So you wonder, are the Bills really that good … the Bears that bad … or a little of both?
What’s certain is that after Buffalo routed Chicago, 41-15, in the season’s second preseason game, Saturday afternoon at Soldier Field, the Bears feel a little awkward about having waived starting quarterback Mitch Trubisky in the off-season.
After all, Trubisky, who fell out of favor quickly with Chicago fans, went 29-21 as a starter and threw 64 touchdown passes against 37 interceptions while rushing for eight TDs in his four seasons.
Those numbers convinced the Bills’ hierarchy to dispatch previous backup QB Matt Barkley and sign Trubisky to be starter Josh Allen’s caddy.
And in his return to the city that scorned him, the former one-year starter at North Carolina who was taken No. 2 overall in the 2017 draft, showed why the Bears chose him.
Trubisky played the first half and 34 dropped points on his former team going 20 of 28 through the air for 221 yards with a 4-yard touchdown connection with wide receiver Jake Kumerow.
Buffalo offensive coordinator Brian Daboll called passes on 18 of the Bills first 21 snaps (one ended in a sack).
Kumerow, who All-Pro quarterback Aaron Rodgers angrily called the Packers “second-best receiver” before Green Bay cut him last year, is making a strong bid to be one of the six or seven wideouts Buffalo keeps in the cut to the regular-season roster level of 53.
Meanwhile, Trubisky, who looms as a one-year rental for the Bills until next season when he can find a team where he can bid for a starting job, led Buffalo to touchdowns on its first four possessions and added two field goal drives late in the second quarter. In seven possessions he had one three-and-out.
Afterward, he admitted, “I just wanted to play well. I think it’s just important for me to come out here and play well and keep getting better week to week.
“I knew people would be talking about it and hyping it up, but it was just important for me to come out here and do my job and show my teammates that I could play ball.”
THERE was one other impressive aspect to Trubisky’s performance … he did it with backup wide receivers as Stefon Diggs (knee), Emmanuel Sanders (foot) and Cole Beasley didn’t play.
Also sitting out on offense, besides Allen, were center Mitch Morse and tackle Daryl Williams.
WITH the Bills preseason finale coming up Saturday afternoon at Highmark Stadium against the Packers — Buffalo has now won seven straight exhibitions dating back to 2018 — it’s worth wondering whether Diggs’ knee problem is temporary or has long-term potential.
And there was some bad news in the win at Chicago as defensive tackle Harrison Phillips and offensive tackles Spencer Brown and Tommy Doyle, third- and fifth-round choices in April, all left the game with knee injuries of undetermined severity.
NINE OF Buffalo’s 11 starting defenders sat out against the Bears, ends Jerry Hughes and Mario Addison, tackle Star Lotulelei, linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano, cornerbacks Tre’ Devious White and Levi Wallace and safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer.
The only “starters” who played were tackle Ed Oliver and linebacker A.J. Klein, whose jobs would seem to be somewhat at risk.
With Hughes and Addison sitting, Buffalo’s first- and second-round draft choices, Greg Rousseau and Carlos Basham, respectively, acquitted themselves well. Basham tied for team highs in tackles (5) and solos (4) and added a sack and tackle for loss. Rousseau had a sack for a second straight game and also logged a tackle for loss.
Wallace being rested seems to indicate he’s earned the starting job opposite White and his opposition, Dane Jackson, who hasn’t mounted a serious challenge, had two tackles before leaving the game with a stinger.
LITTLE WAS settled at running back as Devin Singletary, who had a 14-yard touchdown on the ground, and Zack Moss, each ran for 21 yards on two and four carries, respectively, while Matt Breida had 18 on five.
Isaiah McKenzie, Buffalo’s offensive Swiss Army Knife, caught a game-high seven passes for 72 yards and returned three punts for 51, including a 35-yarder, but he fumbled on one and the Bills were fortunate to recover.
And, lest he become complacent as a returner, rookie sixth-round draft choice Marquez Stevenson went 79 yards for a TD bringing back a punt, meaning McKenzie might not be a lock for the kick returning job.
(Chuck Pollock, a Times Herald senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)
