Vibe Check: Bears offense laments squandering excellent defensive performance in loss to Texans
HOUSTON – Cole Kmet stood before his locker following a difficult 19-13 loss to the Houston, answering questions he had surely had been asked before.
The Bears tight end acknowledged that point, not to deride the query but to emphasize that the same issue keeps coming up.
An excellent Bears defensive performance was wasted by an offense that couldn’t score enough.
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“It’s frustrating,” Kmet said. “I feel like I’ve had this talk for a few years now. We understood that this would be a process, but we have a lot to work on. The reality of the NFL is kind of hitting us a little bit offensively. We have to regroup here, look at the mistakes we made this past game and make those corrections and move on forward.”
There are plenty of corrections to make. The Bears couldn’t run the ball at all, with just 27 yards on 17 carries that weren’t quarterback scrambles. They couldn’t protect rookie Caleb Williams, who was sacked seven times and hit 11 times in total. Williams threw two interceptions while running for his life, but the defense keep Chicago in it and gave the offense an opportunity to go win it at the end.
That effort, like so many others on Sunday night, felt short. This is a team with one offensive touchdown in two weeks. That’s untenable, no matter how good this defense has been.
Sunday night’s opportunity missed hung heavy in the postgame locker room. Offensive players were candid about their disappointment not rewarding an excellent defensive effort with a win.
“We still had a drive to go win the game,” Bears center Coleman Shelton said. “There’s optimism in that, especially with how well our defense is playing. We want to prove to them that we can go win games for them.”
A disjointed offense is preventing that. The Bears offense had tons of pre-snap penalties. They couldn’t stay on schedule with productive early downs, leaving Williams vulnerable to pressure on obvious passing situations. Both picks came under those circumstances, though the Texans got just three points off those turnovers.
There was plenty of preseason optimism that the Bears would generate explosive offense, but we haven’t seen that yet. The Bears are working in a new coordinator, a new scheme, a new quarterback and a new feature running back. It hasn’t lined up just right yet. The defense, by contrast, is humming. The offensive players know that.
“The defense is already connected,” receiver DJ Moore said. “They’re going out there and getting three-and-outs, and we’re struggling to keep the ball moving. Once we get that down pat, convert third downs, stay out of third-and-longs, it’s going to be the best thing for us.
“…When it finally connects and we’re (running on all cylinders), it’s going to be good. Right now, we’re still building. Until we get that puzzle complete, it’s going to be an up and down road.”
Kmet lamented the fact the offense wasn’t better than it has been. They’d be unbeaten if it was, but the veteran insisted that the attack is nowhere close to hitting the panic button at this early stage.
“I don’t want to freak out here. It’s only Week 2 and it’s a long season,” Kmet said. “There’s a whole lot of ball left. That being said, when you have your defense playing the way it is, you want to rise to the occasion a little bit. This is definitely a game we feel like we could’ve won.
“There were plenty of opportunities tonight. We just have to be better.”