CHICAGO – The Bears starters played in Sunday’s 38-0 preseason victory over the Buffalo Bills at Soldier Field, but they weren’t featured for long.

The first-team offense played two series. The first-team defense forced a three-and-out and weren’t seen again.

Despite the relatively quick cameos, the results were overwhelmingly positive. That’s why you’ll see some good grades in this postgame Bears report card, which will be focused on the starters. Primarily. We’ll veer from that rule a few times, but giving grades for those who likely won’t be on the 53-man roster seems silly.

Also, it must be noted that the Bills didn’t play their starters, so that factored into our evaluation. It won’t cause us to grade on a curve.

Let’s get to our postgame breakdown of each phase of the game.

Passing offense

Caleb Williams was awesome on the first series. There’s no arguing that. The Bears quarterback was well protected. He was in great sync with his receivers. He was accurate and on time with his throws during a seven-play, 92-yard drive that ended with Olamide Zaccheaus’ 36-yard touchdown catch.

Those are all positives. So was the fact Williams didn’t encounter any pre-snap issues. He made smart reads and got the offense in a good flow from the start. He talked extensively postgame about building from here, following an excellent three-day stretch to end the week. If he can do that, the Bears should be in a good spot come Week 1 against Minnesota.

Oh, and Tyson Bagent was really good in extended action. It’s probably safe to assume he’s the No. 2 quarterback after another strong day.

Grade: A

Rushing offense

Running back D’Andre Swift was one of three starters who didn’t play – left guard Joe Thuney and defensive tackle Grady Jarrett were the others – and the Bears didn’t run much in the first two series, so it’s hard to say how the run game fared. The Bears are down several backs, with Roschon Johnson, Travis Homer and Kyle Monangai banged up, so we didn’t see a ball carrier likely to make the roster take a snap on Sunday.

Grade: Incomplete

Passing defense

The Bears did just fine. Jaylon Johnson was active in an extended pre-game warmup, which is a positive sign for a banged up cornerback corps. There was some terrible news in this game, with Terell Smith suffering what looked to be a serious knee injury. That will hurt the group long term, to be sure. Austin Booker had another big sack but left the game injured as well. Jarrett didn’t play – he’s healthy – so we didn’t get a look at the first team front four. Looking at numbers from expected regular-season contributors in combination with joint-practice performance, the pass defense is on the right track.

Grade: B

Rushing defense

Bears starters didn’t play much, so this is a tough evaluation, too. Gervon Dexter Sr. continued his solid summer with a tackle for a loss. And that was the only running play the starters saw. The Bills gained four yards per carry overall, but Andrew Billings played well against the run on the second unit, and he’ll be a major factor. Noah Sewell was active in that pursuit, an important factor in playing strongside linebacker.

Grade: B

Special teams

Cairo Santos continues to have a strong summer. He hit a field goal from 40 yards out on Sunday, a week after connecting from 57. We didn’t get to see expected return man Devin Duvernay — something didn’t feel right in pregame warmups — but several players returned punts. Luther Burden has some juice back there, along with Zaccheaus, but they had fair catches.

Grade: B

Coaching

Ben Johnson continues to function well as a game manager and play caller, without any obvious hiccups in his operation. I thought it was selfless and pretty cool that he had offensive coordinator Declan Doyle call plays in the second half. Dennis Allen ceded play-calling duties to secondary coach Al Harris. Coaching is about developing players but also about developing young coaches, and his is a good way to do it.

Grade: A

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