ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Here are my five takeaways from the Buffalo Bills’ 24-21 preseason-ending victory against the Chicago Bears Saturday at Soldier Field:
1. Well, that was better. Much better, in fact, though it couldn’t have gotten much worse than what the Bills showed last week at Pittsburgh.
Nevertheless, Josh Allen and the rest of the starters gave a showing commensurate with the expectations of the Bills’ status as a Super Bowl contender. Their play was mostly sharp and crisp, especially with the way Allen led a 12-play, 72-yard touchdown drive on the game’s opening series.
He had a pair of pretty, 10-yard connections with Stefon Diggs to convert third-and-shorts. On another third down, Allen, running to his right to avoid pressure, made a classic cross-body throw to Gabe Davis for 15 yards to set up Damien Harris’ short TD run.
That was all Sean McDermott needed to see, pulling Allen out after the score, and letting Kyle Allen take over the rest of the way.
Let’s remember the opponent was the Bears, who hardly are in any conversation to make noise in their own division, the NFC North, let alone their own conference.
Still, the Bills did make amends for the debacle against the Steelers. And even more important, they came out of the game healthy.
2. A week ago, the Bills had a staggering 12 of their 13 penalties by halftime. On Saturday, they only had two penalties at the half while the Bears had five.
Cutting down on yellow flags was clearly a point of emphasis for McDermott and his coaching staff. He was looking for a more focused effort, and his players delivered.
Sloppiness can be a fairly standard part of preseason play, but it was reasonable for McDermott to expect his players to show far less of it than they did against the Steelers.
3. Kyle Allen played the whole way after Josh Allen’s exit because of an elbow injury that sidelined Matt Barkley.
His performance did nothing to enhance what has to be a concern about the Bills’ backup QB situation. He had two turnovers in the first half, an interception and a fumble on a strip sack.
Allen did find some redemption with an impressive 29-yard touchdown strike over the middle to Quinton Morris.
Still, there’s no ignoring the fact the Bills can’t feel comfortable with Kyle Allen and Barkley as Josh Allen’s understudies. In fact, Brandon Beane revealed before the game that the team did make contact with the San Francisco 49ers before they traded backup Trey Lance to Dallas on Friday.
4. The Bills’ offensive line continues to be an area that will generate some anxious feelings.
The Bears managed to generate some solid pressure on Josh Allen, forcing him to make plays on the run, including that 15-yard throw to Davis. Credit Allen’s athleticism and powerful arm with letting him complete a pass that other quarterbacks wouldn’t.
Kick coverage has to be another area of concern, as the Bills continue to give up significant returns.
5. Interestingly, Sean McDermott chose not to serve as the defensive signal-caller against the Bears. He left that in the hands of defensive backs coach/passing game coordinator John Butler.
McDermott will go back to calling defensive signals in Week 1, but wanted to put aside play-calling Saturday so he could devote fuller attention to evaluation with the upcoming cut to the final 53-man roster.
Perhaps McDermott has settled on a starting middle linebacker, who is on the receiving end of signal calls via the headset-to-helmet communication system. The likely choice would seem to be Tyrel Dodson, even though his strongest challenger, Terrel Bernard, is expected to return to action this week from a hamstring injury. Dodson started Saturday and the defense seemed to operate efficiently.
Baylon Spector suffered a hamstring injury in the second half Saturday that could impact what the Bills do in terms of how they handle their middle linebacker depth chart. A.J. Klein also wore the green dot on his helmet, so the Bills would figure to have a reliable alternative if injuries force them to go in that direction.