HOUSTON — The Chicago Bears had 53 yards to go in 1:07 to somehow win the game. It took Houston Texans edge rusher Danielle Hunter 3.4 seconds to all but put an end to it.
Take any of the Texans’ seven sacks, 11 quarterback hits and 16 pressures, and that play symbolized the night for Caleb Williams and an anemic Bears offense in a 19-13 loss.
“I’m a little bruised up,” Williams said before offering the understatement of the season, “took a couple hits today.”
Houston’s defensive front harassed Williams all night long. They also didn’t let the run game get going, and they probably can take credit for the Bears’ pre-snap penalties.
But the Bears defense shut down C.J. Stroud and company in the second half, holding them to three points. Andrew Billings’ forced fumble near the goal line kept them in it, giving Williams one last shot. With first down near midfield, Hunter jabbed inside before going around right tackle Darnell Wright’s outside shoulder with ease. He then engulfed Williams, bringing him down for the sack.
Three plays later, on fourth-and-17, the game was over.
“We were putting ourselves in a hole is what we were doing,” center Coleman Shelton said. “Not being able to move the ball on first and second down and giving them third-and-long so they could do what they want in the rush pattern. That’s not a fun position to be in for us. Obviously we’ve got to block better and hopefully we can stay on track through a series and through a drive.”
Coach Matt Eberflus said after the game that he believes protection is everybody. He didn’t want to put full blame on the offensive line. To an extent, he’s right. The play calling needs to be better. The cadence has to be on point. Williams has to adjust and make quicker decisions. Players have to get open. Runners have to hit the holes.
Talent-wise, though, the offensive line entered the season as a question mark. A group with major potential, sure, thanks to Wright, Teven Jenkins and the best depth general manager Ryan Poles said he has had in Chicago. But still, question marks galore. Add that to a new play caller and a rookie quarterback, and a defense ready to feast, and you’ve got problems through two weeks.
“They were blitzing a lot, a lot on third down,” wide receiver DeAndre Carter said. “We’ve got to figure out how to defend that. We’re going to see that week to week until we prove that we can stop it.”
WELCOME TO AREA 51 🛸
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— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) September 16, 2024
Asked what the point of emphasis will be this week at Halas Hall, Jenkins responded quickly, “Protecting Caleb.”
Here’s a look at the numbers, per TruMedia, that show how often Williams was under duress and how poor the offense was in those situations:
• He was sacked seven times, the most the Bears have allowed in a game since Jan. 1, 2023, a woeful 41-10 loss to Detroit. It’s also the most any quarterback has been sacked this season.
• Six Texans recorded at least one sack.
• Williams was sacked on 15.9 percent of his dropbacks, the second-highest rate in the league this season.
• The Texans blitzed on 41.7 percent of Williams’ dropbacks, the eighth-highest rate in the league this season. It’s Houston’s highest blitz rate under coach DeMeco Ryans.
• Williams had an EPA (expected points added) of -0.94 when facing an extra rusher, the fifth-worst mark in the league through two weeks.
• The Texans pressured Williams on 14.6 percent of his dropbacks, the third-highest rate in the NFL in 2024.
“It’s frustrating. It feels like I’ve had this talk for a few years now,” tight end Cole Kmet said. “We understood that this would be a process a little bit. We’ve got a lot to work on.”
SWARM ‼️
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Kmet has had to stand in the locker room after plenty of games in which his quarterback has been knocked around. Other Bears before him have, too. How many stories like this were written during Jay Cutler’s career in Chicago?
Missing wide receiver Keenan Allen didn’t help. Allen’s ability to get open quickly would’ve been vital against this defense. Ryan Bates heading to injured reserve also didn’t help, that is, if he’d offer a better solution on the interior of the line. He isn’t eligible to return until Week 6.
The only positions on the offensive line the Bears could really look to change from within are right guard and center. The depth might be better with a veteran like Matt Pryor, but it’s unclear if he’s the answer. Maybe third-round rookie Kiran Amegadjie can start getting work inside, but that’s also asking a lot from a first-year player out of Yale. At center, Doug Kramer had a good summer, earning a roster spot, but he has never played in a regular-season game.
But the numbers aren’t acceptable for an offense that was supposed to avoid games like this. Running back D’Andre Swift had only 18 yards on 14 carries, often swarmed from the second he got the ball. Khalil Herbert received only two carries, including a 2-yard touchdown run. Play calling will come under scrutiny, too, for an offense that just can’t stack successful drives. In the second half Sunday night, the Bears had six consecutive empty possessions — four punts and two interceptions.
Williams passed for 174 yards, still waiting for his first touchdown pass and his first 200-yard performance. The marks of 4,000 yards and 30 touchdown passes feel eons away from this offense.
And the penalties didn’t help. The offense had four false starts — one by Wright, one by Marcedes Lewis and two by Nate Davis. There was also a delay-of-game penalty.
“The flags have just got to stop,” wide receiver DJ Moore said. “We’ve got to find a way to be better and not have those.”
Nine of the Bears’ third downs had more than nine yards to go to the first-down marker. Part of that was poor production on first down. Nine of their plays on first down went for one, zero or negative yards.
That’s not helping them establish any consistency, or get into any kind of groove offensively. They can’t run the ball to help Williams. They can’t create a lot of easy throws for Williams because he doesn’t have the time.
“We’ve still got to discover that (run game),” Kmet said. “That’s part of the identity here. … That’s something you want to lean into and something we’ve got to get better at. We shoot ourselves in the foot getting backed up on some false-start penalties and negative plays. Kind of takes you out of running scenarios. We’ve got to be better there, stay ahead of the chains and call the runs that we want to call. If we keep getting backed up with all the penalties we had, we can’t stick to the run game like you want to.”
It is only Week 2 and the Bears are 1-1, but they have 353 total yards of offense. This was supposed to be the team that avoided ugly displays in prime time. While Williams had the ball with a chance at the end, the sacks and hits and pressures made it a brutal night and offered little confidence they could actually win the game.
Having a tough quarterback isn’t new for Chicago. It’s a bit of a prerequisite considering the struggles up front. The Bears hope that Williams is the one who has the talent, too, but they need to give him the time to show it.
“I already knew, but the kid’s tough as nails,” Shelton said. “He’s in there taking shots and battling. At the end of the day, we had a drive to win the game. There’s optimism in that because our defense is playing so great. We want to go out there and prove we can win games for them.”
(Photo: Alex Slitz / Getty Images)
