CHICAGO (WGN) — Caleb Williams made big strides against the Houston Texans. Even the defense held firm. But it didn’t matter because the Chicago Bears looked like Velma without glasses trying to block up front.

Before Scooby Doo inspired me to write and we all witnessed the antics of Sunday night, my evening began as expected.

LAST WEEK: The Bears’ early success is based on the star nobody is talking about

I burst through the door of my apartment around 7:30 p.m., clutching a 12-pack of Coors Banquet because it was on sale at Jewel Osco for $8 (a bargain is a bargain, right?).

My roommate’s dog, Chance, slides off the couch, stretches, and then sniffs me like he always does when I come home.

After petting the good boy a few times, I turn around and look at the TV screen in our living room. Ka’Imi Fairbairn has just sunk his first field goal of the night, giving the Texans a 3-0 lead.

I shrug my shoulders and think, “Not the worst start in the world.”

The hands of the clock tick while dinner is being prepared.

As I finish eating, the game clock on TV shows 1:45 left in the fourth quarter, Houston leads 19-13.

At this point, I was hoping Williams got in a good stretch before the game and another good stretch after the game (followed by an ice bath), because boy, did he take a beating on Sunday night.

NFL team bars and where to find them in Chicago

The 2022 Heisman Trophy winner finished his day with 23/37 for 174 passing yards and two interceptions, but that wasn’t the headline of the evening.

By the end of the clock, the Texans had recorded seven sacks and eleven quarterback hits on 36 pressure situations, which equates to an astronomical pressure rate of 81.8% on 44 dropbacks.

My first reaction was to blame the offensive line. After all, it would be a pretty Bears cliche to condemn a quarterback to sit in the pocket like a piñata for over four months.

But then I took a breath and thought, there is definitely more to unpack.

“Protection is important for everyone,” head coach Matt Eberflus said during the postgame press conference. “Protection is the tight ends. The runners. The offensive line. The quarterback. Everyone involved is important.”

There you have it. I’ll say the quiet part out loud.

On Sunday evening, everyone was in poor condition.

It wasn’t just the three blind mice that rolled out to block the air on a D’Andre Swift handoff. No. It was also the penalties, from false starts to illegal lineup penalties, delay of game, intentional grounding and the tried and true offensive holding.

It was Williams who made a precise move on the first drive of the game and was later driven into the turf for failing to execute the quick block.

It was due to so many things. But to blame only the offense would be dishonest.

“It’s just a matter of us handling him a lot better,” Cole Kmet said Monday. “And then he’s got to get used to the NFL style of play, but he’s great. I’m not worried about him at all. His attitude is fantastic and that will help him continue to grow as the season goes on.”

I agree with Kmet’s opinion on Williams’ stance.

His attitude as a quarterback in the NFL is full of positive signals. He combines an innate confidence with an unwavering belief in his teammates. His main goal, he has said time and again, is to win football games, and his work ethic that leads him to victory borders on fanaticism that only a handful of athletes I have watched on Earth have.

But unlike Kmet, I’m worried. Not about Williams, but about him.

He’s bound to make the proverbial rookie mistakes that everyone makes growing into the position (unless your name is CJ Stroud, apparently).

But the Bears need to have safety nets to catch him when he falls, or at least guards to guide him on the path to the successful pins. Against Houston, these nets were definitely not there.

On Sunday, it felt like a mother bird kicking her baby out of the nest at the top of the Willis Tower and saying, “Good luck, son! I hope you can fly!”

Fly with no pass blocking and a running game to boot.

Bears lose to Texans 1-1 after 13-19 defeat

“We have to establish the running game,” Eberflus said after the game. “I think it’s always good for a young quarterback to be able to do that.”

Swift finished his day with 14 carries for 18 yards. Travis Homer and Khalil Herbert combined for 3 carries for 9 yards.

Williams, however, had a decent day on the ground, which I suspect was a side effect of his race for his life.

The former USC Trojan and Oklahoma Sooner carried the ball five times for 44 yards (8.8 YPC), including a 24-yard run in the fourth quarter, the highest of the game.

As much as I’ve criticized the Bears so far, you’d think they lost 48-0 to the Texans.

Fortunately, however, the defense was as advertised.

The linebackers ran around like crazy all game. Tremaine Edmunds, TJ Edwards and Jack Sanborn combined for 21 tackles, three tackles for loss and two of Chicago’s three sacks.

When it looked like Stroud and the Texans offense were about to put the final nail in the Bears’ coffin, defensive lineman Andrew Billings headed the ball away from Houston running back Cam Akers at the four-yard line, breathing new life into Chicago’s chances of winning with less than three minutes left.

Bears and City describe Chicago Football Classic as “more than a game” ahead of 26th edition

And don’t forget Kyler Gordon – nicknamed “Spider-Man” – who, had he been able to shoot webs from his wrists, probably would have brought home the Bears’ second pick-six in as many weeks to take the lead about four minutes into the third quarter.

Instead, the ball bounced around as it hit the ground, and slow-motion replay confirmed the play as an incomplete pass.

“I was proud of the defense, too. The defense played well,” Eberflus said. “… The fumble at the very end that gave us a chance to win the game at the end. The stops on third down and the way they played in the second half were really good, too.”

“But I told them again that we win as a team. We lose as a team.”

And so the team will start all over again this week and prepare for the game against the Indianapolis Colts, whom they visit on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Hopefully Velma can find her glasses again and rediscover the running game. Otherwise, Williams will need another big break before his date with the Colts pass rush.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports and streaming videos, visit WGN-TV.