Preseason Game No. 2
Kickoff: 7 p.m., Sunday
Where: Soldier Field, Chicago
TV: Fox (Joe Davis, Greg Olsen, Pam Oliver)
Radio: ESPN AM-1000 (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Jason McKie)
Spanish Radio: Latino Mix 93.5 FM (Omar Ramos, Miguel Esparza)
Streaming: FOX Sports live or the FOX Sports app, NFL plus
The Line: Bears by 2 1/2, over/under 40 1/2 (Fan Duel).
The Series: The Bears own a 12-5-1 record against the Bills in preseason, including a 33-6 win last year. In regular season games, the Bears have an 8-6 series lead. Buffalo won the last game in the regular season, 35-13 in 2022.
The Coaches: Bills coach Sean McDermott is in his ninth season and is coming off a 13-4 season and a 32-29 loss in the AFC championship game to Kansas City. He has a 93-52 record, 86-45 in the regular season and is 15-9 in preseason games. McDermott is 3-1 against the Bears in preseason.
Bears coach Ben Johnson is 0-0-1 after a 24-24 tie with Miami last week in his first preseason game. He was offensive coordinator three years in Detroit for coach Dan Campbell. He takes over a Bears team that was 5-12 last year under Matt Eberflus. Johnson was the winner of the NFL Assistant Coach of the Year Award last year and his three Lions offenses never finished lower than fifth in the league in scoring or third in yardage.
The Matchup: Buffalo hasn't said how much reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen will play, if he plays at all. Allen didn't play last week but he has played some in every preseason since he came into the league. He played eight snaps in last year's preseason opener and then sat out the final two preseason games. The Bills started preseason with a 34-25 loss to the New York Giants last week and briefly used almost all of their starters except Allen.
The Bears are playing their starters against Buffalo this week after holding out nine on offense and nine on defense in the first preseason game. As a result, it's the debut by quarterback Caleb Williams in Johnson's offense. The only starters on offense who played last week were left tackle Braxton Jones and tight end Colston Loveland. On defense, CB Tyrique Stevenson and LB Noah Sewell were the only starters to play last week for the Bears. The two teams have a Friday joint practice at Halas Hall prior to Sunday's game.
Of Note: Bills backup QB Mitchell Trubisky returns to Chicago after he was Bears starter from 2017-2020. In two preseason facing the Bears for Buffalo since leaving Chicago, Trubisky is 30 of 46 for 303 yards with one TD. He started in one preseason rout of the Bears and played in a game when they were routed by the Bears. ... Starting tackle is an issue for both teams. Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins is battling a back issue and his availability is in question. Ryan Van Demark has played for Dawkins with the first team in practice. The Bears have been looking at undrafted second-year tackle Theo Benedet this week with starters after they had starter Braxton Jones, Ozzy Trapilo and Kiran Amegadjie playing there throughout training camp and Week 1 of preseason. ... Cornerback Jaylon Johnson and slot cornerback Kyler Gordon remain out for the Bears. Johnson is on the non-football injury list and hasn't participated camp and Gordon has a soft tissue injury.
X: BearsOnSI