Wait, wasn't the Bears defense supposed to be better?
Sept 11, 2016 16:22:28 GMT -6
mikegolf likes this
Post by motm on Sept 11, 2016 16:22:28 GMT -6
It would be easy to dump on the Bears offense for that joke of a second half in Houston on Sunday that left Your Heroes 0-1 this season.
With a new line and new offensive coordinator, the offense scored a couple TDs in the first half, Jeremy Langford on the ground and Eddie Royal through the air, and gave indications it was a group of quick studies.
But then, pffft. Hello, anybody home?
The offense acted like it didn’t want to play in the last two quarters. Like this was a preseason game or something.
Alshon Jeffery had himself a half. And that was it. A first half. Couldn’t find him in the second half, not even on a quick slant that should’ve been run just to take attendance. Ollie, ollie, oxen free.
Kevin White had two ugly drops, ran a bad pattern that led to an interception, and managed a false start as some kind of bonus. Say this for Ryan Pace’s first-ever draft pick: He can’t stink much worse the rest of the season.
And Jay Cutler was sacked five times, twice by Whitney Mercilus, who beat each Bears tackle. What else you got? Mercilus was taken in the first round of the 2012 draft, seven picks after Shea McClellin. Phil Emery might be gone, but his stench remains.
Yeah, it would be easy to dump on the offense. But it’s the defense that gets it from me.
The Bears mounted almost no pass rush, same as last year. That was the first thing that was supposed to change this season.
Houston’s Brock Osweiler had time, too much time, so much time. He looked over the field, looked over the field, looked over the field, and found so many many choices with little duress -- DeAndre Hopkins, Will Fuller, and then guys whose names nobody knows.
Osweiler completed 22 of 35 passes for 231 yards and two scores. He was sacked twice, but those were outliers if you’re talking consistent pressure.
Bad enough that the Bears couldn’t stop a quarterback with fewer than a season’s worth of starts, but anytime the Bears’ sparkling new front seven wants to stop the run game on first down, fine by me.
Texans load back Lamar Miller averaged more than 4 1/2 yards per carry on first down in the first half. The Bears figured out something in the second half to slow down Miller, but then they looked too tired to get to Osweiler on a regular basis.
Oh, and when does the Bears defense stop somebody, anybody, on third down? Even bad teams can stop more than eight of 20 third downs.
For me, the Bears defense was at its most aggravating on this play:
The Texans sat third-and-7 at the Bears 18, down a point, and Fuller took a flanker screen to the end zone untouched for the go-ahead TD.
Let me repeat: Untouched. From 18 yards out. On third-and-long. By a supposedly improved front seven. For a TD.
Ballgame.
Three three plays earlier, the Bears appeared to have Osweiler stuffed on a third-and-1 sneak. The spot gave the Texans a first down, but Fox didn’t challenge it. He should’ve. The coach didn’t give his team a chance there.
Postgame, Fox said he doesn’t believe that many challenges on spots are overturned. This one looked worth the challenge, given the game situation.
But no. The drive continued with a fresh set of downs on which the Texans scored the decisive TD against a retooled defense that everybody was so happy about.
This is where we left Fox and the Bears last season. That was not supposed to be the case this season. Sometimes you believe them and get rewarded, sometimes you get played for suckers.
Link: www.chicagotribune.com/sports/rosenblog/ct-bears-defense-texans-rosenbloom-spt-0912-20160911-column.html
The lack of a decent pass rush is what really killed this game for us.
