Bears Rewatch Revelations: Resiliency evident as Bears topple the Texans

The Chicago Bears did just enough to come away with a 23-20 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday.

Honestly, there’s no better way to spend my Victory Monday Mornings than rewatching the game and finding some takeaways I didn’t notice at first glance. I was up in the press box this week at Soldier Field, so watching the broadcast of the game definitely gave me a different perspective.

Here are some observations, thoughts, and analyses that came to mind while rewatching the Bears’ win over the Houston Texans.

Offense

• Equanimeous St. Brown’s big gain on the jet sweep was due to a good play design and execution all around as the Texans’ defense had no idea where the ball was until EQ turned the corner with a full head of steam. Watch number 55 keep his eyes in the backfield until it was too late. The safety didn’t know where the ball was until EQ started to turn upfield, and had gotten out of position by taking a few false steps. The receiver’s speed was too much at that point.

• Khalil Herbert’s touchdown run doesn’t happen without a key block from right tackle Larry Borom. Watch 75 reach the safety and take him out of the play. That’s an athletic play by Borom who went completely across the formation to make it happen. Also, it’s nice seeing rookie Braxton Jones drive a linebacker back like he did here. And hey, kudos to Sam Mustipher for reaching the second level in a flash for the seal block.

• Khari Blasingame’s lead block is a big reason behind Khalil Herbert being able to take this handoff for 52 yards.

• On Herbert’s touchdown run a few plays later, the running back demonstrated some good awareness and creativity when he hit the pile. Instead of trying to run through after initial contact, he turned his body to gain extra leverage and force to fall into the end zone.
  
• One of the most accurate throws for Justin Fields in a game full of accuracy issues came from a sidearm release.

• Seemingly every lateral throw ended up being a dangerous one for the Bears. The only outliers were two halfback screens to Herbert. Every other throw behind the line of scrimmage was off the mark and could’ve been disastrous.
  
• The Bears’ play-action bootleg was sniffed out every time. Fields had a defender closing in on him in a hurry each time they ran that concept.
  
• You may have noticed that there weren’t many notes on Fields’ and his struggles. That’s because it looked just as bad during the broadcast as it did in person. It was just bad. There’s no other way around it.

Defense

• Before Kindle Vildor got his key pass breakup that ended with Eddie Jackson’s interception in the end zone, the cornerback was targeted three-straight times including the touchdown the Texans scored on their previous possession. On this play, Mills was looking for their best receiver, Brandin Cooks, too. Talk about some resilience displayed after consecutive throws in Vildor’s vicinity.
  
• Credit to Al-Quadin Muhammad for being in an improved position this week on outside runs with overall better contain. He didn’t have a spectacular game, but it was an improvement nevertheless.
  
• Rookie Jaquan Brisker was in the box quite a lot throughout the game. Overall, he did a very good job defending the run, mostly from being able to go low and wrap up the ball carrier’s legs. There are a few examples, but I’ll share this play from the second half in the red zone.

• At the game, I didn’t realize the Bears had their defense on the field against the Texans’ punt team on the fake that converted the fourth-and-short in the third quarter.
  
• Defensive tackle Mike Pennel came in late in the fourth quarter and made a couple of big plays inside against the run. He didn’t play a ton of snaps, but his impact was felt late.
  
• You didn’t hear a lot about Jaylon Jones in the game. Starting in place of Jaylon Johnson, the undrafted rookie had a very good game in coverage without giving up a big play. However, he did have a couple of illegal contact calls go against him. But overall, for a guy getting his first meaningful snaps in the NFL, he was solid.
  
• Kyler Gordon gave up a few big plays in coverage, but you can see growth in his positioning on most snaps. He had some solid plays on the ball in coverage and was active against the run. He just needs to finish and make plays on a more consistent basis.
  
• The broadcast mentioned that it was starting to rain as soon as Roquan Smith came away with the game-winning interception. I didn’t see any precipitation from the box but find it pretty fitting that it worked out that way considering how things went down Week 1 at home in the downpour.

Special Teams

• No revelations on the third phase this week.

Wrapping Up

I hope that you enjoyed this week’s Rewatch Revelations! Who knows what may be uncovered after rewatching the next week’s game when the Bears head to the Big Apple to take on the Giants?

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