Caleb Williams flashes chemistry with Ben Johnson in preseason Bears blowout | Telander
Big takeaways as Bears dominate Bills in primetime preseason matchup
The Bears drubbed the Bills 38-0 on an evening where the Bills? second- and third-string players did little to help their case for a roster spot. Lou Canellis breaks it down for us.
CHICAGO - If that Bears opening drive against the Bills Sunday night could be bottled and put on tap, we’d pull the lever and fill our cups from now until the end of Caleb Williams’ career.
It really was that beautiful. The quarterback completed his first four passes for 61 yards to four different receivers, including tight ends, Cole Kmet and rookie Colston Loveland. This was notable since there were games last year when it seemed Williams and his tight ends had never met each other.
Williams then threw incomplete to wideout Olamide Zaccheaus, but came back on the next play with a 36-yard touchdown pass to the former Virginia star. Seven plays, 97 yards, endzone. It looked so simple, so clean. Dare we say this? So easy. Read the defense, feel the pressure, see the open man, hit him with a pass.
This seeming control and understanding of the game, we have to believe, is the result of the connection between Williams and seemingly brilliant rookie head coach Ben Johnson. One hopes it’s true. It might be. It could be. It should be.
But, of course, there are caveats. With the Bears there always are. Start with this. Who the hell was playing defense for the Bills? Hardly any starters, that’s for sure. Mostly guys you might be talking to while ordering Whoppers at Burger King soon enough. Bills coach Sean McDermott said he felt his starters had shown enough in practice not to need risking injury in this game. Thanks much, coach.
Which leads us to digress for a moment and wonder how the NFL can continue to foist such obvious inanities on the watching public. In a sense, this wasn’t even at the level of a full-contact practice. The 38-0 final score was a joke. It would have been 45-0 if the Bears hadn’t taken a knee at the end.
Bears dominant in preseason win over Bills, Lou Canellis weighs in
The Chicago Bears squashed the Buffalo Bills Sunday night at home. But will the success carry over into the regular season?
If the production did any more videos and sideline interviews with non-playing Bills quarterback Josh Allen it would have had to be a pilot for an Orchard Park reality show. Why last year’s MVP even had a uniform on beats me. It took network reporter Pam Oliver forever to ask the only question we cared about: How’s things with your new bride, singer and movie star Hailee Steinfeld? (Answer: Good.)
But if, indeed, this game actually meant something, well then, Caleb Williams has taken the giant leap forward Bears fans have been hoping for. "It's been my mindset since I've been a little child, to keep growing," Williams said Monday. "I think the idea is to be able to handle every single thing that I can and everything that Ben says I should be able to handle.’"
If the coach and quarterback are truly in synch, and Williams can throw accurately and avoid sacks—which he led the league in last season—it’s a new Bears world. All those quarterback misses for so many years. All those offensive coordinator/quarterback mismatches. All those offensive dreams leading to nothing. Maybe they’re history.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - AUGUST 17: Head coach Ben Johnson of the Chicago Bears looks on prior to the NFL Preseason 2025 game between Buffalo Bills and Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on August 17, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty
Johnson looks like an easy-going guy, but part of him most assuredly is not. And even if the Bills put secretaries and janitors out there, the Bears went full tilt. And succeeded. ``Our guys really took it to heart,’’ Johnson said of his intensity and growing demand for correctness. `` They knew how important this stretch of the training camp was as a team.’’
For the Bills, you wonder if they even cared they were playing in a televised game. They treated it as a siesta. Hope they feel some shame, noting that star non-playing pass rusher Joey Bosa showed up in uniform, stood motionless on the sideline and yawned at the clown show. Still, most scrubs have pride and a work ethic. Indeed, Williams second drive wasn’t nearly as great as his opener. The Bills defense allowed him one complete pass for 10 yards, then three incompletions and a punt.
Maybe we can forget that series. It’s more fun to believe the opening drive was the real Bears of 2025. It could be the Johnson-Williams synch-up we’ve been waiting for. Those two names by the way—Johnson and Williams—are the second and third most common surnames in the US. Over four million of them. (All you Smiths can yell, "We’re still number one!’") But how nice it would be for the young coach and young QB to make their names really famous in Chicago.
As Johnson said, "All I really care about right now is to see us improve."
If nothing else, the Bills game was a nice start.
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