Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2016 12:08:22 GMT -6
10 thoughts on the Bears' 23-14 loss to Texans
Ten thoughts after the Chicago Bears lost a lead in the fourth quarter and fell to the Texans
23-14 on Sunday at NRG Stadium. There’s a lot of stuff packed in here,
including a great college recruiter with ties to the Bears, stats after
14 games with the new touchback rule and plenty more.
1. The players that can make the biggest leaps and improvements in the season are the young ones and the Bears are confident Cody Whitehair
has the ability and makeup to put down some roots at the center
position and really grow. When he watches the film of the loss with
offensive line coach Dave Magazu, there’s certain to be some good, some
bad and maybe a little ugly but the feeling after the game was it was a
fair starting point, especially against a talented Houston front seven
and crafty and hard-to-move nose tackle Vince Wilfork.
Bears offensive guard Cody Whitehair (65) walks on the field during the first half.
(Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)“I didn’t know about it and my Dad texted me and was like, ‘Did you hear
they signed the Green Bay guard?’” Whitehair said. “Going through my
mind was, ‘Wow, what an opportunity to have two Pro Bowl guards to learn from.’”
When Whitehair showed up at Halas Hall the next morning,
he learned he’d be playing center again and learing with Sitton on one
side of him and Kyle Long on the other. Even though Ted Larsen,
who was listed with the first team on the depth chart, didn’t take
snaps during the week, Whitehair didn’t feel assured he would be the
starter until Friday when the coaches told him. Yes, maybe he’s a little
naïve for a rookie.
“You just never know,” he said. “I was just taking advantage of the opportunity but I had no idea.” Whitehair was used to getting to work early but when he was moved to center, he
started coming in even earlier, getting to the facility by 6:15 a.m.
“It was a lot of just studying the defense even more than I usually would
because the center is the one making the calls,” Whitehair said.
He calls out the middle linebacker, or mike as they call it, and if he
makes the wrong read, quarterback Jay Cutler will override him.
Whitehair said it didn’t happen very many times. But the Bears did
struggle with some stunts and movement at times.
“I felt decent,” Whitehair said. “Obviously, there is room to improve.
Keep working on my pass sets and stuff like that. I felt it was a good
start. We needed to be a little better and it all starts with me.We’ll
get better every week.”
Whitehair said he didn’t get the snap up
to Cutler on the aborted 4th-and-1 play and it’s worth remembering he
only snapped the ball 10 times in preseason action.
“I think Cody did a nice job,” Sitton said. “It’s a tough transition really only
having a few days working at that position. So, for his first time out
there, I think our communication was pretty good. We did a lot of good
things. The second half we just didn’t finish and we didn’t play like we
did in the first half.”
2. The stopwatch isn’t always the best measure
of how fast a player will be on the field. Sometimes, players who time
fast don’t play fast. I think that is where Bears wide receiver Kevin White
is at right now and he is a very fast man. White ran the 40-yard dash
at the scouting combine in 4.35 seconds. He doesn’t look like he
possesses that kind of speed when he plays and going back to preseason
and training camp, you don’t see him catching the ball at full speed
often or finding an alley in space to get up to full speed quickly.
On the other hand, Texans rookie wide receiver Will Fuller
looks like he’s playing as fast as he timed. Fuller was clocked at a
nearly identical time of 4.32 seconds at the scouting combine this year
and that raw ability was on display as he caught five passes for 107
yards, including an 18-yard touchdown on a tunnel screen. It was far
from perfect. Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler targeted him 11 times and Fuller had beaten Tracy Porter deep on ball that he flat dropped late in the second quarter. If he had
caught that ball in stride, it might have been an 83-yard touchdown.
Fuller looked fast and I don’t think many reacted the same way watching White,
who was targeted seven times and made three catches for 34 yards.
I asked Fuller what the key was for him to play fast?
Texans wide receiver Will Fuller runs past Bears free safety Adrian Amos to score a touchdown during the second half.
(David J. Phillip / AP)“I don’t really have an answer for that,” he said. “I have been playing
the same way my whole life and I just play as fast as possible. Having
the speed I have and talking to the cornerbacks on our team, they say
defensive backs are scared of that. I remember when I first came here,
Kevin Johnson said, ‘Just run fast and they will back off you.’ I took
that in and everything I do, I do it fast.
