Bears @ Texans
Final Score: Texans 19 – Bears 13
Writer: Zach Whetsel
The Texans look, penalties aside, like a remarkably well-run team this season. They came into this game expecting a hard-fought defensive battle, and they showed up for the challenge in every phase of the game. Unlike the Titans last week, the Texans clearly did not intend to let the Bears off the hook for their offensive failings, and executed on that all night. Welcome to Bears football in the 24-25 season everyone: it’s the same as it’s always been. Against a competent team like the Texans tonight, the Bears offense never looked capable of challenging for the win, and the defense and special teams couldn’t be expected to do everything.
Three Up
- Nico Collins – Collins reeled in one of the most impressive snags along the sideline that I’ve seen in a while today, and was the Texans receiver that felt most consistently able provide big plays to the offense. He looks like the first option on an impressively versatile team.
- CJ Stroud – In a game where neither defense could be denied their due, Stroud did his job in eking out what he could in scoring points without ever giving the ball away. The Texans offense was held in check all game, but also seemed to me to be content scoring field goals and playing safe football so as to avoid losing on offense. CJ Stroud once again proved why he’s the guy in Houston with his play.
- Joe Mixon – A player that would have been higher if not for his ankle injury, Mixon looks to be the main cog in keeping the offense on the field for the Texans. He makes the right play and grinds out the tough yards, something Houston leaned on heavily to win today.
Three Down
- Caleb Williams – Unfortunately for Williams, to win this game, the Bears needed points on offense. Instead he looked resigned to the reality of the team’s ineffective approach long before the game had ended, and threw two (should have been three) interceptions. In a day that started with much promise, things ultimately turned ugly.
- Tank Dell – A player many were wishing would provide a spark in this offense, Tank did not take advantage of his best opportunity on the day, and the Texans did not push to get him more involved. He seems to have ceded his every-down touches to Diggs, and I worry that he’ll struggle to hit on the big plays without consistent touches to get his games going.
- D’Andre Swift – Just as any longtime Bears fan could have told you, Swift is not suited to grinding out the tough yards against a stout defensive front, and with this o-line the interior of every defense is going to look solid. Of course the Bears coaches also lack creativity in their play calling for the newly signed running back, so you’ll see touches wasted all too often on runs that are blown up immediately.
Bears
Quarterback
Caleb Williams: 23/37 passing, 174 yards, 2 Ints, 5 carries, 44 yards
Caleb seemed willing early to take what he saw was there… things fell apart when that wasn’t enough and he began pressing for what wasn’t. Game two ended for Williams in disappointment after we saw him miss on his most meaningful opportunities to create offense on the night.
Notes
- Caleb’s most defining talent so far seems to be his knack for breaking out of the most surefire sacks imaginable. At least those plays, when they do break open, provide for exciting football. He also throws a nice short out- he’s able to hit his receivers on the numbers from any platform when leading them towards the sideline, at least when the throw is about 13 yards or less. Lastly, Caleb seems to have license to change protections and routes at the line for his unit, and he does it often. Once the offense settled in, he at least seemed in command of their calls and checks before snapping the plays.
- Caleb seemed dejected on the sidelines so early that the defense managed to get him 2-3 more possessions after I noticed his demeanor. At that point I was also dejected by the incompetence of the offense, to be fair, but it’s ultimately on him to be the conductor for their performance and clearly the issues on offense feel mountainous for Caleb and the Bears right now. It’s not a great sign moving forward.
Missed Opportunities
- This section is unfortunately where it gets juicy for Caleb Williams tonight. He seemed very sharp early, hitting on most all of his pass attempts, albeit while still failing to finish his drives with touchdowns. As the game dragged on and the Texans asserted their control over the lead, the Bears offense began to look less in-sync… as a unit they seem wholly unable to move the ball, and although it’s tough to say how much is Caleb’s fault, he needed to be the one to step up. Of course, he did not- when he tried to generate big plays, he either missed out of bounds or missed his throws short for interceptions. And although the box score shows two picks, don’t be fooled- he really threw three, but had the first wiped out by a defensive holding away from the play. He just looked inaccurate when it mattered. The two interceptions that counted in his box score weren’t even bad decisions, he just missed his targets short each time. I’m not sure if missing the plays physically is a sign that things could get better with time and reps, but he needs to start hitting on chunk plays soon.
Running Back
D’Andre Swift: 14 carries, 18 yards, 4 receptions, 24 yards
Swift felt to me like a frivolous way to spend money for a team sorely lacking reliability in the trenches coming into this season, and it seems that’s proving true of the scenario so far. A guy that struggled to earn dirty yards on teams with great o-lines in the Eagles and Lions, Swift has been entirely unable to grind out tough gains for this poor Bears unit.
