Pressure Problems, O-Line Concerns, Eberflus’ Poor Process, Stroud Chimes In, and Other Bears Bullets

Luis C. Medina Luis C. Medina
Sep 16, 2024
Sep 16, 2024
Caleb Williams and cj stroud bears texans
Caleb Williams and cj stroud bears texans

Last night’s B𒀰ears-Texans game 💙doesn’t deserve an intro with a build-up. Let’s just get into it.

  • From the top: A thought I can’t get out of my head after watching last night’s loss to the Texans: Caleb Williams is a tough son of a gun. Getting beat up like he did is a true “Welcome to Bears Football” moment for the rookie. I hate that it had to happen in this way, but I suppose it is better that it happened sooner than later. Having it happen early gives the team a fighting chance to right some wrongs.

  • Do you remember when Ryan Poles said this is the best offensive line depth his team has had since becoming the Bears’ general manager? Well, it is time to find out how true that statement is because we have hit a pivotal moment in this season. Offensive line play is at the root of why Chicago’s football team lost last night.

  • Watching the Bears allow rookie quarterback Caleb Williams to get sacked seven times, hit 11 times, and pressured on 36 of 37 dropbacks on the same day in which Green Bay Packers won a game with Malik Willis as their starting quarterback is a cold reminder of how far the Bears have to go to get where we want them to be. But more than that, it is a reminder of how much coaching matters.

  • Things were supposed to be different this year. This still looks like the Bears I’ve known for my entire life.

    • Caleb Williams bears qb
    © Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

  • Where would you rank Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus among his peers in the NFC North? Better yet, where would you rank him if you allowed Detroit Lions Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson and Minnesota Vikings Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores into the pool of candidates?

  • Concepts of a plan? Coach Eberflus saying the team has a “great process” when it comes to figuring out what plays should (and shouldn’t) be challenged after a game in which he wasted two fairly challenges that were obviously not getting overturned would be considered pure comedy if he was coaching anywhere but here. ()

    • NFL WEEK 2: Instant Bears Player Grades

  • On the one hand, I think Offensive Coordinator Shane Waldron has enough of a track record for me to be comfortable with giving him some more time with new personnel. But on the other hand, I am starting to see why the Seahawks let Waldron walk away after Pete Carroll retired in Seattle.

  • AHEM!

  • Things I don’t want to ever see again from a Bears offensive coordinator: Asking Cole Kmet (or any tight end, for that matter) to block a pass-rusher like Will Anderson. I’m pretty sure we did this song-and-dance with Luke Getsy and Matt Nagy before and was hoping we’d be done with it when Waldron came to town. Yes, Kmet whiffed the block. But why was he even asked to do that in the first place?

  • Sigh. I thought Caleb and Rome had their first NFL touchdown here:

  • That ball gets caught later in the year after the two have more reps together and Rome isn’t coming off a week in which he was limited in practice.

  • How many of the Bears’ problems could’ve been solved earlier had they spent more time working on them during the preseason? I don’t have an answer. But if someone does, I’d be willing to hear them out.

  • Malik Willis threw his first NFL touchdown before Caleb Williams did. And it makes me sick. But it’s not as if Caleb is alone with a goose egg in the TD column. No NFL rookie quarterbacks have touchdown throws through two weeks. That seems concerning in the grand scheme of things.

  • Postgame advice from last year’s No. 2 overall pick:

  • Let me try to find some silver linings. But first, a deep breath…

  • Rome Odunze was healthy enough to play on 94 percent of the offensive snaps last night. I can’t say I saw that coming at the start of last week.

  • Matt Eberflus (The Defensive Coordinator) is giving Matt Eberflus (The Head Coach) a chance to win games. The Bears’ defense held a Texans team that is seen as a primary challenger to the Kansas City Chiefs AFC supremacy to just 19 points. One offensive touchdown and four field goals — three of which were from 50+ yards. All things considered, that is a job well done by a defense that as allowed a grand total of just three (3) points in the second half.

  • Cairo Santos continued his kicking excellence. Chicago’s kicker is 3-for-3 from 50+ yards after another make on Sunday Night Football. Since the start of the 2022 season, Santos is 14 of 16 on attempts from 50+ yards. That is an 87.5 percent success rate. To put that number in perspective, Robbie Gould’s career success rate (for all kicks!) during his 11-year career in Chicago was 85.4 percent. Cairo is good at kicking. And now, you can cram it with the complaint that he doesn’t hit from long range.

  • At least Tory Taylor looks good. The rookie punter tacked on two more punts inside the 20 and had no touchbacks. Taylor’s superb punting is helping the defense win the field position battle. I’d like for the offense to take advantage of it sooner rather than later. 

  • Roschon Johnson is a better man than me:

  • Yeah, I can’t believe that didn’t get called either.

    • MORE: Roschon Johnson Got Punched Last Night

  • There is no rest for the weary. The Bears can really clean up in the coming weeks if they can figure out how to win some battles in the trenches:

  • I’ll be in Indy for Sunday’s Bears-Colts game. There is so much I am looking forward to seeing. How will this team bounce back? Will the Colts look as bad as they did against the Packers? What is it like for a northern-ish city to have a retractable roof football stadium? Can I find a pork tenderloin sandwich as big as my face at the stadium that was as good as the one I had at the state fair last year when I was in town for joint practices?

    • : The Bleacher Nation Newsletter

  • Updates on the new Chicago sports network. (BN Blackhawks)

  • The end is near for the 2024 Chicago Cubs:

    • written by

    Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has🐻 been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and ML💧B at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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