“It helps playing free and being comfortable out there and knowing that the quarterback trusts
you and offensive coordinator trusts you and you can just go out there
and play.”
Fuller was in an offense at Notre Dame with more pro-style concepts than White experienced at West Virginia. That probably has something to do with it as well. But it’s not like Fuller has any kind of experience edge here. He’s a true rookie but one with football savvy. It’s a difficult position for rookies to come in and play right away and it’s not going to be easy for Fuller every week but having DeAndre Hopkins lined up out there with him should help. That’s similar to how Alshon Jeffery should help White.
head coach in State College, Pa. Hiestand, who is from Pennsylvania, had the area as part of his recruiting territory on Brian Kelly’s Notre Dame staff.
It turns out, Hiestand, who was popular with his players when he coached
the Bears’ line under Ron Turner from 2005 through 2009, wouldn’t take
no as an answer from Fuller.
“Coach Hiestand was a great salesman,” Fuller said. “I appreciate
him and everything he has done for me. He helped me tremendously to get
to this point. He must have asked me about five times. I had committed
to Penn State and I was staying at Penn State and I told him, ‘I am not
going to come out there and take a trip.’ He kept recruiting me and kept
recruiting me. Finally, I said to my mom, ‘What’s there to lose?’ So I
went out there and I loved Notre Dame.”
O’Brien didn’t want to lose him again so the Texans traded up to 21st in the first round and
nabbed Fuller, who is off to a fast start. With any luck, White will begin to play faster in the weeks ahead.
3. Jeff Allen gave some serious consideration
to coming home. The Texans right guard signed a $28 million, four-year
contract in Houston with $12 million guaranteed but he didn’t make that
decision until fielding what he termed a serious offer from the Bears.
Allen prepped at King High School before playing at Illinois and
selfishly he admitted he liked the idea of playing for the Bears.
“It was tempting to come home but at the end of the day, I thought about my
family and what was best for my career and this ended up being the best
place for me,” Allen said. “I kind of had a little selfishness in me
(thinking about signing in Chicago) but at the end of the day, I made
the right move.”
I asked if the right move meant the Texans put the most money on the table. “I have kids and my wife is from Texas,” he said. “I just felt like this was a better fit for me as a player.”
Allen came away impressed with the interior of the Bears line. Specifically,
he liked nose tackle Eddie Goldman and recalled him from last season
when Allen was playing for the Chiefs.
“Him and (Akiem) Hicks, both of those guys are two of the better inside
players in the league, I think,” Allen said. “Both of them are stout,
very strong. Goldman, in particular, has a bright future ahead of him. I
remember him being bigger as a rookie. He’s a good player and you are
going to see a lot of him. He’s good off the ball. He counters and keeps
going if he’s blocked initially. He has a nice little motor on him.
When you’re playing a guy like that, it’s an all-day deal and you gotta
be ready to go.”
4. The sample size for the new touchback rule isn’t large enough for us to draw any major conclusions but the numbers are relatively similar to last year. The NFL
moved the starting point for touchbacks 5 yards to the 25-yard line
this season in the hopes that it would reduce the number of kickoff
returns. Many observers wondered if the NFL would create the opposite
effect with teams looking to send kicks to about the goalline in the
hope of covering them and making the tackle inside the 20-yard line.
Cover a kick really well and it can mean a 10-yard difference from a
touchback or more.
I tallied up the numbers from the 13 Sunday games and Thursday’s opener between the Panthers and Broncos. There were 84 touchbacks on 137 kickoffs meaning there was a return on 38.7 percent of the kickoffs. That is just a tick below last season’s figure of 41.1 percent.
I asked new Bears kicker Connor Barth what his expectation was for this season.
“I think there are going to be more returns now,” he said. “People believe
in their coverages and they feel like they can get it inside the 25.
Pop it up, get good hang time. I think there are going to be a lot more
returns.
“But on the other side, I think guys are going to take knees shorter in the end zone now because if you have a good offense, starting at the 25 is a good thing. I think it just depends. It depends
on who the returner is, what the weather is. A lot of teams are going to be thinking, ‘Our coverage team is great and we can pin them inside the 25. We’re going to kick it short.’”
