{"id":296997,"date":"2025-08-18T03:23:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T03:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/296997\/"},"modified":"2025-08-18T03:23:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T03:23:10","slug":"bills-preseason-2025-safety-concerns-emerge-in-blowout-loss-to-bears-stock-up-stock-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/296997\/","title":{"rendered":"Bills preseason 2025: Safety concerns emerge in blowout loss to Bears (stock up\/stock down)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Buffalo Bills<\/a> completed their second preseason game on Sunday night, losing 38-0 to the Chicago Bears. The final score is meaningless, but how the team arrived at this outcome is worrisome. <\/p>\n

The biggest issue that stands out after preseason game two? Buffalo may have a safety issue. Taylor Rapp did not suit up against Chicago, but two players competing for the other starting spot, Cole Bishop and Damar Hamlin, were on the field, and both left much to be desired. <\/p>\n

Although Bishop and Hamlin disappointed on Sunday night, they were not alone. Buffalo displayed poor fundamentals, tackling, coverage and more throughout the game. Exhibition or not, Sean McDermott will have plenty to say about how the team executed against Chicago.<\/p>\n

While it was mostly bad, there were a few bright spots for Buffalo. Here\u2019s a look at who impressed and disappointed against the Bears.<\/p>\n

STOCK UP<\/p>\n

Michael Hoecht: In Buffalo\u2019s first preseason game, Hoecht popped but failed to finish on a few plays. That was not the case against the Bears. The free agent signing did a great job of reading a screen pass on the Bears\u2019 second drive. In doing so, he forced Caleb Williams to throw the ball into the ground. He added a sack late in the first half on a 4th down play.<\/p>\n

Hoecht will miss the Bills\u2019 first six games due to suspension, but look for him to have a large role off the edge when he returns.<\/p>\n

Jordan Hancock: Buffalo\u2019s safety play, for the most part, left much to be desired. Jordan Hancock was the exception. The rookie from Ohio State had two big run stops in the first half against the Bears. He was erased by Luther Burden III on a 4th down run play, but there was more good than bad for the rookie defensive back. Hancock later exited the game with a shoulder injury. <\/p>\n

There is still a big learning curve for Hancock, but he could be the future of the position as early as 2026.<\/p>\n

Brad Robbins: It\u2019s never great to have the punter on the stock up list, but Robbins did a solid job for Buffalo. His first punt went 52 yards to Chicago\u2019s 24-yard line with good enough hangtime to force a fair catch. He pinned the Bears inside the 15 on his second punt. He added a 62-yard punt later in the first half. Robbins has not given Buffalo any reason to add competition at punter this summer.<\/p>\n

Tyrell Shavers: Shavers misplayed a long ball thrown in his direction, but he had a nice back shoulder catch and drew a pass interference penalty. It wasn\u2019t much, but Shavers did more than most receivers on the Bills\u2019 roster. <\/p>\n

STOCK DOWN<\/p>\n

Ryan Van Demark: Buffalo faced a third and long on their opening series that went to third and longer thanks to Van Demark. The offensive lineman was penalized for back-to-back false starts, which effectively ended their drive.<\/p>\n

Joe Andreessen: Joe Andreessen had a first half to forget for Buffalo. The second-year linebacker looked like he was a few steps behind Bears players all night long. He gave up multiple receptions and struggled in pass coverage against the Bears\u2019 top two quarterbacks. That\u2019s one area where Andreessen needs to improve.<\/p>\n

Damar Hamlin: Buffalo trusts Damar Hamlin as he brings plenty of experience to their secondary, but the safety performed poorly against the Bears. Hamlin missed tackles, was called for holding and was out of position on a few plays early in the game. <\/p>\n

Cole Bishop: Hamlin\u2019s struggles against the Bears should have opened the door for Bishop to gain ground in their competition for a starting job. The only problem? Bishop was just as bad as Hamlin. Bishop was beaten on the Bears\u2019 first touchdown and missed a tackle earlier on the drive. He\u2019s missed a lot of time this summer due to a quad injury and it showed. <\/p>\n

Mike White: White was given the start for Buffalo at quarterback. He auditioned to demonstrate his capability to be the Bills\u2019 No. 2 quarterback, but it did not go well. White completed 4-of-11 passes for 54 yards while taking some bad sacks along the way.<\/p>\n

Elijah Moore: Elijah Moore did nothing to improve his status on the Bills\u2019 depth chart at wide receiver. On a quick pass late in the first half, Moore took the play to the outside despite it being designed to go inside. That caused Zach Davidson to panic on a block attempt that resulted in a facemask penalty. Moore would drop a pass later in the series. At this point, Moore should be below Tyrell Shavers on the Bills\u2019 depth chart.<\/p>\n

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Buffalo Bills completed their second preseason game on Sunday night, losing 38-0 to the Chicago Bears. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296998,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2070],"tags":[374,692,391,2493,7,6,31185],"class_list":{"0":"post-296997","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bears","8":"tag-bears","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-bears","11":"tag-chicagobears","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-nflraw25"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115047629306638594","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/296998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}