Schrock’s Grade: Assessing the Bears’ offense and defense in preseason win over the Chiefs originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

It wasn’t perfect, but the Bears completed their first 4-0 preseason since 1994 with a 34-21 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday at GEHA Fields in Arrowhead Stadium.

The Bears outscored their opponents 115-47 in the four exhibition games.

Quarterback Caleb Williams and the starters didn’t play, but the Bears’ second- and third-teamers jumped out to a 34-7 lead over the Chiefs’ reserves before Kansas City scored two touchdowns in the closing minutes to even the score.

With pre-season preparations complete, head coach Matt Eberflus and his staff turn their attention to Tuesday’s roster trimming deadline before the highly anticipated 2024 season begins.

Here’s a final preseason report for a Bears team with a lot of potential and some work to do:

Passing attack

The Bears were not exactly heard from on Thursday night in Kansas City.

Backup quarterback Tyson Bagent started and went 3-for-6 for 57 yards in two drives. Third-string quarterback Brett Rypien replaced him and went 9-for-13 for 106 yards, including a 37-yard strike to Tyler Scott down the left sideline.

Scott caught six passes on 10 targets for 99 yards during an extended game on Thursday.

Undrafted rookie quarterback Austin Reed was efficient, going 8 of 10 for 63 yards and a touchdown during the cleanup.

It was good to see Scott have a productive day. The second-year receiver looked good in camp and should be the No. 4 receiver on the depth chart when camp is over.

Swing tackle Larry Borom suffered an ankle injury and will undergo an MRI on Friday. Borom started the game on the roster bubble, and this injury could burst it. If Borom does not make the 53-man roster, that leaves Matt Pryor and rookie Kiran Amegadjie as the Bears’ backup tackles.

GRADE: C

Attack with haste

Travis Homer started the game at running back, but Velus Jones Jr. was handed the brunt of the workload after undrafted rookie Ian Wheeler was injured.

Jones, who switched to running back two weeks ago, rushed for 111 yards on 13 carries (8.5 per carry), including a 39-yard touchdown.

The Bears have a lot of running backs, but Jones looked explosive on the outside run.

“When you build your roster the way we moved him to that new position, we wanted to see every rep we could get at that position,” Eberflus said after the win when asked why Jones got so much work in the preseason finale. “Protecting, running routes, running the ball the way he did. So we wanted to take another look at him. He really took a good step forward today.”

GRADE: B+

Passing defense

With Patrick Mahomes and Carson Wentz both out, the Bears’ deep defense made life difficult for third quarterback Chris Oladokun.

Undrafted rookie cornerback Reddy Steward intercepted Oladokun twice, including an interception, limiting the Bears to 66 total yards.

Fourth quarterback Ian Book threw two touchdown passes in garbage time.

The Bears’ pass rush did nothing special on Thursday night.

Rookie Austin Booker made one appearance, while Dashaun Mallory recorded the Bears’ lone sack.

Eberflus admitted after the win that the Bears’ lack of depth at defensive tackle is a concern. The Bears have Gervon Dexter and Andrew Billings, but second-year defensive tackle Zacch Pickens is injured and there is no reliable depth behind him.

That’s a position the Bears will want to address in the coming week.

GRADE: A

Run defense

Chiefs rookie running back Carson Steele rushed for 50 yards and a touchdown on four carries Thursday. Steele ripped off a 31-yard run that included a huge stiff-arm pass to safety Tarvarius Moore.

All told, the Bears defense gave up 135 yards rushing on 27 carries (5.0 yards per attempt). The interior of the defensive line failed to get a consistent push, but the Bears did get a good all-around game from Daniel Hardy, who continues to cement his spot on the 53-man roster.

GRADE: C+

Special teams

Veteran wide receiver and return specialist Deandre Carter is vying for one of the final spots on the Bears’ roster, but an unforgivable special teams mistake Thursday didn’t help his case.

Carter went back to return a point, but chose to let it bounce. Carter went up to block the gunner, but was pushed back, and the ball bounced off his leg, and the Chiefs recovered.

With Dante Pettis missing Thursday’s game due to injury, Carter should still have a good chance to make the roster.

But in an era where every repetition counts, that blunder could cost Carter dearly.

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