The NFL’s 2025 preseason is nearly complete, 32 of its 49 games in the books — Week 2 set to conclude Monday night when the Washington Commanders host the Cincinnati Bengals.
It’s typically tempting to draw premature conclusions from the exhibition slate — and make no mistake, some of these games hardly approximate bona fide professional football, starters and other front-liners often completely spared. That doesn’t mean there aren’t some key takeaways to glean as the league’s 32 teams finalize their preparations for the 18-week regular-season marathon that awaits, with more games to follow for those which run the best race.
While acknowledging the football caveats inherent to August, your winners and losers from the weekend:
Take two drives and a grain of salt for what they’re worth, but his (relatively) long-awaited debut in new Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson’s offense went swimmingly in Sunday night’s 38-0 whitewash of the Buffalo Bills. Williams was pinpoint accurate, made good decisions and practiced self-preservation − all things he struggled to do as a rookie after getting drafted first overall in 2024 and apparently throughout this summer's training camp. Again, two drives − yet sufficiently positive for the Bears and their fans to hang their hat on. For now.
