Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2016 12:50:39 GMT -6
I've gotta say, the lead up to this week's been intense. After a dynamic offseason full of recruits and injury news, a lackluster preseason, a suspenseful roster cut down with a few surprises, and a great last minute signing - and no I'm not talking about Connor Barth - we're here. Six days until opening day kickoff at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
To me this Bear's squad is one enormous question mark. I've said it before, but the generic play calling in the pre-season and the trial and error scheming leaves a lot of room for interpretation and projection on both the offense and the defense.
My sense is this is going to be a tough match-up for the Bears. The Texans have been a work in progress over the past five years and they've really started putting together some solid pieces. With a fierce defensive front composed of ALL-PRO badass JJ Watt, the human cork Vince Wilfork, and Devon Still, our ability to execute a zone blocking scheme will be tested early and often especially when you consider the guys filling the lanes behind the space eaters will be Benardrick McKinney and Brian Cushing.
As much as I would have preferred an outing against the Texans without Watt, Kyle Long (ROOKIE CENTER CODY WHITEHAIR!?!?!?! Did you all see Fox's comment about center being his best fit?) and Josh Sitton will get an opportunity to show off how their skill matches their pay check. If they can win their fair share of battles with the stud line of the Texans we might be able to get something going on the ground. Without a ground game, I'd imagine the Texans will play a ton of nickel defense and some exotic pressure schemes.
There are going to be some interesting matchups to watch in the protection and run blocking game:
Clowney vs Leno
Long vs Watt
Sitton vs Wilfork
Massie vs Mercilus
Lasike vs Cushing
Langford vs Pressure
I don't see this as Bear's advantage but maybe we can stalemate them or keep the balance relatively even 45/55.
The Texans will have their hands full in the secondary if they can't contain the running game with their nickel defense or if they can't get pressure with a 4-5 pass rushers and that's Bear's advantage. Jeffery, Royal and White will need to show they can take advantage of man coverage when opps present themselves to really try to open things up. If the receivers can thrive with the Texans in their nickel packages, which they might be able to do depending on The Log's play calling, we might be successful in putting some points on the board.
I give the Texans the edge here and see us struggling to protect Cutler and put up points but again I don't have a good sense of this offensive unit yet. For sure, Cutler's going to have to play smart ball and he's going to have to be conscious of pressure and be willing to scramble or hit the dirt to protect himself. I'd really like to see him get through a tough matchup like this with 1 or fewer turnovers as that would be a good sign and would probably go a long way in helping up get a W to start the season. Cutler needs to be smart and aware.
On defense a lot of the game is dependent on how much pressure we can generate and how Fangio is able to execute unique coverage schemes.
Osweiler is young and has shown in his brief stint with the Broncos that he can be rattled. We need to make that mother ****er as uncomfortable in the pocket as possible.
Last year Houston allowed 36 sacks - middle of the pack - going up against some decent competition. Still, with Hicks, Goldman and Bullard in the middle, we should be able to create some decent matchups on the outside for Young and Houston and if Fangio can get creative with pressure early, we might be able to shake Osweiler up. The last thing we need is for him to get comfortable with those weapons on the outside.
Hopkins is deadly and Strong showed some prowess last year as well. With rookies Braxton Miller and Will Fuller in the mix, this is going to be a challenge for our DBs and for Fangio's coverage schemes. We need some DBs to step up and we need to get pressure or we're going to get eaten alive. Additionally, we need Freeman and Trev. to show their skill in the middle of the field in pass protection and run defense. I think those two are the X-Factor for our defense in this game. We need both ILBs to be stout in run defense AND middle of the field coverage.
I'm not super optimistic about our chances in Houston as I don't think we matchup well against them on paper so this will be a test of our coordinators' abilities to game plan and adjust scheme. This is one of those games where Fox's conservative game plan and TOP approach might really benefit us if we can win the battle on the defensive side of the ball.
Still, this will be a great warm-up game and I hope we can keep it close and not get too banged up.
