The Bears (1-1) dropped their first game of the season 19-13 in their week two matchup against the Houston Texans (2-0). They now fly back to Chicago to fix what seemed like a lack of offense in both games. Although it was a close game, Bears fans now have more questions and concerns rather than answers and hope.
The good
One good thing to see was that the defense is still their biggest weapon. The defense came into play, disrupting the Texan’s game plan and holding them to under 20 points. This unit won them in week one and kept them in the game in week two.
This defense is going to give many teams a hard time getting up and down the field. Shout out to Ryan Poles and the coaches for putting together and developing the talent. Jaylon Johnson is PFF’s CB3 through two weeks, proving he is still one of the elite defensive backs in football.
We might just have to bring back “The Monsters of the Midway” if they keep up these amazing performances. In addition to the lockdown Johnson, the Bears have also created some turnovers. Defensive tackle Andrew Billings had a key forced fumble late in the third quarter in the red zone. Instead of Houston putting the game away, the Bears’ defense takes the momentum and gives the team a chance to win the game.
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The bad
While most of the defense was good, there was a lot of bad everywhere else. Caleb Williams started the game 5/5 passing and looked pretty confident. Within the first half alone, he already met his week one performance by completing 12 out of 15 passes for 91 yards.
However, the back half was rough for the No. 1 pick, and he ended 23/36 for 174 yards. Which, amazingly, was an improvement from week one. Williams has yet to find the endzone in the NFL, and while he hasn’t been perfect, his teammates have dropped two potential touchdowns so far. So, it isn’t entirely Williams’ fault that it hasn’t happened yet.
Another “bad” has been Williams’ accuracy. We’ve seen him make tough throws in college, practice, and pre-season. It’s a real head-scratcher why he hasn’t been connecting on those big play throws yet, but he needs to start soon.
His time in the pocket hasn’t been great yet, with just 2.59 seconds between the snap and his release. That ranks sixth fastest in the league. Still, when receivers are open, he has to start giving his guys a chance.
The ugly
The main reason for the Bears’ struggles was the offensive line. They could not protect Williams against the Texans pass rush. Houston coach Demeco Ryans realized this weakness and attacked the Bears relentlessly.
Ryan’s defense blitzed at a 41% clip, the highest of his head coaching career. Out of 37 dropbacks, Williams was pressured 36 times. The Texans’ defense is good, but as an offensive line, the Bears cannot let that happen.
“I believe that protection is everybody,” head coach Matt Eberflus told reporters. “Protection is the tight ends, it’s the runners, it’s the offensive line, it’s the quarterback — it is everybody that’s involved.”
The unit also racked up a bunch of penalties, which is not the recipe for success. The frustration can be seen on the players’ faces. If the line doesn’t improve and continues to play as it has for the past two weeks, the Bears will see another sub-.500 win season.
What now?
Now, where do you go from here? You have to address the ugly. Teams around the league are seeing that the Bears can’t score or stop the blitz. There is a saying that “games are won and lost in the trenches,” and the Bears are losing.
If that gets addressed and fixed, then we can see Williams start making plays we saw in college. Williams is a good player, but right now, the chatter is becoming louder every week. He underperformed. The Bears are a good team on paper, but the execution of these past two weeks by this team has been poor. Right now, they are not looking like a team that can make the playoffs, but there are opportunities to change that.
It is early in the season, but it wasn’t a pretty game to see them play. Hopefully, we can see the Bears turn it around and take this game as a wake-up call. Going into next week in a very winnable game, it is expected that we see Williams and this offense have that game that shows everyone what a team they can potentially be. One thing they cannot do is rely on the defense.
The defense is the reason why they won in Week 1 and why they had a chance at a game-winning drive in Week 2. The Bears overlooked the offensive issue in that win in Week 1. Now that they lost, I don’t know how much bigger the spotlight needs to be on what is the problem.
Yes, the defense is great, but the offense needs to match that greatness in order for the Bears to be seen as a threat.
@Jon_Mathew23
