Bear Digest

Bears Preseason Game 1 Report Card vs. Houston Texans

Grading the Bears: Considering how only subs played, the best thing might have been how the game ended early due to storms but there were reasons for optimism moving forward.

Gene Chamberlain

Bears safety Quindell Johnson applies a tackle in Thursday night's 21-17 preseason victory over the Houston Texans.
Bears safety Quindell Johnson applies a tackle in Thursday night's 21-17 preseason victory over the Houston Texans. / Kevin Whitlock / Massillon Independent / USA TODAY NETWORK
In this story:

Putting any emphasis on a preseason victory and especially one when only the roster bottom dwellers played makes little sense.

The Bears' 21-17 Hall of Fame Game win over the Houston Texans wasn't even a full extra preseason game, as it stopped due to storms in the third quarter.

However, individually some successes and failures became apparent.

Also, of extreme importance was something coach Matt Eberflus pointed out. The operation on the offensive side of the ball looked nearly flawless for the first preseason game on Aug. 1.

"And what I noticed was the offensive staff being the first time together, the communication, I thought that was outstanding the whole night, the way they operated when they were not on the field with the players, you know, and the way they operated in the halftime was really good and then during the game when they were on the field and they did a great job communicating, working together

They threw together an offensive staff of a couple holdovers and mostly new coaches. Coordinator Shane Waldron had worked with several in Seattle or Los Angeles prior to this season, and even in a preseason that started early, the function of it came off with few problems.

In a preseason already schedule to be one game too long, starting one week too early, the execution came off as well as could be expected even if their start on defense seemed flawed. Despite a training camp where false starts have proven a problem, the only key penalty like this came on their first possession when tight end Tommy Sweeney moved prior to a fourth-and-1 play.

Eberflus pointed out they played "vanilla" on both sides, but nowhere was that more apparent than in pass coverage as Houston QB Davis Mills had plenty of time to operate and receivers ran to holes in a soft zone in the first quarter.

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If you have to endure four preseason games instead of three—or at least 3 3/4 preseason games instead of three—there was enough on the positive side here to foster optimism heading forward.

Here are the grades for Bears preseason game No. 1.

Passing Game: A

A 15-of-20, 192-yard passing game with a 144.2 passer rating isn't what the Bears usually throw out on the field in preseason game No. 1. Getting a collective passer rating near 90 normally takes them a few weeks of warming up but Brett Rypien read the defense well and anticipated his receivers. It wasn't just wide receivers Collin Johnson, either. Tommy Sweeney, Brenden Bates and Demetric Felton combined for seven receptions and 104 yards. Sweeney did get the false start that killed a drive at the 37 of Houston. The pass protection seemed to improve as the game went along. If the operation looks so smooth when the starters begin playing next week or the following week, the Bears really could hit the ground running with their new attack.

Running Game: B

No one will ever complain about a 5.7-yard average. Khalil Herbert showed why the team would be foolish to trade or cut him as he runs with both power and speed like they wouldn't have in other backup running backs. Roschon Johnson's pass-catching skill was on display and he executed two nice power runs, but the only flaw on this night was a failed third-and-1 run when the blocking in the middle of the line caved in completely. Johnson did all he could to get back to the line on the play. Injuries to Travis Homer and Ian Wheeler limited them

Pass Defense: C

The vanilla flavor of their defense made a difference but an even bigger factor was the lack of pass rush from Dominique Robinson, Khalid Kareem and Daniel Hardy off the edge, and Zacch Pickens and Byron Cowart in the middle. Except for Cowart's strip-sack later in the game, they gave Mills and Case Keenum far too much time to throw without a challenge. It was the main reason for a 115.8 Houston passer rating and 17-of-22 for 180 yards with two TDs by Mills and Keenum. Linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga seemed a step slow to coverage each time in zone, and the same was true a few times with safeties Adrian Colbert and Quindell Johnson. Linebacker Micah Baskerville was too slow to cover a back downfield, resulting in a holding penalty on third-and-4 and first down on the first drive just before the TD. It also seemed true for defensive back Leon Jones but he made up for it with hard hits and had a team-high seven tackles. The hitting aspect was uniform throughout the secondary. Safety Tarvarius Moore produced what might have been the hit of the night. At least if they didn't get there, the secondary rallied to the ball and made sure their presence was felt.

Run Defense: C+

When their is little in the way of pass rush, quite often it's true the run defense failed. They didn't earn the right to rush the passer because the defensive line got pushed around early for a 10-yard run, two 8-yard runs and a 7-yarder in the first half. When the half closed, Cam Akers was doing pretty much whatever he wanted to them as a runner or pass receiver out of the backfield. The run defense picked up in the third quarter when more subs had come into the game. Tackle Dashaun Mallory was active late in run defense and the safeties came up hard in run support.

Special Teams: C-

In general, penalties and mistakes in blocking marred the debut of the new kickoff rule. Dante Pettis' punt muff in the third quarter very nearly cost them the game but the defense rose to the occasion and forced an errant 58-yard field goal. Pettis can't afford such mistakes in his roster battle. His competition, DeAndre Carter, made one 9-yard return of a punt but Caleb Williams' college friend, John Jackson, surprised with a 29.5-yard average for two kickoffs, a 31-yarder and 28-yarder. He hadn't been one of their primary return men in practices, but it's possible he'll get more chances now. He may need the work because he committed the second biggest mistake of the night. He caught a kickoff just outside the goal line when backing up and catching it in the end zone and downing it would have put it at the 30 with the new touchback rule. Kicker Cairo Santos had seemed in a bit of a slump with kicks in practices but drilled three extra points and their kickoffs were high and properly placed, except for one touchback.

Coaching: B+

As Eberflus noted, operation of the offense was extremely crisp considering the lack of practice time at this point and for that Shane Waldron and his staff deserve the credit. The problem is most of the execution issues at practices had stemmed from cadence issues with Caleb Williams, so we'll have to wait until he plays to see if they've properly addressed this. Richard Hightower's special teams had one issue with moving prior to the Texans receiving the ball on the kickoff. This is going to need to be addressed throughout the season because of the new rule. They didn't get pass rusher Austin Booker into the game until late and needed to see more of his potential so they can decide on whether to bring in a pass rusher.

Overall: B-

Overall execution seemed sharp enough for the number of backups playing in the game. It's about all they could ascertain personnel-wise from this one without starters and key subs like Velus Jones Jr. on the field. First preseason games are bad enough but playing the extra one is never fun.

The best thing about the game was the storm ending it after less than three quarters. Next preseason game maybe it could arrive just before halftime.

Please?

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.