Sadly, there were no second-half highlights on offense – or points – and several of the Bears’ flaws were magnified. They were on the board, but still trailing the Bears 7-3. I will say this again, it’s a cruel world but the National Football League is about wins and losses and as long as the Bears organization keeps being bamboozled by Cutler’s athleticism and superhuman arm strength the Bears will never be a consistent victor.
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The Bears were a 6.5 point underdog to the Texans.
Earlier in the week, I suggested that the Texans would be one of the highest scoring defenses of week 1. “The Bears have issues at tackle – seriously, why did they pass on Laremy Tunsil? – but their defense is terrific, and Jay Cutler is not almost as bad as people want to make him out to be”.
The positives outweighed the negatives Sunday in the Houston Texans’ 23-14 win against the Chicago Bears. Or maybe this Bears team is just that bad? Let’s take a look.
Cutler’s second-half numbers (6-for-16, 60 yards and the interception) were ugly but not entirely his fault.
That one play changed the game.
The rub, of course, is that’s what created elevated expectations and left many fans disappointed when the second half went as we should have expected. I can’t even recall the last time Jay Cutler went on a quarterback duel. He is a ball hawk and I expect that to be a regular occurrence. Whitehair got fooled late on a stunt, allowing a free rusher and a sack on Cutler. At least the defense made up for it by not stopping anybody on third down. Don’t talk about playoffs?
“He’s everything we thought he would be”, McNair said.
The Bears will win games, hopefully more than nine; I’m still counting on it. With one game under their belt, that was not really is an issue. Special teams did well with what they had to face. His 28 carries were good for 106 yards while he caught all four passes thrown his way, albeit for only 11 yards.
Fox acknowledged that they “probably would have spelled [Floyd] a few plays”, and the defense preferred to not be on the field so long, but they now have a lot more film on Floyd to continue to hone his abilities. He also forced a fumble on a handoff, which almost led to the Bears’ second takeaway of the game. Because so far it’s looking like a season-shortening offense. The Texans totaled five sacks and 13 quarterback hits.
Last season, it was Kyle Long to right tackle. 14 hits is a ridiculous amount. But with a chance to build on that momentum immediately after the break, the Bears malfunctioned.
The WR’s didn’t perform in the second half.
The second half started with the Chicago taking the kick-off. The Texans were moving the ball on the ground with little to no problem. The lone bright spots were ILB’s Danny Trevathan and Jerrell Freeman who were everywhere. And all three of them appeared to be huge upgrades over what Houston had before.
The score showed off his best skill which is his speed.
“It’s a game of halves, a game of quarters”, CB Tracy Porter said after the game. The D-line put no pressure on Osweiler all game; one sack is sad. The run defense: absolutely manhandled. It’s just one game. “They’re a talented front and when you get too one-dimensional like that, it becomes problematic for everyone”.
Just four days after defensive coordinator Vic Fangio called Floyd’s preseason “choppy” and questioned the rookie’s conditioning level, the Bears not only started Floyd, but played him more than any other outside linebacker.
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The Bears left Texas on Sunday afternoon with a frustrated edge. Oh, and please can someone tell the Bears to help Jay. Here’s hoping to see a turnaround next week.
