New Caleb Williams Info Makes O-Line Disaster In Houston Even Worse
Seven sacks. Eleven hits. That would be unacceptable for an offensive line in three games, never mind one. Yet the Chicago Bears once again found a way to enter futile territory on Sunday night in Houston. Caleb Williams was banged around way too much in that game, especially in the second half once it became clear the run game wasn’t working. If opening day against Tennessee was an eye-opening experience, Houston became a serious slap back to reality for a front five that thought they could be solid this year.
Yet, somehow, it gets worse. Nate Tice of Yahoo Sports reviewed the game’s tape and came across some troubling information. From what he saw, Williams actually did a great job identifying where the Texans’ blitzes were coming from. He changed the protections to counter it. Unfortunately, the offensive line still failed to block them. They either lost their one-on-one reps or completely failed to pick up stunts and delayed fifth rushers. It was a comedy of mental errors across the board.
Caleb Williams can’t do everything himself.
His responsibilities center on identifying where the pressure is coming from and alerting the line to be ready. He did that several times throughout the game. The fact it didn’t matter says a lot about how out of sorts the front five are. So many miscommunications. Some former offensive linemen like Brian Baldinger and Mark Schlereth have pointed the finger at offensive coordinator Shane Waldron for this problem. It is his responsibility to make sure everybody is on the same page. That hasn’t happened for two weeks now.
There are still 15 games left. The Bears have time to get this situation under control. Head coach Matt Eberflus isn’t one to panic when things don’t go well early. Even so, there must be a sense of urgency. The well-being of Caleb Williams is of the utmost priority. If that requires a change to the offensive approach or a shuffling of the line, so be it. The last thing this city needs is to watch another promising young quarterback slowly get beaten into submission by non-stop pressure every week.