Houston Texans second-year quarterback C.J. Stroud met Chicago Bears rookie QB Caleb Williams on the field after Sunday's game, and the conversation was brief.
Among the words of advice and encouragement from Stroud, who is just a month older, was: "Stop taking those hits."
Williams was hit 15 times, including seven sacks, and said he felt "a little bruised up" after the 19-13 loss.
Stroud won the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award last season, and he was never sacked seven times in a game. The most was six -- once. His offensive line is anchored by All-Pro tackle Laremy Tunsil .
The Bears' offensive line has been a hot topic this week, for all the wrong reasons. Former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick said the Bears built their roster inefficiently, not focusing on the offensive line first. Belichick said that's what helped build the NFC North champion Detroit Lions .
Williams has been sacked nine times, tied with the Las Vegas Raiders' Gardner Minshew for most in the league. The Bears rank 30th in pass block win rate, but their line problems don't end with pass blocking. The Bears, who second in the league last season in rushing offense at 141.1 yards per game, rank 28th this season at 77.5 yards per game.
Part of last season's success was due to the rushing of quarterback Justin Fields , who was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers to make way for Williams. But running back D'Andre Swift , who averaged 4.6 yards per carry last year for the Philadelphia Eagles , is averaging 2.0 this season.
If Williams is going to survive, the Bears need to revive their run game to open up play-action, which was used on just seven dropbacks against Houston. And they need to protect better. They face the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday (1 p.m., CBS), and the Colts rank 26th in pass rush win rate.
"If we're running the ball well, the protection takes care of itself," left tackle Braxton Jones said.
Bears general manager Ryan Poles was optimistic about his offensive line heading into the season. Right tackle Darnell Wright was the No. 10 pick last season, and the Bears traded for Ryan Bates , who can anchor multiple spots on the interior. Poles called center Coleman Shelton a "glue guy" who could get the entire unit on the same page. Poles also noted Jones' improvement and said in the preseason that left guard Teven Jenkins is "playing his best ball, too."
Right guard Nate Davis didn't receive the same glowing remarks from the GM, who noted that Davis "obviously needs to continue to work on his dependability and his consistency."
Suffice to say Poles' optimism is being challenged. Bates was placed on injured reserve last week with shoulder and elbow injuries, and the only depth player with substantial experience is Matt Pryor .
Houston's defense, which didn't have to worry about an effective run game, scripted a blueprint on how to stop the Bears by bringing pressure. Williams was 3-of-12 for 15 yards with an interception and five sacks when blitzed.
"When you're able to run the ball and move the ball and stay ahead of the chains, you don't get those types of pressures where we know you're all pass protection," coach Matt Eberflus said. "So we have to do a really good job with that coming forward and not creating those distances for us there that aren't favorable for us on offense."
The Bears were blitzed on the third-most snaps in the NFL in 2023 and ran frequently to combat those pressures (rushes on 43% of their plays overall). They also kept as many blockers on the line as possible with 16% of their dropbacks in max protection (seven-plus blockers), which was the third-highest rate in the league. That number jumped to 30% against the blitz (second-highest rate).
This season, Chicago has run the ball 31% of the time against the blitz, which ranks 28th in the NFL. Chicago used max protection 12% of the time against a standard four-man rush. That number increased to 15% against the blitz (tied for 20th).
The result is a lack of explosive pass plays. According to ESPN Research, Williams is 0-for-11 on throws that have traveled 15-plus yards downfield in two games, with all of those throws being off target.
"I know everyone just wants to look at the offensive line," tight end Cole Kmet said. "You see a sack and maybe you feel like it's on the offensive line, but there's a lot of things that go into it.
"[If the receivers aren't running the right routes], that causes the quarterback to hold the ball a little bit more, leading to sacks."
Holding on to the ball was a frequent criticism of Fields last year, but Williams has the eighth-fastest release time (2.64 seconds).
"I don't think it's necessarily a talent issue up front," Kmet said. "I don't think we were necessarily getting overmatched totally physically up front.
"But I think us getting on the same page can lead to those adjustments, and we can kind of see those sacks come down a little bit."
Where that pressure was coming from in Houston is also part of the issue. In two games, the interior of the Bears' offensive line has allowed 13 pressures. Despite playing 22 fewer snaps than the other four starters because he rotated with Bates in Week 1, Davis has allowed five pressures.
"You look at a team like Detroit in their division," Belichick said on "The Pat McAfee Show." "Detroit's got three really good linemen with [ Penei] Sewell , [ Frank] Ragnow and [ Taylor] Decker . Those guys give, generally, a lot of protection.
"The Bears have really put their resources, a lot of money, a lot of draft choices into receivers, but they've had problems on their offensive line. ... A combination of, let's say, struggles with the running game and having to throw a lot and pass protect a lot ... that's not a strength of the Bears' team."
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