Four Biggest Lessons From Buffalo Bills’ Crushing 33-6 Loss to Chicago Bears

After all the buildup the Buffalo Bills had going into the season, it was a big disappointment in their first preseason game. The Bills hosted the Chicago Bears for the passionate Bills Mafia hoping to start fresh after a roster overhaul this offseason. The biggest headline going into this game was that it would be Caleb Williams vs. Josh Allen for at least the first quarter. The biggest story for the Bills, however, should have been the evaluation of the players playing.

It’s incredibly difficult to give a fair assessment of this game because it seemed like no one showed up to play and no one showed up to coach. Once the Bills went three-and-out on their first drive, it all went downhill from there on the offensive side of the ball. Josh Allen was on the field for a drive and a half, and then when the first quarter was over, Allen was pulled.

Overall, the Bills were unable to find the endzone in this game. Tyles Bass was the only scorer for the Bills with two field goals. This was not a great performance by the Bills, and now we look at the biggest takeaways from this game.

The Bills are running out of time to decide which receivers to carry onto the final 53-man roster. The biggest takeaway from this battle is to figure out whether Marquez Valdes-Scantling or Tyrell Shavers will potentially be the final receiver. Shavers was targeted twice and had one reception for 10 yards. On the other hand, Valdes-Scantling had only one target that he dropped and would not make any catches that day.

In the next two practice matches and training sessions, the coaching staff will have to get both players to give their best to see who can beat the other for a spot in the selection.

It wouldn’t be Buffalo Bills football if there wasn’t a yellow flag waving the entire game. While preseason is a great time to make mistakes, committing 11 penalties for 75 yards is just plain indiscipline. One of the most unnecessary penalties to hurt the Bills came against defensive back Kendall Williamson, who leaned his shoulder into a defenseless Deandre Carter as he moved the chains for the Bears in the first quarter.

Sean McDermott must find a way to correct these mistakes, because penalties are one of Buffalo’s kryptonites. Lack of discipline leads to mistakes, which leads to losses.

Bills fans will have to hope Josh Allen stays healthy, because Mitch Trubisky is not going to make it at quarterback. The offense was severely limited, with Trubisky throwing the ball everywhere to different weapons. He missed tight end Quintin Morris wide open in the endzone and tried to target Keon Coleman in a tight window.

Trubisky hasn’t looked like a viable backup for the Bills, so he’ll have to find a way to continue to earn his spot as the backup quarterback for this offense. If he can’t do that, Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott will have to seriously consider bringing in competition.

Ultimately, this game is about figuring out what the Bills need to work on (which seems like everything at this point). However, McDermott and his coaching staff have a better sense of what worked and what needs to be improved. That’s what preseason is all about. At the same time, the Bills need to at least fight a little bit in a way that they didn’t today.