Offense struggles as Texans knock off Bears |
HOUSTON—It was a welcome to the NFL moment for Caleb Williams on Sunday, as the Chicago Bears (1-1) took on the Houston Texans (2-0) at NRG Stadium in Houston. Not only were both teams looking to start 2-0, but this was a Sunday night game, and all eyes were on it.
Despite Williams showing plenty of improvement from game one to game two, the Bears offensive line let the team down as the Texans defense was all over Williams from start to finish, leading to a 19-13 Houston Win. Williams threw for 174 yards, but with two costly interceptions and seven sacks taken, he found out the hard way how life in the NFL truly is. He was pressured on 36 out of his 37 dropbacks. This was a game of two halves, as both teams showed up in a big way throughout the first half before the defenses took over in the second. Joe Mixon may not have had a good game, but he played a role in the Texans' opening drive, resulting in the Ka'imi Fairbairn 53-yard field goal to put Houston in front 3-0. Mixon led the NFL with 159 yards rushing in week one, but the Bears did a great job keeping him in check, as he was held to 25 yards. With Keenan Allen out of the lineup with a foot injury, the Bears were without one of their key offensive weapons. That forced others to pick up the slack, including DeAndre Carter, who pulled in two of his three catches on the Bears opening drive and finished with 32 yards in the game. DJ Moore also had a first down reception on the Bears opening possession, but with Williams taking a massive sack, Chicago was forced to settle for a 53-yard Cairo Santos field goal as things were deadlocked 3-3 early. Long field goals were a theme in this one as Santos and Fairbairn combined to connect for four field goals over 50-plus yards. Once the Texans took the ball for the second time in the game, their offense got rolling, and Nico Collins was a big reason for that. Collins has gotten off to a phenomenal start this season as he led the way with eight receptions for 135 yards and accounted for more than half of CJ Stroud's 260 yards passing. Collins had his way with the Bears secondary throughout the first half, but after a Tank Dell first down run, the Texans were threatening to score once again. Collins capped off a great second series of the game as he took the 28-yard pass from Stroud to the house to put the Texans in front for good 10-3. That duo continued to have their way with the Bears defense as another big gain on their next possession helped set up the 47 yard Fairbairn field goal to extend the Texans lead to 13-3. It took the Bears offense nearly six quarters to score their first offensive TD, but that was the case late in the first half. With Moore moving the ball inside Houston territory with another first down, it was a crucial pass interference call that set the ball up inside the five-yard line to give Chicago new life. They used that opportunity to their advantage and capitalized with Khalil Herbert finding the endzone from three yards out to make this a 13-10 game. That was as close as the Bears would get as another massive first down from Collins set up another long field goal, with Fairbairn knocking home a 59-yarder to give the Texans a 16-10 lead at the half. While the first half was filled with plenty of exciting plays, the second half was a different story. Six combined points were scored. Credit both defenses for that; they did a great job of making things uncomfortable for the two quarterbacks. Chicago did manage to dodge a bullet on the Texans opening possession as Dell dropped what could've been another TD reception. Then came the Bears offense, which had a chance to take the lead, only to have Williams intercepted by Kamari Lassiter. A Houston penalty nullified the interception, followed by a pair of first downs from Moore and Swift to keep the momentum going, only to have a Will Anderson Jr sack end the scoring threat. That was the theme of the second half for the Bears and their offense. On the next possession, Williams was intercepted by Derek Stingley Jr., thus giving the ball back to Houston. All it took was one play for them to get into field goal range, as Stroud escaped a potential sack before firing to Collins once again for a massive first down. The Bears defense did what it needed to do to keep Houston out of the end zone, but with Fairbairn knocking home a 53-yard field goal, the Texans extended their lead to 19-10 late in the third. As if one interception wasn't bad enough, why not make it two? Williams was picked off by Lassiter on Chicago's next possession, and Houston had him running for his life all game. Looking to capitalize off that interception, the Houston offense continued to display the explosive plays they are capable of having as Dalton Schultz got in on the fun with a first down before the running game off Cam Akers moved the ball into the Chicago Red Zone. Akers was expected to be the team's no. 3 back this season, but with Damian Pierce out with an injury, Akers has seen an increase in touches as he led the Texans with 32 yards on seven carries. However, he did commit a massive blunder later on the drive. Andrew Billings forced an Akers fumble at the three, and Kevin Byard recovered and kept Chicago within striking distance. Looking to use this momentum to their advantage, Williams opened the drive with a massive first-down run before Cole Kmet started to get involved with another first-down catch. Eventually, the Bears saw their drive stall out, but with Santos connecting for a 54-yard field goal, Chicago pulled within 19-13 with less than three minutes left on the clock. With their defense getting the ball back with less than two minutes to go, Chicago knew the task at hand but had a long way to go to accomplish that task. Finding Rome Odunze for 27 yards took a massive dent out of the task at hand, but with Williams taking another sack from Danielle Hunter, the Bears offense didn't stand a chance. The Texans held off Chicago 19-13 for the week two victory.