Notes
- We do see glimpses of Swift’s talent as a receiving back, but the staff ultimately seems to have zero clue about how to consistently get Swift going in the run game. One first down, the offense found success on a zone run up the middle, so they tried the same thing again on second down from a different formation. It got them about three, leaving them in third and short, and then they were nearly stuffed trying to run it up the middle one more time. So many times on the night, you’d see something work, only for the team to revisit the concept right away in desperation and have things fail miserably. Swift is the primary beneficiary of this team’s offensive incompetence.
Missed Opportunities
- Swift would mean a lot more to the Bears organization if he could be a competent interior offensive lineman. Truly, I felt D’Andre had a fine game- he did not do anything that felt like a mistake on his part. There’s just no room for him to get going until this offense finds a way to open things up across the board.
Khalil Herbert: 2 carries, 3 yards, TD, 2 receptions, 4 yards
With a lack of room in the offense for their starting RB, the Bears certainly aren’t generating lots of looks for the one who isn’t as versatile. However, Herbert is the better pure runner of the two, and the Bears seem happy to give him meaningful touches in the most obvious running situations, meaning he may hit on a touchdown here or there. Of course, this offense doesn’t look like it’ll be generating many of those on a reliable basis, so I wouldn’t count on much here week-to-week.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
DJ Moore: 10 targets, 6 receptions, 53 yards
The only player who seems to be a true difference maker on this offense so far, DJ Moore makes something positive happen pretty much every time the Bears can get the ball in his hands. Unfortunately, he also seemed the most frustrated of anyone about the squad’s lack of chemistry and production today, as he truly looks like the only plus starter out there at times.
Notes
- DJ generated many of his yards via savvy RAC and pure doggedness after the catch. If he had a QB who was hitting him on the most meaningful targets, he could have had a very nice night in week 2. Moore is looking like he may return to being permanently slept on if this offense can’t find a way to get him catchable targets more often.
Missed Opportunities
- DJ did not miss himself tonight but wasted some great deep routes on a handful of plays where the throws never gave him a chance. Caleb missed DJ short after he dusted his defender heading up and left to the sideline- that play ended in an INT. DJ also was never given a shot at reeling in a couple of back-shoulder fades late in the game along the sideline where he ran the routes to perfection, only for Caleb’s passes to land 3-5 yards out of bounds. Moore played his hardest in a game where he never had a shot to truly contribute.
Rome Odunze: 5 targets, 2 receptions, 33 yards
Rome does not look impressive enough to lift up this sinking ship of an offense through two weeks, but just like with so many other players, it can be hard to tell who is the culprit when things are this much of a slog. Odunze did begin the week on the injury report and was questionable to play for most of the week, so the nagging injury may have effected his performance.
Missed Opportunities
- Rome is not commanding targets in this offense through the first two weeks- it’s hard to truly evaluate him on so few touches. He did miss on a tough catch that I thought could have been a touchdown and probably should have been reeled in, but he also generated what was seemingly the longest pass play of the day on the last drive. He stayed strong at the catch point and broke the tackle for a nice long gain, giving hope to an offense that hadn’t had much all day. That’s about the length of his list of true contributions though, so until we can simply see more of him, you just have to stay away in fantasy.
DeAndre Carter: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 32 yards
A special teams contributor, Carter isn’t going to be game-planned into this offense normally – he received a couple of looks with Keenan Allen out. However, he does his job- so if he was somehow the last player standing in this receiving room, or the #2 on a week, there would be worse options out there for desperate fantasy managers. He’s a solid football player, good returner, and nice WR4 for the Bears this season. Don’t expect much more than that.
Cole Kmet: 5 targets, 4 receptions, 27 yards
At least Cole Kmet proved he deserves the snaps over Gerald Everett this week for the Bears. Unfortunately for people that believe in his talent, he is buried as a third or fourth option on a bad offense, and as such is a much better real-life football player than fantasy TE. Stay away if you want any floor at all- he could have a nice day here and there, but this seems to me to be the most you can realistically expect from Kmet in terms of targets, especially considering Keenan Allen was out today.
Texans
Quarterback
CJ Stroud: 23/36 passing, 260 yards, 1 TD, 1 rush, -1 yard
If a winning NFL QB and a safe floor is what you desire in fantasy football, CJ Stroud is your man. Against a genuinely good Bears defense, Stroud did his job quietly and professionally, putting up a clean stat line. There will be weeks when this offense hits and Stroud returns value, but he and the coaches seemed perfectly content to take what they could and avoid risky throws that could get them into trouble. When the kicker can hit consistently from almost 60 yards out, Stroud does not look inclined to go for it all, a double-edged sword for fantasy teams.
Notes
- Expect more offensive production from this team when they face an offense that requires them to press for things to happen. Although the Texans truly were trying and unable to create a meaningful cushion, it was enough, and Stroud played like he was unworried. It’s a good quality to have- not every game can be a shootout if the team and QB want to win a lot, which the Texans seemingly plan to do.
