Through two quarters of a preseason game against the Chicago Bears, the Buffalo Bills have absolutely dominated their competition, 31-6. Offensively, defensively, and on special teams, the Bills easily handled Chicago’s starters with a roster of mostly second stringers, with almost no blemishes in the entire half.
Like they did last week, the Bills sat most of their defensive starters, then absolutely put the clamps on Chicago’s first string. Damien Williams carried the ball five times for eight yards, and lost a fumble, which Bills safety Damar Hamlin recovered. Aside from a single play, Andy Dalton was 9 of 13 passing for 63 yards. Chicago’s only gasp of life came late in the second half, when Dalton took a chance on Rodney Adams covered one-on-one by Siran Neal. Neal failed to find the football, Adams caught the pass over his helmet, bounced off Neal, and ran the remainder of a 73-yard touchdown. Greg Rousseau landed his second sack of the preseason, and Boogie Basham had his first sack today. A.J. Epenesa and Darryl Johnson also landed hits on the quarterback, but weren’t able to tackle him before he threw it away. With the Bears trying for one more score in the end of the half, rookie defensive back Nick McCloud picked off Dalton and brought the ball to the cusp of field goal range.
Offensively, the Bills were on cruise control for almost the entire half. Trubisky played the whole time, and had much more leeway for passing compared with last week. He completed 20 of 28 passes for 220 yards and a touchdown, throwing to ten different receivers in the process. Isaiah McKenzie was a frequent focus, leading the set with seven catches for 72 yards plus a four yard carry. Devin Singletary continued looking sharp, with two carries for 21 yards, one of those a clean touchdown. Reggie Gilliam scored two touchdowns on carries from the one yard line. Zack Moss had his first action of the preseason, with four carries for 21 yards. Dion Dawkins debuted and held his own against the Bears, and the rest of the Bills offensive line was sharp, too.
On special teams, the Bills were similarly sharp. Tyler Bass scored two field goals and McKenzie had a 35-yard punt return, though he did fumble a punt (and recovered it himself). Not to be outdone, Boogie Basham blocked an extra point. Aside from McKenzie’s fumble, the only other disappointment was a shanked punt from Matt Haack on his only attempt.