The Chicago Bears have lost their last eight games on Sunday Night Football after falling 19-16 to the Houston Texans. They kept it a close game, but ultimately, the offense once again failed to play to the same level as the defense. On the game's last drive, with a chance to take the lead in the closing seconds, the Bears turned it over on downs after an apparent miscommunication between rookies Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze.
Let's look at some players who deserve their flowers despite the loss and those who need to show significant improvement.
Stud: Gervon Dexter Sr.
Dexter had another sack on Sunday night, his second in two games this season, forcing frequent pressure on Texans' quarterback CJ Stroud. It's still early in the season, but this will be a breakout year for the young defensive tackle, which is good news for Chicago. If Dexter can develop into an elite force on the interior, this defense could be special for a long time.
Dud: Tyrique Stevenson
On the other hand, fellow second-year player Stevenson had a rough day at the office. After being named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week, Stevenson seemed lost all night in Houston, frequently being the man in coverage on Houston's biggest plays. He's going to need a bounce-back performance next week in Indy.
Stud: Tory Taylor
The fourth-round punter keeps proving his worth so far in the 2024 season. After the last few years with a mediocre-to-bad punting unit, the Bears finally have a guy who can flip the field and help out the defense when a drive stalls.
Dud: the offensive line
Out of 48 passing snaps for the Chicago Bears, Williams was pressured on 23 of them for a total of 36 pressures (multiple players getting pressure on single plays). Williams had his problems, but the offensive line did him absolutely no favors with shoddy protection and dumb penalties. Somehow, the unit has seemed to regress badly from last season.
Stud: Cole Kmet
Kmet didn't exactly stuff the stat sheet, but he made a couple of key catches in crunch time. Most impressively, he held onto a tough catch despite taking a huge shot in the middle of the field. Give Kmet his flowers as yet another tough-as-nails Chicago tight end.
Oh my god this hit from #Texans safety Jalen Pitre…. GEEZpic.twitter.com/eZGy2rP7ro
— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) September 16, 2024
Dud: D'Andre Swift
Swift has been an unmitigated disaster so far in Chicago. He carried the rock 14 times for just 18 yards on Sunday night and had a long of just 7 yards. I didn't like the signing of Swift when it was announced and so far he's done nothing to prove me wrong. When the line isn't blocking and the run game is going backwards, it makes life very hard for any quarterback to have success.
Dud: Caleb Williams
Williams started the game looking sharp, which is a significant improvement over last week. But as the game wore on and the run game and offensive line conspired to slow the offense down, things got worse for Williams. He threw two indefensible picks and missed some wide-open deep shots.
His deep ball accuracy has to improve. Maybe he just needs more time and chemistry with these receivers, but it's going to be hard to succeed on the field if defenses don't have to worry about giving up 40-yard bombs.