Let’s see how the numbers look in a few more weeks. Then, as the weather turns in the second half of the season, you typically see fewer touchbacks in open-air stadiums
where it gets colder.
5. Josh Sitton wasn’t the only newcomer to get up to speed quickly. Tight end Logan Paulsen did as well and he wound up starting based on the personnel the Bears opened in with two backs, two receivers and himself.
Logan Paulsen at Redskins training camp in August.
(Steve Helber / AP)Paulsen wound up with 21 snaps in the game by my count. It was a
good workload for a guy who has responsibilities in the running and
passing game. Paulsen spent the previous six seasons with the Redskins
so I asked him about the art of learning a new offense on the fly.
Offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains had asked Paulsen on Thursday how
he felt learning the game plan.
“I said I think I will feel pretty comfortable by Sunday and he said OK,” Paulsen said. “This was
Thursday. He said when he had the game plan and he had it down, he’d let me know. I told him I felt good about it. The offense is like the cousin of Kyle’s (Shanahan’s) offense. All the verbiage is different. The more exposure I get to it, the more familiar I get.
“What I do is I take the install, and I draw every play and every
formation. If I don’t know it, I look it up and I write a little note to
myself and highlight it. When I look it up and write it, that helps me.
And then I have all these little highlighted notes and I go back after
I’ve gone through it and do those again. Do it again. It’s just straight
grunt work. It takes a long time but I think it paid off.”
Straight grunt work probably isn’t unfamiliar for a blocking tight end, now is it?
6. Couple stats that jumped out at me?
For starters, the inside linebackers were making plays all over the
place. You could see that watching the game. In press box statistics, Jerrell Freeman was credited with 17 tackles, nine of them solos, and Danny Trevathan
had 11 with seven solos. I got to thinking it’s probably been a long
time since Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs combined for some kind of
similar Bears feat. Well, how about Christian Jones and Jon Bostic
pulling it off in Week 16 of the 2014 season? Yes, after coaches’ review
of film, Jones had 18 tackles (13 solo) and Bostic 12 (seven solo) in a
20-14 loss to the Lions at Soldier Field on Dec. 21, 2014. That was a
bad defense. The other statistic that popped to me was that Bears
running backs caught only two passes for 6 yards. Jeremy Langford isn’t a
bad receiver out of the backfield and he’ll wind up with his chances.
7. The Bears used Tracy Porter and Jacoby Glenn
as the starting cornerbacks and it’s going to be interesting to see how
much playing time the rookies can carve out for themselves this season.
Harold
Jones-Quartey (29) celebrates with Tracy Porter after Porter picked off
the ball from Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins during the first
half.
That starts with fourth-round pick Deiondre’ Hall, who showed promise and
the inconsistencies that can plague young defensive backs in a busy
preseason. Hall picked up some snaps in the game and had three tackles
and one pass breakup. He got a ton of playing time in preseason (164
snaps on defense, 32 more on special teams) and I’m curious to see if he
can get some work when it counts. The best way for a young cornerback
to learn and improve is to be tested.
The other option is Cre’Von LeBlanc, the rookie the Bears claimed off waivers from the Patriots
following the 53-man roster cut. LeBlanc was inactive for the game and my hunch is that the undrafted rookie will be worked in the slot as a nickel cornerback. That’s what the Bears were seeking when they made a play for K’waun Williams of the Browns before he failed his physical. LeBlanc is a little smaller than you’d like – 5-foot-11, 190 pounds – but that’s two inches taller than Bryce Callahan.
General manager Ryan Pace described LeBlanc in terms you think of when talking about nickel cornerbacks.
“He’s a guy that our college scouts liked coming out in the process and he’s a
guy obviously in the preseason that just jumped out,” Pace said. “The
thing that Cre’von LeBlanc has is, he’s a bit undersized, but he’s
extremely sudden, he’s very sticky in mirroring routes and he’s got
excellent ball skills. He just has a knack for going and getting the
ball. And that’s been an emphasis on our defense right now is something
that we want to improve on is ball skills and he definitely has that and
that’s why he’s here.”
