Osweiler threw for 231 yards and two touchdowns in his debut with Houston after the Texans lured him from Denver with a $72 million contract.
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The Chicago Bears came into the season with a different look and started it on that same old losing note.
A major reason why the Texans started 3-5 last season was their defense’s slow start. That’s fairly common for a rookie quarterback, as “don’t make any huge mistakes” is a fairly sound operating philosophy in a game that’s close enough throughout that you can lean heavily on a running back like Alfred Morris to try to win. However, it’s games like these the Bears should win if they want to sneak into the playoffs, you don’t get to play mediocre QB’s often. It all added up to a rocky opening for a team that went 6-10 last season. The team’s top draft pick was on the field for 60 of the 75 snaps on defense, a sign of confidence from coach John Fox and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio that Floyd can handle the National Football League even after a “choppy” preseason.
“That’s more of where I was going to get the ball”, said Fiedorowicz, who caught 17 passes for 167 yards last season. “He slid in, we kind of juggled two guys”.
Fox and his staff have already begun the preparation for Philadelphia, which comes to town for a Monday night game.
White said the hamstring injury that kept him limited in two practices was fine Sunday, but Fox admitted that “he’s been held back some” because of it. “So we have to move on and just get ready for the Eagles”.
Sadly, there were no second-half highlights on offense – or points – and several of the Bears’ flaws were magnified.
(7) Fox was not displeased with the Bears pass rush, which generated two sacks and eight hits on Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler. For one thing, he’s got a great burst and is incredibly durable, having never missed a start in three seasons with the Dolphins and coming off a pair of 1,200-yard seasons from the line of scrimmage. “There were some yards there after contact that we can [get] and I’m sure that’s what he was referring to”. But last year’s Defensive Player of the Year wasn’t as effective as he normally is, and seemed to have a tough time dealing with three-time Pro Bowl left guard Josh Sitton. Usually, you want to build in to these, and then week four and five, when you’ve gotten used to it, take a few shots then. “I’ll bounce back pretty quickly though”.
That’s something that’s going to have to change if the Bears are going to make a jump – and if Cutler is going to stay upright.
“Although he had a full group of receivers at his disposal, Jay Cutler failed to impress against the Texans”. If he keeps going like this, plenty of teams will have a chance to rue the fact that they passed on him until he was taken late in the fourth round earlier this year. “It was his first game out there”. Four days after defensive coordinator Vic Fangio teed off on linebacker Leonard Floyd’s “inconsistent” preseason performance and conditioning level, he played Floyd 60 of the 75 snaps. Overall it was just a sad showing on a defense predicted to make the leap in Year 2 of this system. “There was nothing up front or on the back end or anything defensively that we weren’t prepared for”. The Bears managed only four first downs in the second half and zero points.
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The Bears have been haunted for a while by the decision to select Shea McClellin (19th in the first round) instead of Whitney Mercilus (26th) in 2012 and they are feeling it acutely after Mercilus turned both starting Bears tackles into turnstiles in the second half.
