Bears @ Chiefs: Preseason Week 3 QB Grades

As quickly as the preseason arrived, it has already passed in the blink of an eye, and now we turn to the final week before the regular season. The Chicago Bears closed out their preseason slate with an exciting 29–27 comeback victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, powered by three fourth-quarter touchdown drives led by Tyson Bagent. Both quarterbacks delivered strong performances. Caleb Williams played four drives in the first half, completing 11 of 15 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown, good for a 115.8 passer rating, while also adding 18 rushing yards on two scrambles. Not to be outdone, Bagent finished 20 of 28 for 212 yards and three touchdown passes, all in the fourth quarter, posting an impressive 128.9 passer rating. Let’s get into some breakdowns for the last time before the regular season!

Caleb Williams

Anticipation was brimming as Caleb Williams and the Chicago offense got off to a near-flawless start last week against the Bills, but that momentum was quickly stifled against the Chiefs on Friday, beginning with a botched exchange between Williams and Olamide Zaccheaus that immediately put the unit behind the chains.

Now, I’ll be the first to say: the game in its entirety wasn’t as bad as it looked. This wasn’t a great performance by any means. Caleb left some throws on the field, and the sack he took was entirely on him. On that play, in my view, he cycled through his reads too quickly, overlooking a couple of open targets, most notably Cole Kmet, and ultimately took a bad sack.

He did keep his time to throw manageable, at 2.85s, well under his 2024 season average of 3.03s.

On the flip side, though, we also saw plenty of the traits that made him the No. 1 overall pick. On the touchdown drive, Caleb stood tall under pressure and ripped a deep back-shoulder throw to Rome Odunze. He absorbed what could have easily drawn a flaggable hit and still delivered a strike, a throw that Rome should come down with nine times out of ten. Undeterred, Caleb went right back to him on the very next snap, this time dropping a ball in with nice touch on a corner route with outstanding anticipation. The ball traveled 19 air yards, putting it right on the border between a medium and deep-level throw, and it showcased exactly why the Bears are so excited about their 2nd year signal-caller.

Best Play

We’re going to take a closer look at that 37-yard completion to Rome Odunze on the corner route. The Bears are running a short-China concept at the top of the screen with a flood-In concept to the bottom. The design essentially forces Caleb Williams to choose one side of the field to read, and in this case, he correctly looks to attack the weak side of the defense. If nothing develops, his next option would likely be a checkdown to the running back or trying to extend the play.

The linebacker aligned over Rome has outside leverage, taking himself out of the play and becoming a non-factor. Meanwhile, the deep safety is forced to respect the possibility of a vertical route, which makes this a clean read for Williams. Caleb shows excellent anticipation, he begins his throwing motion while Rome is still pushing vertically at the 30-yard line, and delivers a precise ball to Odunze around the Kansas City 21. From there, Rome does the rest, breaking a tackle and nearly taking it to the end zone. Overall, a great throw that contained touch, medium-level accuracy, and fantastic anticipation.

With a 1.30 total grade for the half, Caleb Williams’ start earns him a lower-end “Good” half grade.

Worst Play

Caleb’s worst throw of the evening came in the red zone on a 3rd-and-5 attempt to Rome Odunze in the end zone. The Bears were running a half-field “Pout” concept (Post + Out) to the top of the screen, a design typically read low-to-high before checking down to the running back. On this play, Colston Loveland gets bullied off his route and fails to create any separation, leaving Williams no real opportunity to throw his way. Caleb then progresses to Rome on the post, but the coverage is tight. If he had thrown with earlier anticipation, Rome might have had a chance, but with bracketed coverage, the correct decision would have been to hit the running back underneath and let him try to convert the first down. (For context, in my grading I don’t dock quarterbacks for throws I think they should make, I only grade the throws they actually attempt.)

Instead, Caleb forces the ball into a bad situation, and Rome is forced to play defender, knocking it away to prevent an interception. The Bears escaped with points, as Cairo Santos came on to kick the field goal, but this was a clear teaching moment for the young quarterback.