When you hear “sudden” and “sticky,” a lot of times those are words that clue you off to the slot and the nickel position. LeBlanc was being used on the outside by the Patriots and told me he hasn’t played nickel since his freshman and sophomore years at Florida Atlantic. It’s an adjustment when players make the switch. The run fits are different. The defensive back has his eyes in a different place. The element of communication is raised.
LeBlanc also played a lot in preseason getting 141 defensive snaps and 16 more on special
teams in the first three preseason games before a minor hip injury sidelined him for the finale against the Giants. Still, he figured he’d made the team as New England’s top cornerback Malcolm Butler once did as a UDFA.
“I went out there and improved and tried to get better each and every day
and let my action do the talking,” LeBlanc said. “I feel like what I put on film didn’t lie and when they cut me I was a little disappointed. At the end of the day, it is what it is.”
LeBlanc was confident he would be claimed and that’s what happened when the Bears bounced. They’d seen him in the joint practices in Foxborough, Mass., when he had tight coverage on Josh Bellamy in team drills and then had a couple pass breakups in one-on-one drills that generally favor the wide receiver.
The knock on LeBlanc in the pre-draft process was his speed. He ran the
40-yard dash in 4.65 seconds at his pro day. Similarly, Hall was timed
at 4.68 seconds at the scouting combine. The difference is Hall has
coveted size and had a little more production in school. Even when Kyle
Fuller is back in the lineup, the Bears need to give Hall some time to
evaluate him and help him grow.
8. Roy Robertson-Harris did not get much action in preseason but he still caught the eye of one national scout for an NFCteam that I talked to before the finale at Cleveland. “They’ll want to
keep him,” the scout said. “You mark my word.” The outside linebacker, who was an undrafted free agent from UTEP, got 14 snaps against the Chiefs (and two more on special teams) in the third preseason game and 12 snaps in the second preseason game at New England. He was shut down for the start of training camp with a heat-related illness. The Bears placed Robertson-Harris on the non-football illness reserve list on Aug.30 before the preseason finale and that move shut him down for the entire season. Heat-related illnesses are serious business and the
player and the team want to ensure he gets his body right.
Bears linebacker Roy Robertson-Harris during an OTA practice in June.
(Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)Robertson-Harris, who they really liked in the pre-draft process. They
brought him to Halas Hall for a pre-draft visit and then pushed to sign
him after the draft. On the non-football illness list, he will receive
$333,000 this season.
Now, Robertson-Harris needs to see what he can do to improve as a player when he’s not able to practice with the team.
“It’s more of a mental game for me at this point just learning as much as I
can with the playbook and just doing everything coach (Clint) Hurtt asks
me to do, taking notes and making sure I am mentally still in the
game,” he said. “Yes, it’s a bummer for me not being able to play my
rookie season. I am really thankful that I am still being kept around.”
The most impressive play Robertson-Harris made vs. the Chiefs was when he lined up in the slot and Aaron Murray tried to a bubble screen to wide receiver Da’Ron Brown.
Robertson-Harris blew up wide receiver Demarcus Robinson, who was
attempting to block, powering through him to tackle Brown for a 3-yard
loss. It was really impressive. Earlier, Robertson-Harris made sure his
coverage responsibility at the line of scrimmage were taken care of and
then pressured Murray, hitting him to the turf, as he threw a short pass
to tight end James O’Shaughnessy.
“I wasn’t content with my performance,” Robertson-Harris said. “I am really just bummed out I
didn’t get to play as much in preseason because of this. So at this point, I am not thinking about what I did and what more I could have done. I am thinking about staying in it mentally and getting ready for next year. Getting ready for OTAs next year.
“I’m taking extra notes for the vets. I will help these guys out anyway I can. I am
feeling good about it. At the end of the day, I still have a job and an
opportunity.”
9. According to NFL.com, the Bears listed
the most players on the injury report for Week 1 with a total of nine,
all designated as questionable. In the NFL’s new protocol, “probable”
has been removed as a designation. Now, there are three designations.
Questionable means it is uncertain if the player will play. Doubtful
means is it unlikely the player will participate in the game and out
means the player will not participate. Bears coach John Fox listed nine
players as questionable. Only two of the nine – cornerback Kyle Fuller
(knee) and safety Deon Bush (hamstring) were deactivated for the game.
