Week 3 of the NFL preseason continues with the Buffalo Bills facing the Chicago Bears on Saturday, August 26 from Soldier Field in Chicago. The Bills enter with a 1-1 preseason record after falling to the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-15 last week. The Bears are 1-1 through the preseason after a 24-17 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2.
Buffalo Bills
Buffalo is coming off a dismal Week 2 preseason performance that saw their regular season starters come out flat and undisciplined. Josh Allen finished with a solid stat line, going 7-for-10 for 64 yards. But Pittsburgh jumped to an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter while the Bills were penalized 13 times for a combined 93 yards. Buffalo also averaged just 3.6 yards per carry as presumed starter, James Cook, finished with three carries for three yards.
Which Bills will play, expected inactives
Head coach Sean McDermott announced on Thursday that the starters would play in the team’s preseason finale, which means we should expect the likes of Allen, Cook, and possibly even Stefon Diggs to take the field to start the game. McDermott, however, did not specify how long the starters would play, but it’s likely they will be limited to a small volume of series out of precaution before their regular season opener on Sep. 11 on Monday Night Football.
Chicago Bears
Starting quarterback Justin Fields sat out the Bears’ preseason Week 2 contest as the Colts mounted a 24-17 comeback victory. P.J. Walker got the start for Chicago, having gone just 1-for-4 for six yards while taking two sacks for a loss of nine yards. Bears undrafted rookie quarterback Tyson Bagent went 9-of-10 on the most impressive drive of the game, while rookie running back Roschon Johnson finished with seven carries for 32 yards while adding a reception for 11 yards.
Which Bears will play, expected inactives
Bears coach Matt Eberflus announced during Thursday’s practice that quarterback Justin Fields and the rest of Chicago’s healthy starters would take the field for the team’s preseason finale. Though Eberflus did not indicate how long they would be out on the field, he did echo that they will have a selected number of plays that they will run through. In addition to Fields, this should mean that we will see Khalil Herbert and D’Onta Foreman on Saturday as both are in the middle of an RB1 training camp competition.