(670 The Score) Change the color of the uniforms, and it's the Bears, regardless. They can be dressed as they were like oddly well-conditioned Packers fans in winter hunting garb, and they still block like they’ve never seen an extra rusher.
Change the offensive coordinator and there's the same lack of any identity – nothing they seem confident in doing well, anything that keeps an opponent from dictating a course of action.
That a superior Texans team won the sloppy and poorly officiated 19-13 affair was to be reasonably expected, but we were under the impression that the firing of Luke Getsy, the hiring of Shane Waldron and the retention of the apparently indispensable Chris Morgan as offensive line coach were real steps in a positive direction to aid the development of Caleb Williams.
That young man needs ice packs, Advil and a hell of a lot more protection.
Three touchdowns win this one and may be the benchmark to win many more, the way the defense is playing. Jaylon Johnson is erasing half of the field, Andrew Billings is the Brute Squad emptying the Thieves' Forest and the rest are rallying up to the ball well enough to hold a top-five NFL quarterback to just one touchdown of his own at home.
But the points can't come when the most basic twists and games up front are apparently so confounding, when pre-snap penalties come even after stoppages in play that should allow for proper organization, when Cole Kmet is tasked with beating Will Anderson to a spot on the edge, when a kick returner is a critical part of too many personnel groups and when D'Andre Swift can only manage a meager 18 yards on 14 carries.
We can't be doing this again, and we're doing this again.
Where are the vertical downfield vectors in the play design? Why was Kmet a top-10 NFL tight end last year and is now a seeming afterthought? Why didn't anyone listen to those of us who warned from the treetops that acquiring a 32-year-old Keenan Allen just might mean more expensive game checks to an unavailable player? Who decided Coleman Shelton was possibly competent at a critical position, and who decided which is his first name or his last name?
And why am I even asking you? You don't know either.
I know that I think Caleb Williams is still really good, either that or I think I know he is. But he's not yet NFL quarterback enough to play over this, as he's asked to manage this disquietingly familiar side-to-side scheme while making sure he doesn't get his trachea stomped.
Matt Eberflus has his pet side of the ball well-aligned and motivated, and he has at least learned to defer when he wins the toss, but the Bears’ replay challenge process is terrible and he still can't figure out how not to allow an opponent with a great kicker to have just enough time to make a great and important kick.
We knew the most important coach on this team was Waldron, charged with shepherding a special talent onward and upward to better heights than those of which they felt Justin Fields capable as a passer.
And Ryan Poles left all of it remaining far too contingent on an offensive line that’s overwhelmed. In Week 1, it was those big dudes on the inside for the Titans. On Sunday, it was the quick ones on the edges, all similarly turbocharged by their friends from other spots and angles. Aidan Hutchinson and Brian Flores are already circling their respective and multiple shots at this.
Williams' body language near the end said what mattered more than will his always carefully considered words.
If the Bears still can't score points in this league, we're where we always are.
Dan Bernstein is the co-host of the Bernstein & Holmes Show on middays from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on 670 The Score. You can follow him on Twitter @Dan_Bernstein .
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