After the Chicago Bears win over the Houston Texans the team has moved to 2-1 on the season. It is still early, but considering so many in the media had this team destined for the number one overall pick, this has to be an inspiring start to the Matt Eberflus era. Still, while the wins are wins, many saw the Houston Texans competing with Chicago for that top pick, so the credit will be slow to come in.
Beyond that, the team has to answer the following five questions.
5. How much will Justin Fields improve?
Coming into the season expectations were not high for Justin Fields, mainly because of his supporting cast. However, no Chicago Bears fan can watch the first three weeks of the season and say that his help is hurting him more than he is hurting himself.
Small things for Justin Fields such as the snap exchange, getting passes batted at the line, throwing while past the line of scrimmage, not getting off of a read, and checking down too fast are all products of his own play.
The reality is that Justin Fields is going to improve. It is still a new offense and he is still inexperienced in the NFL. At the same time, the question is how much will he improve, and how fast will it come?
It was hard to say he was not the biggest impediment to winning on Sunday. The team is not going to bench him, as they have no good option behind him. Still, while many thought he could be propping a bad roster up, the opposite has shown through three weeks.
4. What is the status of David Montgomery?
Early into the game, the team lost David Montgomery to an injury that Matt Eberflus would only deem as a leg injury. While the team hardly lost a step with Khalil Herbert taking off, there is now a question of what will happen with David Montgomery.
This is a big injury for Montgomery because he is going to be a free agent at the end of this season. If his season is over it is going to cost him significantly.
It could effect the Chicago Bears in two ways. First, it could cause them to have enough faith in Khalil Herbert to move on from Montgomery. On the flip side, it may make his price tag so affordable that they decide the two-headed punch is worth keeping around.
Either way, we should expect to see Herbert. Montgomery may not be done for the year, but it would also be surprising if he was back without missing any time. The status of David Montgomery, and how the Chicago Bears respond not only in-season but during the offseason will be something to watch.
3. Are Chicago Bears’ special teams an issue?
With a win, the small misses and issues get swept under the rug. However, when it is week three, you know that they are going to come back up and become important topics again. One of these issues may be special teams.
If the Texans won in Chicago, you could easily point to special teams as the difference. On the touchdown drive that caused Houston to go up 14-10, the team started their drive in plus territory thanks to a 31-yard punt return for Desmond King. The play wound up netting Chicago just 25 yards.
Lovie Smith also got the Chicago Bears sleeping by converting a fake punt. These were two momentum-changing plays for the Texans on special teams.
The punt return group has been an issue as well.
Through 3 games, the Bears have 3 punt returns for 1 yard. Opponents are averaging 47.7 yards per punt against them, with a net gain of 47.6 yards after factoring in returns.
— Johnathan Wood (@Johnathan_Wood1) September 26, 2022
Meanwhile, Chicago is averaging 46.9 yards/punt, but only 41.6 net after returns. Big difference.
As highlighted in the tweet above, the special teams has done next to nothing in the return game, but have not been as strong on the backend. This issue did not kill them on Sunday, but they are losing small edges with poor special team play.
This will need to be resolved because they are not going to keep running up against teams like Houston, who will forgive them for these mistakes. The fact that every unit seems to be impacted is not helping the cause.
2. Did Chicago Bears run defense improve?
One big question entering the game was how good the Chicago Bears run defense was. During the first quarter against the 49ers, Elijah Mitchell was running all over them. He got injured, and they were not attacked as often, but the Green Bay Packers obviously saw this and took advantage.
A.J. Dillon and Aaron Jones ran all over the Chicago Bears defense, particularly killing them on the edges. So, how did they fare against the Texans?
Overall, 20 carries for 80 yards against Dameon Pierce does not sound too bad. It was a bit better looking from a success rate point of view, but overall it was not quite the big runs that Mitchell hit, nor was it the relentless gaining of yards that Green Bay showcased.
Pierce is a tough runner, but more of an inside runner than someone who would expose Chicago on the edges. This is worth keeping in mind, as Chicago did well enough against him. Perhaps it is true that the run defense is not an issue up the middle, but only a problem on the edges. Fast runners who get outside, and outside zone teams will have success, but inside runners like Pierce will have their success, but will not explode for big yards.
1. Will the right guard rotation end?
The Chicago Bears had been sticking with a pretty even rotation at right guard. Teven Jenkins led in the snaps in the first game, and Lucas Patrick had more snaps in the second game. Overall, the split was nearly identical.
However, in week three, the split leaned towards Patrick. Patrick had 41 snaps while Jenkins had 22. This was not just the effects of one player being on the field for a long drive. This obviously shows that Lucas Patrick has the upper hand.
Speaking of his hand, the increase in snaps may be showing that Patrick is ready to start snapping in the coming weeks. He snapped a bit at practice, and they may be getting him ready for a full snap load next week.
This would hopefully be good for Jenkins, who has had his moments at right guard but is still developing. He needs the snaps, but the team views Patrick as the better lineman and the more valued commodity. Was this the last week that we see a rotation? We will see soon enough.