KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On Friday, the Chicago Bears defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 29-27 in their final preseason game. In many preseason games, the scoreboard does not reflect a team’s performance.

As is tradition for many NFL teams, both coaches announced before the game that their starters would play for half the final preseason game to shake off the rust and build game speed before the regular season begins.

The immediate standout was the strength of the Chiefs’ offensive line. Mahomes showcased his vintage form, throwing a 58-yard pass to wide receiver Thornton and switching the ball from one hand to the other before delivering a first-down pass to Travis Kelce.

The offensive line showed significant progress. Trey Smith, the league’s highest-paid guard, appeared in midseason form, anchoring the line with dominant blocks. Left tackle Josh Simmons continues to prove he’s the steal of the NFL draft, holding firm against Chicago’s pass rush. After a subpar performance against the Seahawks, Kingsley Suamataia displayed notable improvement in this game.

The Chiefs’ starting defense showed significant improvement in stopping the run, allowing just 114 rushing yards, which accounted for 27% of the Bears’ total offense. However, the secondary, hampered by injuries at safety, struggled against the passing game, surrendering 310 passing yards. Most of those yards came from Bears’ backup quarterback Tyson Bagent, indicating that the Chiefs’ second-string secondary allowed the majority of the passing production.

Overall, Andy Reid was able to address the weaknesses he saw in the game against the Seahawks by tightening up the rushing defense and getting the offensive line ready to be in mid-season form.

With tomorrow’s NFL 53-man roster deadline approaching, here are my predictions of some of the players that are on the “bubble” who will earn a roster spot for the season:

• Tyquan Thornton (WR): He displayed great chemistry with Mahomes throughout the preseason and can provide great depth for the wide receiver room as we go later in the season.
• Nikko Remigio (WR): He has shown he can provide a great skill set returning kicks and provide a spark to the offense when needed.
• Robert Tonyan (TE): He proved to show a lot of value in the tight end position with great blocking and passing ability.
• Ashton Gillotte (RE): He started the preseason slowly but was able to pick up his performance toward the end, having a standout game against the Bears.
• Nohl Williams (CB): Veach does it again! Great value pick in the third round. He proved to be a great asset to Veach’s secondary, providing great coverage.

Are we going to get the 50-passing-touchdown Mahomes? Or will this be another great defense just focusing on getting wins by thin margins? Who knows, only time will tell. But what I do know is that a lot of the things they were working toward in camp have been accomplished and they look to be in great shape.