Missed Opportunities
- Stroud did not miss many, but the Bears missed on one throw that could have been an INT late in the game. The nickel corner got his hands on it and almost secured the catch, but CJ got away with his one and only obviously dangerous throw of the game. Otherwise, the only misses came from his receivers, which will be covered soon.
Running Back
Joe Mixon: 9 rushes, 25 yards, 5 targets, 3 receptions, 25 yards
Mixon had a poor day fantasy-wise due to an injury near the midpoint of the game- Bears LB TJ Edwards executed an illegal hip-drop tackle (that went without a flag) that left him rolling his full weight over Mixon’s planted ankle. However, that only demonstrated how essential he really is to this Texans offense. They struggled to earn consistent yardage without him, and seemed limited without the versatility that comes with knowing he’ll execute the right block or assignment on plays that aren’t even designed for him.
Notes
- Assuming he’s healthy, considering he came back in during the fourth quarter, he’s a player that will receive tons of valuable touches in a good Texans offense because they can rely on him to do his job. The Bears defense is nothing if not stout against the run, so his lack of production on the ground was unsurprising, injury aside. Thankfully that hardly matters with how much they seem to want to lean on him as a steady football player in their offense.
Cam Akers: 7 rushes, 32 yards, 1 fumble, 1 target, 1 reception, 3 yards
Akers looked to have some juice early in relief of the temporarily-injured Joe Mixon, but also proved why he can’t stick in a role and lost a key fumble near the Bears’ goal line as the Texans were looking to put the game away late. He was lucky the Bears offense couldn’t capitalize, but likely still lost some favor with the coaches, and won’t get many meaningful looks when Mixon is healthy.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Nico Collins: 10 targets, 8 receptions, 135 yards, 1 TD
Nico Collins proved again today why he is the #1 receiver in this Texans offense. As the guy with the build and ability to be the best player on the field at any time, Collins played the part and seemed to be the only player capable of generating chunk plays on either side of the ball. He hauled in big gains multiple times on plays where Stroud was flushed out of the pocket, and showed off his stellar hands on a spectacular sideline grab where he batted the ball down and caught it one-handed just as he dragged his toes in bounds to bring it all together.
Of all the games the Texans will play this season, their offense was about the most contained and controlled you’ll likely see them try to play, and Nico was the one they leaned on to get it done throughout the air. He was great all day against a ferocious Bears secondary that was just begging the Texans to make a mistake.
Stefon Diggs: 6 targets, 4 receptions, 37 yards
This stat line for Diggs felt more to me like a reflection of the team the Texans were playing than an indictment of Diggs in their offense. This Bears defense swarms to the ball and tackles strong, refusing to let short gains turn into more. While Diggs is still an amazing route runner, he’s not the physical presence like Collins that can win heads-up against the ferocious defense that we saw tonight, so he was relegated to clean-up duty when the bigger plays weren’t hitting. More opportunities will certainly come for Diggs, especially since Stefon seems to be the clear priority over Dell at WR, but tonight the team was happy to see less offensive production in exchange for a controllable game script.
Tank Dell: 4 targets, 1 reception, -3 yards, 3 rushes, 16 yards
Tank seems to be the #3 option as a receiver in this offense, so the team tried to scheme him some touches running the ball to get him going. That worked in part, but it didn’t feel like it did a great job getting him in the groove in the receiving game; he dropped one pass especially that would have left fans feeling a bit better about his day overall.
Notes
- Dell is not as polished at the quick looks as Stefon Diggs, and certainly not in running chain-moving routes that offenses love out of smaller guys. You’d hope Dell would make up for that over the aging Diggs in big-play ability, but he seemed to me like he needs more looks in the offense to get settled in and hit on those occasional big plays.
Missed Opportunities
- The one obvious miss came on a beautiful floater over the middle from Stroud. It felt like it hung in the air forever as it fell with incredible touch towards Dell, streaking past the Bears’ linebackers, but he just couldn’t haul it in. It may have been a foot too long considering Dell’s height limitations, but he had his hands on it in stride and we’ve seen Stroud’s ability to place those throws perfectly too many times to excuse the drop for Dell. He should’ve had the catch, and I don’t think it lends well to the team’s willingness to incorporate him into the offense more meaningfully in the future.
Dalton Schultz: 3 targets, 2 catches, 21 yards
Not much was asked of Schultz today that would garner him fantasy production. His most notable moment was really his incomplete target, and not because of what he did. Stroud threw a beauty of a ball towards Schultz as he fell out of bounds along the sideline, and Schultz just is not built to catch a pass with that degree of difficulty. It fell incomplete just out of Schultz’s reach, and highlighted how I feel about his role in this offense- a remarkable QB threw a pass that Schultz just could not have been expected to catch, and yet Nico Collins might have hauled it in, so that’s why Schultz is the #4 option and had 3 targets tonight. Avoid as a fantasy TE, even if he is a good one in real life.