ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — In a change of philosophy from last season, Bills coach Sean McDermott decided this week that his starters would in fact play in the team's third and final preseason game in Chicago.
After a sloppy performance last week in Pittsburgh that included 12 first-half penalties, instead of resting the starters for the regular season, McDermott said he felt playing the starters was the right move for where the team was at in the preseason.
The starters went out and delivered a much cleaner performance Saturday in Chicago in the Bills' 24-21 win over the Bears.
The defense started things off by forcing a three-and-out, punctuated with a Christian Bedford pass breakup on third-and-10.
Josh Allen and the offense then marched right down the field on the following possession, a 12-play, 72-yard drive that ended with a two-yard touchdown rush from Damien Harris.
"I didn't get into details during the week, we didn't get into details on how much they'd play," McDermott said. "Just wanted to see them come out ready to play and see certain things. That's part of the reason why I didn't call the plays either on defense. I wanted to be able to have my eyes available to see certain things from our team. For the most part, I saw that early at least and then we started getting some guys out."
Allen went 5-for-7 passing for 49 yards on what would be his only drive of the game, a drive that included going 3 for 3 on third down conversions.
"(Ken) Dorsey did a good job of getting the plays in quick for us, allowing us to see things going on and guys were in the right spots," Allen said. "We had kind of rehearsed some of the first third downs, and first looks that we were going to see, so I thought guys were doing a good job flying around and knowing their jobs. The better we can do that, the better success that we're going to have."
A main focus for the starters, other than executing at a higher level, was having an improved energy to more closely replicate a game day environment.
"As we ramp up, going into the season, making sure that we're getting that feeling. Understanding like, on game day, we've got to be ready to go. We weren't really sure how long we were going to play today, so we were expecting to play quite a bit. I think just having that mindset of going out there like, alright, we're here. Let's get some work, and I think that was important for us."
Allen and the starters will now look to take the momentum from this game, the preseason finale, into their next outing when they start the regular season Sept. 11at the New York Jets.