Bears@Texans - In Review

[olig23]

So I posted a write up of the game elsewhere, there are going to be references that are in the context of the people there so ignore those. I'll simply quote it here for any active Bears fans on here:

We did these last year. I'm sure they'll die as they did last year, but since it's week 1, strike while the iron is hot and all that.

Also, it needs a rebrand imo. Instead of "refocused"

- Overall it was a close game. Texans deserved the win in the end. But both sides can say it was a reasonable start to the season considering expectations.

Texans
- Brock Osweiler - Struggled early. Threw a pick in the 1st, but really he just banked on his WR to win the contested catch I think. Didn't get put under a lot of pressure but when he does I think he struggled. it will be interesting when they face good pass rush. He already is going to Hopkins the second he gets into trouble. That seemed to work out well for him yesterday. Had some accurate deep balls in the 2nd half. Overall, a solid start.

- Will Fuller - I had low expectations, but he played very well. Was probably the difference between the teams. Killed the Bears when running the Go routes. He's so fast. Dropped one that would have gone for a TD. Later took a WR screen for a TD. I had questioned the use of 1st rounder on a guy who is more athlete than receiver, but credit to the Texans for using him creatively. They went for the home run with him a number of times.

- The Texans D was pretty good. Really came on strong in the 2nd. JJ Watt struggled, didn't look healthy. However, Whitey Mercilus was excellent. He was by far the most consistent pass rushing threat on the field. Not sure if that was him being really good or Massie being ****. Time will tell. The other standout was Jonathan Joseph. Dude locked down his side of the field. In fact I thought the Texans corners were all played pretty well. Kareem Jackson and Kevin Johnson both had good plays.

Bears
It was a tale of two halves for Chicago. Moved the ball very nicely in the 1st, couldn't gt anything going in the 2nd. Jay Cutler had a solid game, made back to back excellent throws before the half. One deep ball to Alshon Jeffery and another to Eddie Royal. The Bears need to use Jeffery more. He had one bad drop but was open all the time and made plays on all but that one when it went in his direction.

Kevin White struggled. Couldn't get away from Jonathan Joseph at all. He started to move into the flat on one play and then simply stopped which caused the interception. Too early to worry. But must improve.

On D the Bears look solid. Room for improvement. I had massive concerns bout the secondary but they did well overall. Tracy Porter did a decent job following DeAndre Hopkins all over. Hopkins won the battle but no shocks there. Porter more than held his own. Jacoby Glenn was good in preseason and impressed again yesterday. Bears pass rush struggled all day. That is a worry. None of Floyd, Young or Houston did much. That's a worry.

Danny Travethan and Jerrell Freeman were impressive. It's a huge area of improvement for the Bears. We were probably the worst in the NFL at ILB last year. Now we're among the best I'd say. They were all over the place. Eddie Goldman also looked strong. I think we'll be good against the run. Lamar Miller got his 100 yards but on 28 carries and at 3.8 a go, I'm happy with that.

I listened to the Around the NFL podcast on my way back. They don't seem thrilled with the Bears either. And as @Jiz points out, I seem to be the only person who is reasonably happy with the Bears progress. I'm convinced nobody is watching them. One of the guys on that pod remarked at how worried he is about the o-line... that's a bit unfair. I AM worried about Bobby Massie struggled a lot. But I thought Leno did pretty well overall. The interior was mighty impressive compared to last year. Sitton was just good. Whitehair botched a snap on 4th and 1 but blocked well. Long was solid as ever. And given this is the first time they had played together you have to expect they get better yet.

[Timber]

Glad it's back. Although for the first time in a long while I haven't felt as enthusiastic for the new NFL season as I normally have. I didn't watch any pre-season this year for example. I don't know if this is simply an extension of the Bears consistently losing or what (although I've lived through them being a losing team most seasons).

Enjoyed your write up @olig23 and agree with most of your points. The game was very distinctive in being very much a game of two different halves. The first half was fantastic to watch and I generally was feeling good about our chances. Unfortunately the Texans adjusted well after the break and we just ground to a halt on Offence which killed the contest.

I'm probably more with the ATL guys than anyone positive but then after all these years I'm a cynical sod. It seems some Bears fans were quite positive about this season, but outside of those fans most think we will struggle. I read yesterday we averaged 27th of all the ESPN, NFL.com etc. power polls.

Only one game so you can't be conclusive but some worrying early signs like we are missing weapons on Offense and Kevin White was very bad. Jeffrey is extremely talented but prone to injuries and inconsistency, so I can see why we didn't offer a big money deal. If Jeffery gets injured and White doesn't get better it might be some lesser know WR's starting in some games.

It's also ominous the way Cutler was hit so much in the second half. I know the Texans adjusted to the Bears but the way the pocket was continuously beaten in the 4th quarter was worrying. I think the next two games are very winnable and should show us more of what's good and bad and more of a clue on the season coming.

[olig23]

Originally Posted by Timber

Glad it's back. Although for the first time in a long while I haven't felt as enthusiastic for the new NFL season as I normally have. I didn't watch any pre-season this year for example. I don't know if this is simply an extension of the Bears consistently losing or what (although I've lived through them being a losing team most seasons).

Enjoyed your write up @olig23 and agree with most of your points. The game was very distinctive in being very much a game of two different halves. The first half was fantastic to watch and I generally was feeling good about our chances. Unfortunately the Texans adjusted well after the break and we just ground to a halt on Offence which killed the contest.

I'm probably more with the ATL guys than anyone positive but then after all these years I'm a cynical sod. It seems some Bears fans were quite positive about this season, but outside of those fans most think we will struggle. I read yesterday we averaged 27th of all the ESPN, NFL.com etc. power polls.

Only one game so you can't be conclusive but some worrying early signs like we are missing weapons on Offense and Kevin White was very bad. Jeffrey is extremely talented but prone to injuries and inconsistency, so I can see why we didn't offer a big money deal. If Jeffery gets injured and White doesn't get better it might be some lesser know WR's starting in some games.

It's also ominous the way Cutler was hit so much in the second half. I know the Texans adjusted to the Bears but the way the pocket was continuously beaten in the 4th quarter was worrying. I think the next two games are very winnable and should show us more of what's good and bad and more of a clue on the season coming.

That's my issue with the ATL guys. They clearly were only half paying attention. But they do shape the narrative.

With regards the pressure on Cutler. he did get hit a lot. But I think there's a few things to consider there.

A few of those were coverage sacks or coverage pressures. Houston played very good man coverage I thought. Something that the Bears can work on, e that in practice or calling plays with easier dump off options.

The line help up pretty well against a team with some outstanding pass rush talent. Leno was quietly competent throughout the game. He did a good job with Clowney. Sitton was very good in Pass Pro. As was Whitehair. Whitehair did very well. Sadly the only play people actually notice is the botched snap.

We have an average Eagles team next week. I think we should win that game. Obviously, you can never say exactly how things will go, but I am unusually optimistic about the D. Offence is ok... I want to see them use Langford more to be honest.

[payton3434]

As soon as the Texans paid more attention to jeffrey our O died. As you say, too early to worry about White; he likely has a lot of rust on top of no NFL experience.

Our D looked ok against a powerful O, so i'm not overly disheartened.

The Eagles are on our level, monday night will be a better time to start getting annoyed.

[Professor1228]

I'm going to be a lot more optimistic if we 'down' the Eagles on Tuesday morning. NFC North looks a tough division again this season and to get a play off spot may just be beyond this young and inexperienced group of players ?