Chicago Bears’ Position Battles to Follow

There is no shortage of individual battles that will dictate which team will be victorious in the Chicago Bears’ week two game against the Texans in Houston. But, there are a few mission-critical matchups to watch that will be key for the Bears to win the game. This game will live and die in the trenches across the line of scrimmage, but there are pivotal one-on-one battles all over the field that must be won.

Meet in The Middle

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The Chicago Bears starting center Coleman Shelton had a rough day against the Tenessee Titans last week. Though his overall PFF blocking grade wasn’t awful at 64.5, it was the lowest on the offensive line, and he allowed two egregious plays to happen. One was a 19-yard sack when Titans DT Sebastian Joeseph-Day blew between Shelton and RG Nate Davis to steal QB Caleb William’s lunch money. The other was getting flat-backed in pass pro by blitzing Titans linebacker Ernest Jones, IV, who then batted down a pass that would have been a sure touchdown to Keenan Allen.

Coleman Shelton has another tough matchup this week against Houston Texans’ tackle Mario Edwards. Edwards is a former defensive end who is very quick off the ball and had a sack last week against the Indianapolis Colts. The only other player to have a sack for the Houston Texans against the Colts last week was Edward’s fellow DT, Folorunso Fatukasi. These DTs for the Texans are both big-bodied journeyman players, who have each played for several NFL teams. They are not superstars or world-beaters but have solid veteran technique and sage wisdom. The middle of the Bears’ o-line can and must outplay these DTs of the Houston Texans.

Along with Chicago Bears center Coleman Shelton, starting right guard Nate Davis will also have a challenge ahead of him with the Texans DTs. Davis got benched for a series or two last week after he and Shelton allowed that big sack up the middle against the Titans. Davis’s replacement was Ryan Bates who had the best PFF grade on the o-line against the Titans with 78.7. Bates has been on the Chicago Bears injury report all week and has been ruled out for Sunday’s game in Houston. Nate Davis is the more talented player, but must improve his consistency, and can not take plays off against Houston.

On the other side of center Coleman Shelton is the starting left guard Tevin Jenkins, who had a 68.4 PFF grade. Though Jenkins’s grade was second-lowest on the offensive line, he did play more consistently than his fellow lineman. Jenkins will also need to bring his A-game on Sunday versus the Texans. The three starting interior linemen will be backed up by offensive linemen Bill Murray and Doud Kramer Jr. this week. With Ryan Bates being Ruled out, these backup offensive linemen would be a significant downgrade should any starters miss playing time.

The Chicago Bears bookends left tackle Braxton Jones and right tackle Darnell Wright need to play well to give Caleb Williams a chance. Jones allowed one sack to Titans pass rusher Harold Landry, whereas Wright did not give up so much as a QB hurry. Both tackles must improve their run-blocking for the Bears to have a chance to win. If the Chicago Bears can get a running game going up the middle with Swift and Herbert, that would allow the offense to build some effective play action from that success rushing the ball.

Marquee Matchups for Bears’ DBs

Houston Texans wide receiver Stefon Diggs might think he is still a number one wide receiver, but he’s wrong. Though Diggs may be the first read on certain plays, the number one pass catcher for the Texans is WR, Nico Collins. Our friend Nico will see a high dose of Chicago Bears’ lockdown cornerback Jaylon Johnson this week. Johnson boasted the highest PFF grade for all cornerbacks in the NFL last week with a score of 92.3. Though Johnson may cover other receivers on Sunday, depending on formation and what coverage is called, it will largely be his responsibility to shut down Nico.

Forcing Texans’ QB C.J. Stroud to go through his progressions by taking away his first reads will be a key component of the Chicago Bears game plan. Making the ball go to secondary or tertiary options and not letting Stroud get the ball out quickly will be crucial. Last week’s player of the game for the Chicago Bears was CB Tyrique Stevenson, largely for his interception returned for a touchdown to secure the win. Stevenson and Jaylon Johnson have the challenge of covering one of the best WR corps in the NFL with Tank Dell, Stefon Diggs, and Nico Collins.

Chicago Bears’ D-Line Must Win

In a fortunate announcement, Bears’ DT Zacch Pickens was cleared to play on Friday and has practiced fully for the past two days. Pickens has no injury designation going into the game against Houston. Zacch Pickens will be a much-needed anchor in the middle of the Chicago Bears run defense. Last week, Texans RB Joe Mixon was a juggernaut running the football 30 times for big yards. For the Bears to win, they need to cut down Mixon’s effectiveness.

Also, a full participant in Friday’s practice was starting Bears DE DeMarcus Walker. He has been designated as questionable for Sunday’s game. If Walker is out, Daniel Hardy and Austin Booker will take some of the reps at DE reps along with Darrell Taylor and Montez Sweat. Taylor played excellent last week with a couple of sacks, eight total tackles, and a forced fumble. If Taylor can replicate those numbers this week, he will become one of the best contributors on the defensive line. The Chicago Bears’ other starting defensive end Montez Sweat did not play very well last week with just two tackles and nothing else in his stat line. Sweat must get to the QB against Houston.

Conclusion

Even if the Chicago Bears win all of those individual battles, their fate still lies in the hands of rookie QB Caleb Williams. In his second NFL start, Caleb Williams needs to go out there and show the world he can play quarterback in the NFL. As long as his offensive line plays better than they did last week, he should be able to do that in some capacity. Caleb Williams will need to do a nice job of protecting the football like he did last week having zero turnovers. Only this week, he will need to do that while taking more risks throwing the ball farther downfield.

One player who can help Caleb Williams do that is star WR D.J. Moore. Moore was pretty quiet in the opener with only five catches for 36 yards receiving, but he is healthy, unlike the other Bears wide receivers. Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze are officially questionable and will be game-time decisions for the Chicago Bears on Sunday Night Football. Keenan Allen did not practice all week with a heel injury, and surprisingly Rome Odunze got in a limited session on Friday with a sprained MCL. Allen led the team with 11 targets last week and would be a big loss to the offense if he is not healthy enough to play in Houston.

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Article originally written by Cody Nickel