The Chicago Bears fell to the Houston Texans last night 19-13 on Sunday Night Football. The Chicago offense fell under scrutiny for their lack of productivity in Caleb Williams’ second career game. The struggles of the offensive line dominated the narrative surrounding the offense and opened the door to a conversation that had been quiet since the NFL Draft back in the spring. In a first-round draft class overflowing with offensive line prospects, Chicago opted to use their second pick of the round on WR Rome Odunze.
Odunze has battled injuries so far in the young season and has been limited in his productivity. Through the first two games of the year, the 22-year-old wideout from Washington has three catches for 44 yards on nine targets. Contrasting the relative obscurity of the rookie receiver, the Chicago Bears offensive line has been the main topic of discussion about the team. Evaluating rookie quarterback Caleb Williams has been difficult thus far with the lack of security up front, something that begs early questioning of the Chicago Bears draft philosophy.
Chicago Bears Problematic Loss in Houston
The Houston Texans beat the Chicago Bears 19-13 on Sunday Night Football in a change of pace for both franchises. Led by young, dynamic quarterbacks both of these teams are more of a commodity for the NFL this year. The Texans are coming off of a surprising playoff run on the back of one of the best rookie seasons ever had by a rookie quarterback, the Ohio State product, CJ Stroud. On the other sideline, this year’s number one pick Caleb Williams has the direction of the Chicago Bears in his hands. On Sunday, Stroud won the matchup and led his team to their second win of the season.
The road loss is not the end of the world for Caleb Williams or the Chicago Bears but after two weeks, there are some takeaways. To how the Chicago front office chose to support the former Heisman winner and build a team around him, specifically, the choice GM Ryan Poles made with the ninth pick in the first round of this spring’s NFL Draft. After selecting Williams with the first overall pick the Bears had via Carolina Panthers, Poles had a decision to make with Chicago’s draft pick.
Poles went with Rome Odunze over an offensive lineman. As HBO’s Hard Knocks showed, Odunze was higher on Chicago’s draft board than any available lineman but when decisions on prospects from the draft room become players on the field those decisions take on a different tone. After the offense was held in check in the Week One comeback win against the Tennessee Titans, they were looking to turn it around in primetime in Houston but had no such luck.
The Chicago Bears offense will have to wait another week to try and right the ship. The fear is that their issues may not be fixable. Caleb Williams hasn’t been able to operate from a clean pocket much, needing to escape and try to recreate some of the off-script plays he made during his college career to get the offense going. None of these plays have been to Rome Odunze, who is dealing with an MCL sprain. The rookie wide receiver has been contained to three catches on 44 yards through two games and has only been targeted nine times despite the absence of Keenan Allen.
Chicago Bears Offensive Line Woes
A big reason the Chicago Bears offense has been stagnant has been the play of the offensive line. GM Ryan Poles felt comfortable picking a receiver with the ninth pick of the draft because of the players already on the offensive line and the players he would bring in to add to the unit. Poles signed Coleman Shelton to a one-year, $3M deal and traded a fifth-round pick to Buffalo for Ryan Bates to supplement the offensive front. Bates is injured and unable to spell Shelton or fill in elsewhere. Bates and Shelton added to a line that started Braxton Jones and Teven Jenkins on the left side, and Nate Davis and Darnell Wright on the right.
Prescriptions about the returning members of the Chicago Bears line have been challenged so far this season with the struggles in the run game and the inability to protect the rookie quarterback. The unit wasn’t anything special but wasn’t expected to regress how they have so far in 2024. Caleb Williams has been sacked nine times in two games, including seven times in last night’s loss. Williams’ learning period could be eased by a supportive running game, but the Bears haven’t been able to make that a viable threat, only gaining 155 yards and 3.5 YPC this season.
Each offensive lineman has been underperforming through two games. Braxton Jones was a surprise as a quality starting tackle after he was selected in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft which allowed for more flexibility across the line and in the front office. He has had a rough start to 2024, allowing leaks in the outside run game and passing game, unable to plug gaps for Chicago’s skill position players. Last night’s loss was particularly bad with Danielle Hunter beating Jones for 1.5 of the seven Texans’ sacks.
The Chicago Bears left guard Teven Jenkins has been an injury concern for his whole career. When he puts all of his tools together he has been one of the best linemen on the roster. The problem is that he continues to be nagged with small injuries that have made him less productive as a starting left guard. D’Andre Swift and other running backs haven’t been able to find a lot of running room through the middle behind Jenkins.
Injury concerns are an even bigger problem for Nate Davis, who has been a disappointment in his Bears’ tenure. After signing a three-year, $25M deal to come over from Tennessee, Davis has been unreliable on the field as well as with his availability. The veteran has made more than his fair share of mistakes including last night when Davis inexplicably committed a false start penalty after giving the center, Shelton, the relayed signal from the quarterback, Williams. Davis’s standing on the team has been precarious and has not been helped by his performance this year.
Darnell Wright has been the best lineman in Chicago since being selected tenth overall in 2023. Even as a rookie while dealing with an arm injury in the second half of last season he has been a bedrock on the right side of the offensive line. His struggles this year have been puzzling, especially last night when he allowed Will Anderson Jr. to wreak havoc on the Bears offense with 1.5 sacks. Wright is a lock to stay on the line but his slow start is of concern to fans and Caleb Williams alike.
In an offense run by first-year signal caller Shane Waldron, running the ball is imperative, and having the first overall pick under center invites using his talent in the passing game. In order to make this happen on the field, the Chicago Bears offensive line is going to have to be better and the question has to be asked if they have the requisite personnel. The draft would’ve been a great avenue to address the offensive line but Ryan Poles thought it would be better to support Caleb Williams with weapons on the outside, selecting Odunze and trading for Keenan Allen.
Both players have been bugged with injuries in the first two games. The perimeter threats have combined for seven receptions and 73 yards, underwhelming a lot of the preseason hype surrounding the Chicago Bears’ receiving core, with Allen, Odunze, and DJ Moore. There are 15 more opportunities for these receivers to validate Ryan Poles’s decisions, whether it be to extend Moore, acquire Allen, or most importantly draft Odunze.
It’s only been two weeks, but if the offense continues to struggle much longer and deal with the problems they have faced, there are going to have to be some re-evaluations of the choice to bring in Odunze over one of the offensive linemen available at the ninth pick. More game snaps for Williams and the offensive line should help them gel and improve as the season unfolds, but with a rookie receiver struggling out of the gate and other lineman prospects thriving across the league, the choice of Rome Odunze is coming under fire in Chicago and has the potential to escalate into something more.
