Notes on a Chicago Bears loss in Week 2

Not many people thought the Chicago Bears would win last night’s game against the Houston Texans, but for Bears fans, the loss was still demoralizing. Here are a few things I noticed during the primetime game.

• Our offensive line is still a mess. Really offensively. Probably the cause of all the other problems we’ve faced, but every player had their part in the poor performance, from penalties (holding, false starts) to missed assignments, completely missed blocks to being overwhelmed by the Texans’ defensive front 7.
• The running game looks terrible.
• The offensive plays were disappointing, to say the least. Much of that could have been (and probably was) due to the offensive line’s failure to open up space in the running game or protect in the passing game, but the called plays never seemed to create space for the players.
• Gerald Everett no longer has the energy to rely on him in any capacity, and I would not mind if he were fired today.
• Caleb still missed way more shots than he should have. The pressure was insane, so once again the OL is probably the culprit (notice a pattern), but a few throws from DeAndre Carter, DJ Moore, and Cole Kmet are all throws he can and has made and needs to make for our offense to score points.

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• Rome has to make that catch in the end zone. Yes, Khalil scored shortly after, but a top-10 wide receiver has to make every ball that hits both of his hands.
• Cole Kmet is a solid blocker. But he looked pathetic when he tackled Will Anderson and he still lacks aggressiveness after the catch this season. I hope he can change that. In my opinion, he’s been playing too nice lately.
• As I feared, Mario Edwards was a factor and this means the end for the rest of the season unless our iOL changes.

• Despite being pressured by Nico Collins all night, the defense played solid, inspired, physical football. It’s an honor to watch them, but as a fan, I’m ready for the offense to follow suit.
• Kyler Gordon stood out. The same was true for Gervon Dexter, Tremaine Edmunds, Andrew Billings and Jack Sanborn. No one played badly on defense either.
• Speaking of Spidey, I would have loved to see him catch the ball and put it in the net for the game-winning touchdown, but somehow I’m also glad that the offense wasn’t saved by the defense again.
• Tory Taylor is once again his team’s best offensive player.

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