The Chicago Bears did not just lose a preseason game Saturday night. They got exposed by the Cincinnati Bengals’ second string.
That is what should sting most about the 27-9 final. Cincinnati sat Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and most of its starters, yet still controlled the night behind 40-year-old journeyman quarterback Josh Johnson.
Chicago, meanwhile, opened with Caleb Williams and several first-team offensive pieces on the field, and its starting defense also saw limited work. The talent edge the Bears were supposed to have never really showed up.
Johnson went 15 of 23 for 156 yards and two touchdowns, directing a Bengals reserve group that kept finding openings. Chicago, by contrast, never reached the end zone, finished with 11 penalties and converted just two of 14 third downs. For a preseason game, that was the kind of performance that lingers.
Cincinnati’s depth did the damage. Rookie receiver Colbie Young caught a 17-yard touchdown from Johnson, Tanner Hudson added a six-yard scoring grab, and Sean Clifford later hit Noah Thomas for Cincinnati’s third passing touchdown. Dohnte Meyers chipped in five catches for 41 yards and also helped in the return game, another reminder that the Bengals’ roster hopefuls played like they had something on the line.
The Bears did have a couple of bright spots. Jahdae Walker hauled in a 36-yard reception, and Skyler Thomas came away with a diving interception in the second half. But those were isolated plays in a game Cincinnati controlled from start to finish.
Chicago head coach Ben Johnson did not sugarcoat the aftermath.
“It’s a bad feeling in that locker room after the game when you lose, particularly like that when it’s down by multiple scores,” Johnson said during the Bears’ official postgame press conference. “You don’t feel like you made it very close there at the end.”
The bigger issue for Chicago is what this means with roster cuts closing in. Ben Johnson said the Bears have enough competition to make those decisions difficult, but Saturday’s showing gave the staff plenty to sort through. August is where the last few roster spots get won and lost, and penalties, missed tackles and blown assignments tend to carry extra weight when the tape gets reviewed.
That is the hard edge of preseason football. Cincinnati’s fringe players played like every snap mattered. Too many Bears looked like they were simply trying to get through the night.
And while it is easy to dismiss preseason results because the games do not count in the standings, the lesson here is not hard to see. NFL teams do not survive on starters alone.
Injuries happen. Special teams depend on the back half of the roster.
Depth gets tested every week.
Chicago has already seen how fast that reality can hit. Saturday was a reminder that the bottom of the roster matters, and that it can be the difference between holding up and falling apart.
The Bears still have one more preseason game against Tennessee, plus a joint practice before it. For plenty of players, that is the last chance to change how this story ends.
Chicago does not need to chase a meaningless win. It does need its reserves to look sharper, cleaner and far more urgent than they did against Cincinnati.
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