LAKE FOREST, Ill. (670 The Score) — After rallying from a 17-point deficit to win their season opener, the Bears are seeking a more complete effort when they visit the Houston Texans (1-0) at NRG Stadium on Sunday Night Football.
Here are the three storylines to follow in the matchup.
Can Caleb bounce back?
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has maintained he doesn’t care about his personal statistics so long as his team comes away with a win.
As they showed in Week 1, the Bears can win games without Williams and the offense playing well, but they'd like to see him be the reason why they prevail. Sunday night will give Williams another opportunity to do that after his uninspiring NFL debut.
Williams was 14-of-29 for 93 yards in his first game as the Bears offense failed to find the end zone and only reached the red zone once. It was disappointing, though not entirely unexpected for a young quarterback.
The 22-year-old Williams was candid in assessing where he needs to improve.
“It was around six throws that, obviously, if we would have hit those, everything would have seemed a lot different,” Williams said of his debut. “Throws that we hit in practice all the time on simple routes, on intermediate and then the one or two deep balls. If you hit those, the game, everything kind of explodes and things would have been said differently about how we played on offense. We’re here getting better. Obviously, it’s Week 1 for us. We came out with the win, we’re really excited for that.”
On Sunday, Williams will square off against Texans star quarterback C.J. Stroud, the reigning AP Rookie of the Year. The matchup will bring comparisons as Williams attempts to replicate Stroud's stellar rookie season.
For his part, Williams isn't focused on comparisons to Stroud, instead zeroing in on how he can improve. Chicago wants to see Williams be a primary reason why it has success this season. Sunday night will mark a key step in his development track.
Bring the rush
There were plenty of questions about the Bears’ pass rush ahead of the regular-season opener. Whom would this team rely upon opposite of Pro Bowl defensive end Montez Sweat?
As it turned out, the Bears’ pass rush was a strength in the opener. Titans quarterback Will Levis was 5-of-13 for 61 yards and two interceptions when facing pressure, and the Chicago pressured him on 47.4% of his dropbacks. Bears defensive linemen Andrew Billings, DeMarcus Walker and Darrell Taylor each registered five pressures.
Bears defensive coordinator Eric Washington was pleased with how his front performed.
“Energy,” Washington said. “And coordination and the coverage doing an exceptional job of forcing the quarterback to hold the football. Those things have to work in concert for the rush to get home. But it starts with just that urgency, the energy.”
Stroud and the Texans’ offense can be prolific if he’s comfortable in the pocket. So the Bears will need to generate pressure on Stroud, who was sacked four times in the Texans’ 29-27 win over the Colts last Sunday in Indianapolis.
2-0 on tap?
In 2023, six of the nine NFL teams that started 2-0 reached the playoffs. Since 1990, nearly two-thirds of teams that begin 2-0 reach the postseason.
The Bears are seeking just their second 2-0 start in the last decade. They last accomplished that in 2020, when they went 8-8 and reached the expanded postseason field as the No. 7 seed in the NFC.
A victory in Houston over the reigning AFC South champion Texans would legitimize the Bears as a true playoff hopeful. It would also serve as a confidence boost for a team that believes in its talent and be a statement to a national television audience in marking the arrival of these Bears.
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago’s sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.