You had the feeling that after the Bears gave up only a field goal after an interception that gave the Texans the ball at Chicago’s 25 to start the second half, thus maintaining a 14-13 lead, the message from John Fox to his offensive coordinator was clear: Play it conservatively and make sure we don’t lose this game because of rank sloppiness on your side of the ball.
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Fuller’s National Football League debut performance even drew compliments from Texans owner Bob McNair.
Fuller doesn’t like talking about himself, but was excited to help the team open with a victory. He averaged just 15 touches a game in Miami but more than doubled that output in his first start as a Texan. DeAndre Hopkins added 54 yards and a score and running back Lamar Miller had 106 yards rushing in his first game with the Texans.
Texans QB Brock Osweiler finished with 231 passing yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT. Cutler did not complete a pass in the third quarter, absorbed five sacks and was hit 13 more times. Tracy Porter had a pick early in the game, but after that got beat repeatedly by those Texans wide receivers.
Vic Fangio’s defense “created [pressure], but it didn’t finish”, Fox said, and when Osweiler scrambled, the discipline broke down.
“I was very confident in this team”, he said.
Yeah, yeah, I know. that was a profound first paragraph, get to the point. Hopefully, the potential that the team showed against the Bears today will continue throughout the season.
Osweiler’s two touchdown passes were a great diving catch in the end zone by Hopkins and later a nifty catch-and-run by Fuller.
Just 53 seconds into the third quarter, Hal picked off Cutler at the Chicago 37 to set up the second Novak field goal and ignite the Texans’ second-half defensive surge.
What else did we learn from the win by Bill O’Brien’s club?
J.J. Watt didn’t seem to be limited in his return after sitting out all of the preseason after back surgery. “Today definitely knocked some rust off”.
Play makers were coming from everywhere during this game.
He was working behind a line with two new players on Sunday with three-time Pro Bowl left guard Josh Sitton and rookie centre Cody Whitehair both making their debuts with the Bears.
Sitton was signed by the Bears last week after being a surprise cut by Green Bay.
A bigger issue in the long run is getting the pass blocking down to keep Cutler from taking a beating like he did against Houston. The Bears are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 Monday games and 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games overall. “But I don’t want to pin exactly what this offense is going to be or what direction we’re going until we get a little more involved”. “Like I said, there was nothing up front, nothing on the back end, or anything defensively that we weren’t prepared for”.
Young didn’t even find his way onto the scoresheet in the game, failing to get much pressure on Brock Osweiler in the backfield, and Lamarr Houston didn’t do much better, as he registered just one quarterback hit and two solo tackles in the game.
With 12:44 left in the fourth quarter, the Texans took a 20-14 lead following the extra point and did not trail for the rest of the game.
White, who missed all of the 2015 season with a shin injury, had a disappointing debut to say the least.
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A bright spot for the Bears on Sunday was the performance of receiver Alshon Jeffery, who had four receptions for 105 yards. But a successful season opener should provide some psychological salve after 14 largely forgettable seasons, capped by a colossal 30-0 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in last year’s no-show of a playoff game.