Tyson Bagent

It’s now official that Tyson Bagent will be a Bear for at least the next three years, after signing a two-year, $10 million extension just two days before the preseason finale. And in that game, Bagent delivered what was arguably the best performance of his young career. Though he started slowly, going just 4-of-8 with a sack on his first two drives, he caught fire in the fourth quarter, finishing 16-of-20 (with one of those incompletions being a spike to stop the clock) while orchestrating three straight touchdown drives to steal a win for Chicago.

His average time to throw came in at 2.95 seconds, slightly inflated by a few extended plays, but still right in line with his 2023 average of 2.91. Nothing out of the ordinary for Bagent’s style.

The game-winning touchdown to Jahdae Walker has understandably drawn plenty of attention. It was a perfectly placed ball thrown with anticipation and poise in the biggest moment of the night. But I’d also highlight another “Great”-level throw, his very first completion, a 23-yard strike to Durham Smythe. That set the tone for what would become an outstanding half of football.

Bagent’s second-half grade came in at 2.90, a high-end “Great” half and the best half I’ve graded in his career. He showed accuracy, anticipation, and composure, winning me over as a believer that he should be locked in as the Bears’ QB2 going forward.

Best Play

The Bears come out with a deep Levels concept at the top of the screen and a Wolf concept at the bottom. They add a wrinkle with Maurice Alexander, who executes a double move, selling the Out before breaking back with an In. With a single-high safety look, Tyson Bagent makes the correct read, showing both patience and trust in his protection. He delivers the ball with subtle anticipation, hitting Durham Smythe in stride and allowing him to turn up field for additional yards after the catch.

What makes this throw worth highlighting is the growth it represents. In 2023, this was a route Bagent consistently struggled with. In his start against the Saints, he threw two interceptions on nearly identical concepts (one highlighted below), largely due to a lack of velocity and anticipation. Those shortcomings allowed defenders to recover after the receiver’s break and jump the throw. But here we see the payoff of his work since then: more drive on the ball, earlier anticipation, and the confidence to make the throw. The result is a chunk gain and a first down, exactly the kind of progress the Bears were hoping to see, and a direct indication of why he was worthy of an extension.

Worst Play

This play is a good example of Tyson’s internal clock working against him. He held the ball for 6.69 seconds before releasing it, which is an eternity for any quarterback. The Bears were running a classic “Hoss” concept, a staple used by nearly every offense. It’s simple, but highly effective against both man and zone looks. The read is straightforward: if your speed receiver wins vertically, and the safety alignment allows it, you take the deep shot. Otherwise, you work the Hitches underneath for an easy gain.

On this rep, the bottom of the formation is well-covered, and Tyson correctly moves on from it. He comes to Tyler Scott, who unfortunately doesn’t do him many favors, failing to generate separation at the top of his route. The throw is still there to be made, but it needs to be delivered on time and with accuracy. Instead, Tyson hesitates, and that’s where the snowball effect begins. The Hoss concept is designed to hit quickly; if it doesn’t, the play tends to die. Tyson does extend the rep by moving the pocket and buying time, but when he comes back to Scott, he’s clearly rushed in his mechanics. Falling away on the throw, he delivers it wildly off target, giving Scott no chance to make a play. In the future, you would like to see Tyson reset his throwing base and drive a ball towards Scott.

Odds and Ends

• Moving forward I will be breaking down more variety of plays, generally I cover 1 of each type of play (Poor all the way through Elite if possible) find my Rewind review covering the Week 12 game against the Vikings for a preview of that.
• The Bears’ quarterbacks had an outstanding preseason, combining to complete 82 of 121 passes (67.8%) for 918 yards, 9 touchdowns, and just 1 interception, good for a collective 111.5 passer rating. Perhaps most encouraging of all, they took only 6 sacks, a rate of just 4.7%.
• I will also be grading weekly play from Jordan Love, Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels, Bo Nix, and J. J. McCarthy, you can follow me on Twitter for those if interested, I will also be posting them on my personal website.
• T-minus 13 days to Monday Night Football.

How did you feel about the Quarterback play on Friday? Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments, and Bear Down!