Though the Indianapolis Colts dropped their season opener on Sunday to the Detroit Lions, they certainly haven’t put themselves behind the eight ball when it comes to the AFC South Division standings. He also started today’s game before leaving it in the first quarter.
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Still, Sunday’s game offered few major surprises. That likely opened up the field some for Houston’s aerial game.
The Texans flashed some nice additions on offense as Lamar Miller rushed for 106 yards in his debut while quarterback Brock Osweiler won his debut passing for 231 yards and two touchdowns. But with a chance to build on that momentum immediately after the break, the Bears malfunctioned.
The Bears could’ve been 8-8 last season if a couple things go differently. That’s 13 carries for 24 yards in the second half, less than 2.0 YPC. And Cutler was consistently under duress with the Texans’ front seven attacking from all angles.
Brock Osweiler and Dak Prescott replaced the rotating cast of QB’s that both the Cowboys and the Texans featured a year ago.
The Bears defense had no answers for Texans rookie wideout Will Fuller, who had five catches for 107 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Texans went up nine on the ensuing drive.
Fox, however, opted not to challenge the spot on Brock Osweiler’s quarterback sneak on third-and-inches with 14:17 to play.
If the Bears are going to keep Cutler upright, then they are either going to need to get better play out of the aforementioned linemen, or they are going to have to keep at least one blocking tight end on the field at all times to lighten the load on Massie and Leno.
Where the Bears’ defense disappointed was in failing to create any consistent pressure on Osweiler, and Willie Young and Lamarr Houston were particularly hard to find. “It’s kind of a coordinated effort between that and your coverage and all-in-all I didn’t think [the coverage] was as good as it needed to be”. “For sure”, safety Harold Jones-Quartey said.
Cutler threw for 216 yards with a touchdown and an interception, but was also sacked five times on a day when linebackers Whitney Mercilus and 2014 top overall pick Jadeveon Clowney led the pass rush.
An early choice to go on fourth-and-1 with a seven-point lead and leave a 46-yard field goal untried was puzzling, a challenge of a Will Fuller catch later on the sidelines on which there was clearly nothing to challenge was unusual, and a failure to challenge a Texans first down on a successful fourth-and-1 QB sneak that looked to be short hurt, too. A botched snap between rookie center Cody Whitehair and Cutler resulted in no gain and a turnover on downs.
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Perhaps the most disturbing area of disappointment was the game management of Fox and company that was clearly subpar. Wide receiver Kevin White who had not played football for an entire year struggled to catch a pass by Cutler and at one point stopped on an active play. On one play, he torched the Texans’ left tackle for his first National Football League sack, and then, after dropping into coverage, he pressured Brock Osweiler when he stepped up to make a third down throw. “I think we haven’t been whole for very long and particularly the offensive line”. “It left my hands, so it’s my responsibility”. He saw a game-high 11 targets in a matchup that featured superstars Hopkins and Alshon Jeffery at the wide receiver position.
