Bears Report Card: Letter Grade Is 'I' for Insufficient

Grading the Bears: More passing yards and completions, but a brutal pass-blocking effort and two interceptions led to a 19-13 loss to the Texans.

Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair sacks quarterback Caleb Williams during Sunday night's 19-13 Bears loss. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

When it ended, the Bears could declare all manner of positives and did.

What they couldn't say was they were good enough to beat the Houston Texans in a 19-13 loss.

For one, their eyesight improved. The fact they found Rome Odunze and Cole Kmet in their offense indicated as much.

Not the same could be said for their hearing, as linemen Braxton Jones, Darnell Wright and Nate Davis spent the evening jumping before the snap.

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If only their running game was so determined to get moving.

They also could declare themselves more efficient, because they weren't about wasting anyone's time. They only wasted timeouts with needless replay challenges, but then the lack of timeouts resulting from this helped to shorten the game.

Finally, Caleb Williams did improve his passing over Week 1 and they managed 174 yards through the air on 23 of 37. However, the yardage he missed on was the issue with overthrows and connection failures still predominant.

The long ball to DeAndre Carter down the left sideline was there for a quick, game-changing touchdown and Williams overthrew it.

He showed guts with a driving scramble near the goal line. Someone had to do it, so why not the quarterback just like last year and the previous two years?

But the touch on a flip to Odunze at the goal line was inaccurate and the two couldn't connect again later on the Bears' final play, a fourth-down throw.

All of their penalties, nine to be exact, made for a mess of a night, except the Texans obliged like good hosts and committed 12. There hadn't been this many flags flying since July 4th or since Tony Corrente was in the league officiating.

So it ended just like when Justin Fields used to take over on a final drives.

It went nowhere and they went home with a loss.

Consider this another of the areas they need to improve.

Here are the others and Bears grades for the Week 2 19-13 loss to Houston.

Passing Game: D-

Williams seemed to be getting the hang of getting rid of the ball quicker but his linemen also seemed to be getting the hang of how to let pass rushers get to him faster. With seven sacks, the Bears QB absorbed some bruising and admitted it afterward. The pass blocking was atrocious. One of their key receivers, Keenan Allen, was out and Williams spent much of the night throwing swing passes for a yard or a loss of yardage. Kmet 6.8 yards per catch, DJ Moore 8.8 yards per catch and ultimately, 4.7 yards per pass attempt by Williamswill never beat anyone except Carolina and Dallas, whose defenses seem capable of turning 4.7 yards into 7.4 yards. And the Bears don't get to play the Cowboys. Their grade actually comes out worse for this one even if Williams nearly doubled his passing yardage because he threw two interceptions and neither one seemed like a necessary risk.

Running Game: F

Last week they forgot to give the ball to the running backs, as they had only 14 carries. This week they got 17 carries and again they saw why this isn't really a good option. With D'Andre Swift averaging 1.3 yards per carry and Khalil Herbert 1.5 yards per carry, maybe they should consider Travis Homer to start games. He had a 6-yard run. In the end, 71 yards rushing and 44 of those from the quarterback looked an awful lot like poor offensive efforts under Luke Getsy.

Pass Defense: B-

The second-and-24 TD pass of 28 yards to Nico Collins still stood out freshly in Matt Eberflus' memory after the game. How could it not? They got after C.J. Stroud for three sacks, but couldn't always get to him. Even Jack Sanborn got in on the act by resurrecting Jack Sackborn of the year 2022. He even found a way to snuff out a pass without finishing the pass rush with a sack by knocking the ball down. When they didn't get to Stroud, he made them pay with a few big plays. If Kyler Gordon could have done a bit better job of getting his hand under the ball and securing it without it hitting the ground, the Bears might be talking about a win right now. Then again, Ka'imi Fairbairn probably would have just kicked an 82-yard field goal to win it for the Texans with a second left.

Run Defense: B+

Holding Joe Mixon and the running game to 3.4 yards per carry one week after he had 159 yards closely resembled what they had done to Tennessee and Anthony Pollard in Week 1. There was some give in the early part of the game, then Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards, Andrew Billings and Gervon Dexter clogged up the middle, forcing the run outside so Kevin Byard, Jaquan Brisker and Gordon could clean it up. The 75 yards they allowed on the ground looked more in line with what they had done last year against running attacks.

Special Teams: B

It wasn't so much a poor effort as one not as good as the spectacular night the Texans got from Fairbairn, with his long-distance bombing on four field goals: 47, 53, 56 and 59 yards. Cairo Santos did his best to keep up, with 53-yard and 54-yard field goals and he also hit a speaker behind the crossbar on the goal posts. Why they needed a speaker up there isn't really known. With 45.5 yards net on punts and a 47.3-yard average, as well as two inside the 20, Tory Taylor again showed Ryan Poles' made everyone look stupid for doubting his selection of a punter in Round 4.

Coaching: C-

Waldron's game plan seemed plausible. Executing it on the road, in the noise, seemed tough. They might need to work on the cadences again like they did incessantly during training camp. More passes downfield are needed but it's entirely possible they have been called and Williams is playing check-down Charlie, but who can blame him when he's sacked seven times? Matt Eberflus really needs to get better at deciding what is reviewable and what isn't. The interception by Kyler Gordon was worth the risk at that point in the game while they trailed, but they needed the timeout and no one could look at that play immediately and say it was indisputable evidence he caught the ball. His quick replay challenge in the first half came on a play right in front of him and was also wrong. Give some credit here to defensive coordinator Eric Washington because the young players on the Bears defensive line look far more advanced than last year for two games, and they've had two games without a sack by Montez Sweat but plenty of pass rush pressure. The D-line was his expertise.

Overall: D+

Imagine what this team could be with an offense. At this point all we can do is imagine it.