leading offense on the road

One of the biggest, if not the biggest, goals of training camp was getting Williams and the offense as comfortable with Johnson’s play calling as possible. They’ll get their best test yet to show how comfortable they are Friday.

The Bears’ offensive starters took an encouraging step in Sunday’s win over the Buffalo Bills. Williams looked the most comfortable he’s been in Johnson’s offense during training camp Sunday. He led the offense down the field during the Bears’ first drive by being efficient with his throws and decision-making.

“I thought the communication was very clean,” Johnson said. “I thought he heard the plays well from me, and he communicated it well in the huddle, and we really didn’t have many issues in terms of getting lined up with plenty of time, you know, there was one time he flipped the protection, which was great to see. Uh, I thought he saw the field really well. I thought he played with some timing and anticipation. There are certainly some things that we can build upon there and keep getting better at.”

Now he’ll need to show if he can do it on the road. The Bears have not hit the road since camp started. They hosted both the Miami Dolphins and the Bills for joint practices at Halas Hall and games at Soldier Field.

Although it’s the preseason, Kansas City is still one of the toughest stadiums to play in the NFL. It should be loud, and Williams will need to show that he can run the offense as effectively as he did at home.

2. Defense faces another MVP quarterback

New Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen has gotten a good barometer of how the Bears defense is adapting to his system this preseason. The unit had its first test against Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa during a joint practice and then battled against reigning MVP Josh Allen in another.

Now the defense will get one final test against Mahomes, a three-time Super Bowl champion.

Mahomes isn’t likely to play long in Friday’s game. The play calling should also be pretty vanilla compared to what it will be in a few weeks during the regular season. But the Bears’ defense will get a good chance to show whether it’s ready to execute Allen’s game plan when Mahomes does play.

It’s also a moment for the defense to show that it can be as good as it expects.

“Our goal is to be top five in everything,” defensive tackle Andrew Billings said. “If we are top five in everything, we are going to win a lot of games. Ultimately, we want to be No. 1. But our goal is to be top five in everything.”

3. Final push in the left tackle competition

Friday will likely be one of the last chances for those in the left tackle competition to take the lead before Johnson and his coaching staff make a decision.

Returning starter Braxton Jones and second-year offensive lineman Theo Benedet split snaps at left tackle with the first team last week, but Jones took all of the first team snaps at Wednesday’s practice. Benedet got the second team snaps, while Kiran Amegadjie has also worked out at the spot with the third team.

Rookie Ozzy Trapilo started camp in the mix for left tackle but has exclusively worked at right tackle over the past two weeks.

Jones performed well in his second start of the preseason against the Bills as he recovers from a severe ankle injury that he suffered at the end of last season. He’ll get a chance to show that he should still be the starter.

“I just want to go out and do my job to the best of my ability to keep the quarterback upright and just do my job,” Jones told Shaw Local News Network. “That’s what I think of what I can do and show that I’m improving from this injury.”

4. Fighting for final roster spots

The final game of the preseason is always one last chance for players to prove they deserve a roster spot. The Bears will have to cut their roster down from 90 players to 53 before the NFL’s 3 p.m. deadline Tuesday.

While players are aware of what’s looming, many said they weren’t letting it become the main focus.

“I’m not worried about that,” rookie linebacker Ruben Hyppolite said. “It’s all in God’s hands. All I’ve got to do is my job and do the best of my ability. Everything will take care of itself. I’m confident in what I’m doing. I’m not worried on that or focused on that. I’m just focused on being better each and every day, and the chips will fall where they may.”

There will be interesting battles to watch on both sides of the ball.

Offensively, Bears general manager Ryan Poles and Johnson will need to decide how many wide receivers and running backs they’ll want to carry over. Tyler Scott, Miles Boykin, JP Richardson, Samori Toure and Jahdae Walker will compete for the final spots at wide receiver, while Travis Homer, Ian Wheeler, Brittain Brown and Royce Freeman fight for a shot at running back.

Defensively, the Bears will have to choose how many cornerbacks to keep, given Jaylon Johnson’s, Kyler Gordon’s and Terell Smith’s injuries. Jeremiah Walker and Nick McCloud should compete for one of the final cornerback slots. Zacch Pickens and Chris Williams are some names to watch at defensive tackle, along with Daniel Hardy and Tanoh Kpassagnon at defensive end.