The Patriots had the next most with eight, also all questionable. While
that doesn’t sound good, there are some teams that listed more than a
couple players as out. For instance, the Colts listed four players as
out and three questionable.
10. Josh Sitton’s contract was a good buy for the Bears.
Josh Sitton late in the second half of the game against the Texans.
(Nuccio DiNuzzo / Chicago Tribune)million guaranteed. His $6.75 million this season is guaranteed and
$2.25 million of his base salary for 2017 is fully guaranteed for injury
right now and becomes guaranteed for skill and cap if he is on the
team’s roster on the third day of the league year next March. The Bears
must hold an $8 million option for 2018. They must exercise that option
between five days after the Super Bowl LII and five days before the
start of the league year in March 2018. Sitton’s contract would not be
guaranteed for 2018 and if the Bears want to part ways with him, they
have to make him a street free agent before the opening of free agency.
That puts Sitton in position to get a head start on searching for a new
team if he isn’t in the Bears’ plans. He will be 31 at the time and will
be turning 32 before the 2018 training camp. It’s a solid contract for
the club and an addition general manager Ryan Pace could not have
dreamed of two weeks ago.
10a. No Bears player has a better handle on Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz, the No. 2 overall pick from North Dakota State, after competing against him in the Missouri Valley Conference. Wentz and the Eagles come to Soldier Field next Monday night. Hall, who
was the Missouri Valley defensive player of the year last season, knew
Wentz would be a big-time prospect but no one figured he’d be so
coveted, not during the middle of last fall anyway.
“He reads defenses great and he has a cannon of an arm,” Hall said. “We played in
the dome. I had no idea he’d be two overall but your program wins five
national championships, shoot, you’ve got to get looked at somehow. I
wish him nothing but great success. That is huge as a rookie especially
at the quarterback position. But you get drafted that high, you are
expected to do that.”
10b. Following the release of kicker Robbie Gould, cornerback Sherrick McManis
was named the special teams captain and that was certainly well
deserved. McManis led the team with 17 special teams tackles last season
and has 55 for the Bears since being acquired in a 2012 trade with the
Texans, a shrewd move by former GM Phil Emery. While McManis got very
few opportunities in preseason at cornerback, he’s certainly part of the
team’s plans after receiving a two-year contract, the first time the
Bears signed him to anything but a deal for the minimum salary benefit.
If you’ll recall, McManis’ $2.85 million, two-year contract included a
$600,000 signing bonus and a $150,000 roster bonus in March for a total
guarantee of $750,000. He’s earning a base salary of $800,000 this
season and has per-game roster bonuses of $6,250 ($100,000 total for 16
games).
10c. Go ahead and crank up a Jimmy Garoppolo Tracker
for Bears GM Ryan Pace. I’m not saying the Bears are destined to trade
for the quarterback after the season, but barring something totally
unexpected from Tom Brady, you have to imagine the Patriots are going to
look to get something of great value for Garoppolo at the end of the
season. Garoppolo, a second-round pick in 2014, will be entering the
final year of his contract in 2017. He guided the Patriots to a road
victory Sunday night at Arizona. All quarterback needy teams will be in
the mix here and Garoppolo was on Pace’s radar when he was paired with
another Eastern Illinois football giant in New Orleans – Saints coach Sean Payton.
There’s just too much to think this isn’t a possibility for the Bears.
Now, we have to see how Garoppolo plays in the next three games.
10d. Two special teams tackles for Christian Jones
and it proved to be a pretty smart move to keep him on the 53-man
roster. He can fill a couple roles on defense as a reserve inside or
outside at linebacker and he’ll help on teams.
10e. The Week 2 meeting with the Eagles marks the
fifth time in the last six meetings between teams dating back to 2008
that it has been played in prime time. The Eagles lambasted the Bears
54-11 in 2013 on “Sunday Night Football.”
10f. Feel like Whitney Mercilus would be more well known if J.J. Watt
wasn’t his teammate? He had two sacks in the game and the Texans
outside linebacker had 12 last season. Of course, the former Illini
standout also beneifts playing with Watt.
10g. Bears fans were out in force in Houston, probably doubling up in some cases as the Cubs were playing the Astros. I have a suspicion they will easy to spot when the Bears return to Texas in two weeks to play the Cowboys.
