Tory Taylor
(AP Photo/Eric Gay)

The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly of Bears Week 2 Loss in Houston

Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterSeptember 17, 2024

The Bears lost 19-13 to the Texans in Houston on Sunday night, and with my sincere apologies to Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone, let’s dig into the good, the bad, and the ugly of Chicago’s first loss of the 2024 season.

The Good

  • Through two games, the Bears defense has been on the field for 14 second-half drives and has allowed only three points while creating four takeaways.
  • The defense was so good it gave Caleb Williams and the rest of Chicago’s offense a chance to win on their final possession.
  • Williams’ accuracy improved Sunday, but it was only on distances of 10 yards or less, one of many things he continues to work through.
  • Williams also had the 6th-fastest release time of all quarterbacks who started this week. He was also checking at the line quite a bit, indicating he had a good grasp of Houston’s defensive scheme. The blocks weren’t there, however.

  • Cole Kmet was largely underused again, though he did have four receptions for 27 yards. He didn’t block very well though and had two painfully obvious whiffs. He tends to miss his blocks more often when he isn’t getting enough targets.
  • That said, Kmet’s average of 4.2 yards of separation (per Next Generation Stats) when targeted is elite. The Bears have to find a way to give him a bigger role in this offense.
  • Chicago’s defensive backs held Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell to 30 receiving yards in the loss. Last week, the Bears’ secondary held Calvin Ridley, DeAndre Hopkins, and Tyler Boyd to a combined 76 receiving yards on seven catches.
  • Gervon Dexter had a sack for the second consecutive game. Tremaine Edmunds and Jack Sanborn also sacked C.J. Stroud, but Houston did a great job of neutralizing Darrell Taylor, who finished with one solo tackle.
  • Tory Taylor is even better than advertised. He hit a 57-yard bomb Sunday night after nailing a 60-yard punt against the Titans.
  • Taylor averaged 47.3 yards per punt on six boots with a long of 57. The former Iowa punter downed two inside the 20-yard line and yielded just 11 punt return yards overall. He also holds for Cairo Santos, who has been perfect on field goals and extra points this season.

The Bad

  • The Bears are averaging 77.5 rushing yards per game and 3.52 yards per rush, ranked 28th and 29th in the NFL.
  • Chicago has just 353 of total offense through its first two games.
  • Williams and D.J. Moore have yet to find a rhythm and Moore is clearly frustrated.
  • The Bears were called for nine penalties, including three on special teams. Two of those came on the offensive line for false starts after timeouts.
  • Matt Eberflus threw two questionable challenge flags.
  • Eberflus had the opportunity to go two games above .500 for the first time in his career as a head coach and failed.
  • Williams forced a throw into coverage that resulted in his second interception.
  • Nico Collins had 135 receiving yards on eight catches with one score.
  • The offensive line couldn’t stop Houston’s pass rush. Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson combined for 17 pressures, four QB hits, three sacks, and four TFLs. The Texans had 36 total pressures on 37 passing attempts.

The Ugly

  • Williams was sacked seven times on Sunday night and took big hits on an additional 11 passing attempts.
  • Five of those seven sacks came against the blitz where Williams was 3-of-12 for 15 yards and an interception.
  • Williams was 0-of-7 with two interceptions on throws traveling at least 15 yards downfield per ESPN Stats & Info. All seven of his deep attempts were off-target. Through two weeks, the rookie is 0-of-11 on such throws and all have been off target.
  • In two games, Williams has completed 14% of his passes while under duress.
  • Chicago’s run game was nonexistent for a second straight week. D’Andre Swift totaled 18 yards on 14 rushes (1.3 yards per carry).
  • The Bears offense has one touchdown in two games, and that’s unacceptable.

Telling Quotes

Kmet ran the gamut of the rookie learning curve while discussing the team’s offensive struggles. He doesn’t mention Shane Waldron by name, but the inference is obvious.

  • “I know obviously with Caleb being a rookie, they’re gonna test him to see what he knows, protection-wise. Like coach is saying, protection’s not [silent pause].”
  • “I know everyone just wants to look at the offensive line. You see a sack and maybe you feel like it’s on the offensive line. But there’s a lot of things that go into it, whether it’s receivers having to run the right routes, and if they’re not there that causes the quarterback to hold the ball a little bit more, leading to sacks. There are also protection adjustments. You see pressure and have to adjust off the pressure you see and maybe make a slide different here and there and get the linemen to the right spots. Or it’s a miscommunication up front as to what play we’re running.”
  • “There’s a lot that goes into it. I don’t think it’s necessarily a talent issue upfront. I don’t think we were getting overmatched totally [and] physically up front. But I think us getting on the same page can lead to those adjustments, and [then] we can see those sacks come down a little bit.”
Photo of Michael Canter Michael CanterSeptember 17, 2024
Bears Insider © Copyright 2024, All Rights Reserved
Back to top button