Bears vs Dolphins
By Brandon Duplacey
As “Who’s Line” host, Drew Carey used to say, “where the rules are made up and the points don’t matter”. A story without an ending. Literally. The Bears hosted the Miami Dolphins on Sunday afternoon for their first preseason contest of 2025 and under new Head Coach Ben Johnson. In an aggressive all or nothing finale orchestrated by both Ben Johnson and Dolphins head coach, Mike McDaniel, neither team managed to score, both opting not to attempt a field goal on their their final few possessions. Resulting in a tie, 24-24. After watching Jacksonville Jaguars kicker, Cam Little split the upright on a 70 yard field goal attempt on Saturday night, Ben Johnson elected not to attempt a 56 yard field gaol to take the lead with less than 2 minutes left in the game. I must admit, the overly persistent “go for it” approach, prompted a lazy and manipulated memory based comparison to Johnson’s former mentor, and Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell. It is just and only the preseason, however, the Bears had a few opportunities late in the game to test their young undrafted free agent kicker Jonathan Kim. “NO OVERTIME?” You ask? There is of course another reason that the game resulted in a tie. Nobody cares. Nobody cares enough to see the rest of the story written. Not even the players….especially not the players. Admit it or not, an NFL preseason game, is the only game, in which the parts matter more than the sum. The performance of the individual, provides a lot more implication, than the result of the entire unit. Especially considering the Dolphins decided to play both of their starting units on offense and defense on the first drive of the game, where Ben and company did not.
The Bears won the toss and opted to receive the opening kickoff. The offense started off flat behind undrafted division 2 quarterback, Tyson Bagent. Following that first drive the Bears offense seemed to find a rhythm behind a healthy dose of a downhill rush attack balanced by an understandably considerable use of play action. Both Bagent and veteran quarterback Case Keenum manufactured touchdown drives and threw for a combined 21/29, 183 yards, and 3 touchdowns passing. By my standards, that’s a respectful taste of new play-caller, Ben Johnson’s offense. no matter who was commanding it on the field.
The offensive line was serviceable at best in my opinion. Which shouldn’t concern anyone but the individuals fighting for a place of the 53 man roster. Four of the five potential starters on the line were listed as non active so we still have yet to see what we all hope will be a cohesive unit in front of starting quarterback Caleb Williams. I think there’s something to be said about the fact that Braxton Jones was the only listed starter to suit up for today’s game. However, to my surprise rookie Ozzy Trupilo played all the way through the last whistle. Even though he wasn’t given the start. Implying that they might be further behind on a decision at the position than we’d hoped. I thought the rookie looked good against the power rush, but struggled at times with the quicker and more elusive defenders. We will see if Trupilo is given the start alongside new additions Joe Thuney and Drew Dahlman in the bears 2nd preseason game against the Buffalo Bills in Soldier Field next Sunday.
New defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s defense struggled to stop the run, and couldn’t quite finish tackles, but they did apply pressure to whichever Miami quarterback was behind center. Finishing the day with an impressive 6 sacks. 3 by second year edge out of Kansas, Austin Booker. Booker was easily the best of the backups on both sides of the ball. He lived rent free in the backfield today and added 4 QB hits to his 3 sacks. His third and final, a superman sack running down former Texas star, Quinn Ewers, who also fumbled on the play.
All in all the Bears have a lot to work on. The score was ironically reflective of what the game meant to me as a fan but more importantly an analyst. The Bears looked like a team that could compete regardless of how many new additions there are from the sideline to the field. Including the playbook. While also looking like a team that has no business in a bout with the leagues best.
Injuries:
Miami veteran RB, Alexander Mattison landed awkwardly on his head and had to leave the field. Able to walk to the locker room himself. No update was provided.
Chicago veteran CB, Tre Flowers was shaken up and had to be sidelined, only to return later in the half.
Chicago veteran RB, Travis Homes limped through a few plays after being tackled awkwardly, even caught a pass after the injury, and was eventually sidelined and did not return.
