Okay, so the Chicago Bears got absolutely shelled in their 27-9 preseason loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday night at Paycor Stadium, failing to find the end zone even once and going completely scoreless in the entire second half. Let that sink in, folks. Zero touchdowns. The starting offense actually started looking decent, but a holding penalty totally killed the drive, forcing them to settle for a Cairo Santos field goal. Even the starting defense, while a bit up and down, managed to hold Cincinnati to a field goal on their first series. But man, once the backups hit the field, it all went south fast.
The Brutal Reality of the Backups
Things got seriously ugly with the reserves. The Bears offense just couldn’t get anything going, which is a huge red flag this early in the season. And the defense? Yikes. They struggled hard to cover quarterbacks Josh Johnson and Sean Clifford. Nobody wants to see that. Cornerback Dontae Manning had a rough, rough night. Yeah, he actually made some good plays, picking up three pass breakups and leading the team with seven tackles. But let’s be real, the Bengals offense targeted him all night long and they absolutely capitalized. Manning struggled big-time in coverage, giving up two touchdowns. That’s just brutal. And it wasn’t just him, the entire secondary had a night to forget, even with safety Skyler Thomas snagging the only takeaway of the game off Sean Clifford. On the offensive side, wide receiver J.P. Richardson, despite hauling in three catches for 37 yards on six targets, also had a super rough outing. He absolutely did not help his case for a roster spot with a muffed kick return and a huge drop on a fourth-down conversion. Oof.
Any Glimmer of Hope?
If you’re looking for bright spots, and let’s face it, we gotta try after that mess, then defensive tackle Jordan van den Berg is definitely one. This sixth-round rookie has been turning heads all summer, and he kept showing why he could be a massive steal. Van den Berg notched three tackles in the loss and was a disruptive force right there in the defensive interior. He was putting pressure on the quarterback and stuffing the run, too. The kid’s still developing, but you can see the rising star potential. Roschon Johnson also made a strong case for the third running back spot. After a quiet opener, he bounced back big, leading the Bears with 42 yards on 12 carries, averaging 3.5 yards per carry. He got most of the carries in the first half and busted out some really hard-nosed runs, including a clutch fourth-and-1 pickup from their own 15-yard line. Plus, his special teams contributions are huge. And then there’s Cairo Santos, who was literally the *entire* scoring offense. He nailed three of his four field goals, from 45, 26, and 44 yards. His only miss was a 53-yarder. When everything else was falling apart, Santos was a stud.
This kind of game gives head coach Ben Johnson tons of material to light a fire under his team. With those crucial roster spots still up for grabs, especially at running back and receiver, and the secondary clearly needing some serious work, you know practices are gonna be intense this week. It’s preseason, so it’s about getting things right, but man, they’ve got some work to do before the real games start counting.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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