Chicago Bears falter in the second half - Snap counts, stats and more

All statistics and snap counts are taken directly from the NFL's Game Statistic and Information System.

The Chicago Bears started the 2016 NFL season like a team that was out to prove their shaky 1-3 preseason didn’t matter. Chicago’s defense picked off the Houston Texans on their first drive -- after only getting eight interceptions during the entire 2015 season snagging one on the 7th play of 2016 was a big deal. The Bears’ offense them stormed 75 yards down the field on eight plays, ending with a Jeremy Langford 1 yard touchdown plunge.

All was good in the world for Bears fans.

But then, with the Bears in field goal range, there was a risky 4th and inches call that resulted in a botched snap. The Texans took over on downs and traversed 59 yards to the Bears 10, where they settled for 3 on a made field goal. The Bears could have had a 10-0 lead on the road (had they made the FG), but instead they gave the Texans some momentum.

Houston picked up the 1st of their 5 sacks on the Bears next drive on a Bears’ 3rd and 2, then continued their momentum when Brock Osweiler hit DeAndre Hoplins on a 23 yard TD pass 11 plays later.

A Pat O’Donnell punt on the Bears’ next possession gave the Texans a chance to add more points in their 2 minute offense, but Chicago’s D held. A three and out, then a 60 yard punt by Houston’s Shane Lechler gave the Bears a glimmer of hope to build some momentum of their own with :38 seconds left in the half from their own 25 yard line.

A 12 yard Jay Cutler scramble followed up by a short pass to Langford for 19 yards and the Bears were in business. That is until the yellow flag for a bogus offensive pass interference on Zach Miller pushed the Bears back to a 1st and 20 from their own 27 yard line.

With just :24 left on the clock I expected the Bears to take a knee, but head coach John Fox and offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains had other ideas. Loggains dialed up a play with Alshon Jeffery going deep and Cutler hit him for a 54 yard gain.

The Bears were back in business, in chip shot field goal range, but they wanted to take a stab at the end zone. With the Texans expecting a fade to one of Chicago’s tall wide outs, Cutler looked to the corner of the end zone before coming back over the middle with a 19 yard strike to Eddie Royal for a touchdown.

Chicago had the momentum, the lead at 14-10, and they would be getting the ball to open the 2nd half.

Jay Cutler was 10 of 13 for 156 yards, 1 TD and a 141.8 passer rating in the first half and the Chicago Bears were hanging with the defending AFC South champions.

But the second half was a different story.

Cutler threw a pick on the 2nd play of the half, when Kevin White appeared to run the wrong route, and overall Jay went 0 for 5 in the 3rd quarter, with the 1 interception, plus he was sacked again. The running game accounted for 31 yards in the quarter with only one first down. Their 4th quarter wasn’t much better, with Jay getting sacked three more times while completing 6 of 11 for 60 yards, and a 70.3 rating,with 3 first downs, and the rushing attack picking up a paltry 4 yards.

Houston was steady throughout the game scoring 10 in the first half with 178 yards of offense, and 13 points in the second half with 166 yards in total offense. But the Bears faltered. After scoring 14 in the 1st, with 187 total yards, they were shut out in the 2nd with just 71 yards.

Houston won the time of possession battle 36:19 to 23:41, in part by their outstanding 3rd down conversion of 60% (12 for 20) to the Bears’ 4 for 13 (31%). The Texans ran more plays 72 to 54 and they had more 1st downs (17 to 14).

The Texans seemed to use halftime to tweak their pass rush, working in some more stunts and blitzes, whereas the Bears played it fairly vanilla defensively. Their offense couldn’t find a rhythm in the second half, with the pressure really bothering them and some miscues really hurting them.

Bears lose 23-14 to open up 0-1 on the season.

Now on to the snap counts and individual stats.

All snap counts will be in the ‘Player - total offensive/defensive snaps (percentage) - total special teams snaps (percentage)’ format.

Quarterback

Cutler - 56 (100%)

We talked about Cutler’s tale of two halves above, but on the day he was 16 of 29 passing (55.2%), for 216 yards, 1 TD, 1 Int, and a passer rating of 76.2. He had 2 runs for 12 yards. He also had 2 fumbles, but he recovered them both.

Offensive Line

J Sitton LG - 56 (100%) - 2 (7%)

K Long RG - 56 (100%) - 2 (7%)

C Leno LT - 56 (100%) - 2 (7%)

B Massie RT 56 (100%) - 2 (7%)

C Whitehair C - 56 (100%)

The o-line allowed the Texans to compile 5 sacks and 13 quarterback hits (QBH), to go along with 8 tackles for loss (TFL).

