Bears vs. Bengals: Everything we know about Chicago's Week 2 preseason win

The Chicago Bears defeated the Cincinnati Bengals, 27-3, on Saturday at Soldier Field. They improved to 3-0 on the preseason after another win over an AFC powerhouse, albeit one where Cincinnati's starters didn't play.

The Bears offense got off to a slow start with three consecutive three-and-outs. Instead of pulling the starters after the first quarter, coach Matt Eberflus kept them on the field and rookie quarterback Caleb Williams and co. find their rhythm. And they did, scoring on their final two possessions to give Chicago a 10-0 lead at halftime. Meanwhile, the Bears defense dominated from start to finish, holding the Bengals to just three points and forced three turnovers.

Following Chicago's win over Cincinnati, we're breaking it all down:

Final Score: Bears 27, Bengals 6

Keys to the Game

The Caleb Williams-Rome Odunze connection: The Bears drafted the duo of Williams and Odunze in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft, and they're already dazzling together in Chicago. While the pair didn't connect in last week's win against the Bills, they had a big 45-yard completion that led to the starting offense's first touchdown of the preseason -- a seven-yard touchdown run by Williams. Williams and Odunze almost connected for what would've been an insane touchdown on the same drive, but Odunze was out of bounds. If this duo continues to play like they have so far, the Bears will be set for the future.

Patience is required for this offense: Chicago didn’t start this game off well with three consecutive three-and-outs, including three Williams incompletions to start the game. But, credit to coach Matt Eberflus for leaving the starters in for the second quarter as they worked through the adversity and ultimately bounced back with two scoring drives to end the half with a 10-0 lead. The same can be said of the regular season, where Williams will surely have his rookie moments. Even from game to game, there are going to be ups and downs, but the talent should be able to show more ups than downs

The Bears have a lot more depth than in recent years: Chicago played well for the entirety of their win against Cincinnati, where the depth was on display, especially in the secondary. While Kyler Gordon thrived in his first preseason action of the summer, we also saw reserves like Terell Smith and Josh Blackwell step up with impact plays. It doesn’t matter which layer of the team we are talking about or which group (offense, defense, special teams). Everyone contributed to the win.

It was over when...

Backup quarterback Tyson Bagent threw his second touchdown pass (for 25 yards) to receiver Dante Pettis to give Chicago a 24-3 lead. Bagent and Pettis singlehandedly put the game out of reach for a Cincinnati team that failed to score more than a field goal in the first half.

3 Stars of the Game

*** QB Caleb Williams: Williams should be in contention for a star of the game in every game. He is supposed to be the star quarterback that leads this team to the promised land. In this game, he deserves to be mentioned, even though he got off to a slow start. Williams completed 6-of-13 passes for 75 yards, where he made some impressive plays on the move that left the NFL world in awe. He also scored his first touchdown as a Bear on a seven-yard scramble.

** DE Daniel Hardy: There were a number of standout performers on defense, but one player who stood out is Hardy, who continues to make a strong case for a roster spot. Hardy has strung together back-to-back impressive outings where he's showcased his ability to get after the quarterback. After notching 2.5 sacks last week, Hardy recorded three tackles, two tackles-for-loss, 1.0 sack, two QB hits and a forced fumble.

* QB Tyson Bagent: It is very preseason to have two quarterbacks be named as a star of the game. But Bagent is quite deserving of the top honor after his impressive outing, where he completed 7-of-8 passes for 87 yards and threw two touchdowns with a 151.6 passer rating, while adding one rush for 10 yards. If there was ever a debate about competition at the QB2 job, Bagent put that discourse to bed.

What’s next?

The Bears conclude the preseason against the defending Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs. It's uncertain whether the starters will see the field, but coach Matt Eberflus didn't rule it out just yet. Before that, you can catch the third episode of “Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Chicago Bears” Tuesday on HBO and streaming on Max.

This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears vs. Bengals: Everything we know about Chicago's preseason win