Bears vs Texans: Snap counts, stats and more

Just when we were all readying ourselves for the end of the 2020 Chicago Bears season, they go out and smack around an awful Houston Texans team to keep their playoff hopes alive.

The Bears jumped out to a 30 to 7 first half lead, then coasted to a 36 to 7 win, which pushed their record to 6-7 leaving them still just one game out of the seventh seed.

This was a complete three-phase, 60-minute game, but it needs to be reiterated, the Texans are awful. There were already a depleted franchise thanks to former general manager/head coach Bill O’Brien, but this week the Texans had several injured, suspended, and COVID-19 related players missing.

The Bears deserve their kudos for the win, but some context is needed before I run through the numbers.

Chicago outgained the Texans, 410 total yards to 263, and they had more first downs, 23 to 17. The Bears averaged 6.9 yards per offensive play to Houston’s 4.1.

The Texans had the edge in third down conversions by making 7 for 14, to 3 for 10 for the Bears, and they had a slight edge in time of possession, 30:25 to 29:35. The Texans were flagged 6 times for 50 yards and the Bears got hit 7 times for 44 yards.

Chicago has earned a small amount of good will with this win, but with a matchup in Minnesota that has real playoff ramifications surrounding it up next, we’ll see if this team has truly turned a corner.

But now let’s take a closer look at the playing time break downs for the Bears and also some individual stats.

OFFENSE

This was a solid game from Mitchell Trubisky as the Bears let him play a bit from under center, they used play action, and they moved the pocket for him. He made good decisions on his RPOs and didn’t force anything while throwing for 267 yards on 24 of 33 passing (73.7%), with 3 touchdowns and no turnovers. He also had 4 runs for 23 yards. His passer rating of 126.7 was the best this season and it was his highest since November 10, 2019.

David Montgomery kicked off the Bears scoring with an 80 yard TD run on their first play from scrimmage. He ended up with 11 rushes for 113 yards and 3 catches for 42 yards.

Allen Robinson had one of Trubisky’s TD receptions and he again led the Bears with 9 catches for 123 yards.

The other TD grabs went to Jimmy Graham (4 receptions, 23 yards) and Darnell Mooney (2 for 22).

Cole Kmet had another nice outing with 4 catches for 41 yards, and this is the fourth game in a row where he led the tight end group in playing time. He’s starting to look like a guy that can help this offense for years to come.

DEFENSE

Roquan Smith had a game high 12 tackles, and 2 of the Bears 7 sacks. Smith has been pushing for an All-Pro spot all year, as he’s been good against the run, good on blitzes, and good in pass coverage. But he may not make it, because the Bears haven’t been very good this year, and he’s lacking a high-profile splash play to sway voters, but he’s been damn good all of 2020.

Chicago’s other sacks went to Mario Edwards Jr., who had had 2, Khalil Mack, Brent Urban, and Bilal Nichols. Mack’s sack was for a safety, and he also had a pass defended, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

Danny Trevathan racked up 10 tackles and is on pace to go over 100 tackles for the second time in a Bears’ uniform.

At defensive back, Tashaun Gipson had 6 tackles, and Kyle Fuller and Eddie Jackson had 5 each.

Duke Shelley (3 tackles, 1 PD) got he first shot at playing nickel with Buster Skrine injured, but rookie Kindle Vildor (2 tackles) saw some time on defense too when fellow rookie Jaylon Johnson (3 tackles) left with a shoulder injury.

With 1 QB hit, rookie Trevis Gipson recorded the first stat of his career.

SPECIAL TEAMS*

*The above image has players that only played in the third phase.

Cairo Santos hit both field goals and all three extra points.

Patrick O’Donnell put 2 of his 5 punts inside the 20 yard line while having a 34.4 net average.

Sherrick McManis (3 special teams tackles) forced a fumble that Josh Woods (1 ST tackle) recovered.

To check out the full Bears vs Texans box score I find that ESPN has an easy to navigate site.

All statistics and snap counts are taken directly from the NFL’s Game Statistic and Information System, as are the accompanying pictures.