Wide Receivers

K White - 55 (98%)

A Jeffery - 53 (95%)

E Royal - 36 (64%) - 5 (18%)

D Thompson - 2 (4%) - 8 (29%)

Kevin White was the most targeted Bear with 7, Alshon Jeffery and Eddie Royal had 6 each. Jeffery led the team with 105 yards receiving on 4 catches. Royal had 4 as well, with 57 yards and the TD. White had 3 for 34.

Royal had 40 yards on 4 punt returns and Deonte Thompson averaged 20.6 on 5 kick returns.

Running Backs

J Langford - 54 (96%)

K Carey - 2 (4%) - 19 (68%)

P Lasike - 14 (25%) - 6 (21%)

So much for the RB by committee. Maybe when the Bears run the ball a bit more, we’ll see the carries spread out a bit. Jeremy Langford had the one TD on 17 rushing attempts and 57 yards (3.4ypc). He was targeted 4 time sin the passing games, grabbing 2 receptions fro 6 yards.

Ka’Deem Carey had one attempt for 4 yards and the rookie Jordan Howard didn’t play a single snap.

Tight Ends

Z Miller - 43 (77%)

L Paulsen - 20 (36%) - 9 (32%)

G Scruggs - 1 (2%) 6 - (21%)

Zach Miller had 3 catches for 14 yards on 4 targets and Logan Paulsen was targeted once. Paulsen added a tackle on special teams.

Also, someone should alert the NFLGSIS that Greg Scruggs is no longer playing defense, they still have him listed as a DE.

Special Teams

These players only appeared in the 3rd phase

J Anderson - 26 (93%)

C Jones - 26 (93%)

S McManis - 26 (93%)

J Bellamy - 21 (75%)

D Houston-Carson - 21 (75%)

P O'Donnell - 9 (32%)

P Scales - 9 (32%)

C Barth - 5 (18%)

M Adams - 2 (7%)

T Larsen - 2 (7%)

It looks like Christian Jones is going to crave out a niche for him self as a core special teamer, he had 2 tackles and 2 assists yesterday. Fellow LB Jonathan Anderson also had an assist.

Sherrick McManis had a solo tackle.

Pat O’Donnell had 7 punts for a 42.3 average (38.1 net), he placed 2 punts inside the 20 and had 4 punts fair caught.

Conner Barth made both of his extra points.

Safety

A Amos - 75 (100%) -8 (29%)

H Jones-Quartey - 72 (96%)

C Prosinski - 2 (3%) - 26 (93%)

Adrian Amos had 5 tackles and a TFL, Harold Jones-Quartey had 7 total tackles, and Chris Prosinski had 1 tackle on special teams.

Cornerback

T Porter - 75 (100%)

J Glenn - 57 (76%) - 6 (21%)

B Callahan - 54 (72%)

D Hall - 18 (24%) - 10 (36%)

Jacoby Glenn had 2 passed defended (PD) and 5 tackles in the first start of his career. Tracy Porter had one interception, 1 PD and 4 tackles. Bryce Callahan had 1 QBH as the nickleback and Deiondre’ Hall had 3 tackles and a PD.

Linebacker

D Trevathan ILB - 75 (100%)

J Freeman ILB - 74 (99%)

L Floyd OLB - 60 (80%)

W Young OLB - 48 (64%) - 5 (18%)

L Houston OLB - 27 (36%)

S Acho OLB - 15 (20%) - 26 (93%)

Even with the loss, it feels so good to see professional inside linebackers working for the Bears. I tweeted this out yesterday.

Danny Trevathan had 11 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL and a QBH and Jerrell Freeman had 17 tackles and a TFL.

Anyone else find it odd that the Bears coaches took some shots at Leonard Floyd’s readiness to play NFL football last week, but then played him more than any other outside linebacker? I’m sure that had to do with how often the Bears were in nickle, but in my opinion, odd nonetheless. Floyd did notch a half a sack, to go along with 6 tackles and a QBH.

Lamarr Houston had 4 tackles and a QBH, Willie Young didn’t scratch the stat sheet and Sam Acho had a tackle.

Defensive Line

A Hicks - 62 (83%) - 5 (18%)

E Goldman - 42 (56%) - 4 (14%)

M Unrein - 38 (51%) - 7 (25%)

J Bullard - 17 (23%)

C Washington - 14 (19%) - 3 (11%)

Eddie Goldman had the other half of Floyd’s sack, to go along with 6 total tackles and 2 QBHs. Akiem Hicks had a forced fumble and 3 tackles. Mitch Unrein had 1 QBH, as did Jonathan Bullard. Cornelius Washington had a tackle.

Even though the Texans’ Lamar Miller had 106 yards rushing, the Bears held him to under 4 yards per carry (3.8) and overall Houston was at 3.7 for the game.

Brock Osweiler had an 89.1 passer rating against Chicago’s D.

What are your thoughts on the snap counts/stats this week?