One takeaway from Chicago Bears' Week 2 loss to Houston Texans

For all the talk that the Chicago Bears offense was destined through virtue of replacing Luke Getsy with Shane Waldron as the team's offensive coordinator, the operation has looked pretty similar through the first two games of the 2024 NFL season.

After failing to score a touchdown against the Tennessee Titans during the opening week of the 2024 season, the Bears offense did reach the end zone on Sunday night when running back Khalil Herbert scored at the end of the first off during their loss to the Houston Texans.

Part of the frustration from Bears' fans this season is that the Bears have offensive playmakers on their roster in DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze, Cole Kmet, and D'Andre Swift. Allen was inactive during Sunday's loss but the Bears' offensive game plan appeared to be centered on side-to-side passes from Caleb Williams to DeAndre Carter rather than prioritizing any of the aforementioned playmakers.

Before moving forward, let's be clear, the Bears' offensive line needs to be better.

What's notable about the Texans having 36 pressures is the fact that the Bears had 37 pass attempts in the game. There isn't a scenario where the Bears' offense is going to be successful if the offensive line continues to fail in pass protection.

But, the struggles of the offensive line is extending into run protection. The Bears have yet to be able to run the ball with any amount of success this season.

Again, if the offensive line continues to lose its protection battles, this is going to be a very dangerous season for the Bears to have to develop a rookie quarterback.

Shane Waldron's struggles is being masked my by the offensive line.

Personnel usage was Waldron's biggest issue during Week 1 of this season. Cole Kmet rarely saw the field against the Titans, but that was fixed last night. Kmet was the Bears' predominant tight end last night but was mostly used in protection. For Waldron, with a rookie quarterback in Williams trying to find his footing, it would have made more sense to use Kmet as a security blanket for the passing game instead of in protection.

The other issue is the play calling. It seems that Waldron has yet to become familiar with the players on the Bears' roster. Rather than focusing on getting the ball to Moore and Odunze, Carter was the focal point of the Bears' offense last night. The Bears emphasized the side-to-side passing game yesterday, and it seems like they missed an opportunity to attack the Texans vertically.

There remains hope that Waldron will be better than Getsy by the end of the season, but the offensive coordinator remains a major concern right now.