Bears - Texans Game Thread (1 Viewer)

[Winning IS Everything]

Grossman looked very sharp though most were shorter patters.

Benson looks GOOD. He took a tough hit, and a couple of plays later delt a good one an a 10 yard plus run. Tough runs and good hands, good body lean.

Griese threw a bad INT then came bad and led a good drive for a TD that was designed for Olsen but went to the FB because Olsen was covered.

Olsen is the goods, runs good routes and can catch very well.

Andre Johnson is Andre, he will be the same as last year.

The Houston O Line still sucks bad. The Bears D Line was rolling through them.

Matt Schaub looked slightly above average.

Ahman Green looks ready to go, but the O line is horrible.

Devin Hester played 2nd team WR and made a nice catch.

 

[eefflrat]

as a Benson owner I am liking what I am seeing. His hands have improved, he started getting some catches in the playoffs, they talked about his involvement in TC, and now he catches 3 passes in the 1st qtr tonight. I think he will have a very good year, he will get his chance to be an every down workhorse, what is not to like?

 

[Green94]

Rex still looked like he was throwing off of his back foot.

Other than that, Rex looked good. 8/10 I believe.

Olsen looked real good, caught a few balls and ran some nice routes. This guy should be the man this year for the Bears. F Dez Clark. With Berrian streaking the field and Moose on the other side, he should be a great outlet for Rex.

Benson looked decent, really laid it on some guy on a 10 yard scamper.

 

[Winning IS Everything]

as a Benson owner I am liking what I am seeing. His hands have improved, he started getting some catches in the playoffs, they talked about his involvement in TC, and now he catches 3 passes in the 1st qtr tonight. I think he will have a very good year, he will get his chance to be an every down workhorse, what is not to like?

Watching the game, Benson seems to be all business. He is running with authority, lowering the pads when making contact, and showing good hands. The incompletion to him was about 5 feet over his head.I have high hopes for Benson (as a Benson owner and Bear homer) but this is the Houston D we are talking about.

 

[Jeff Tefertiller]

for the updates

 

[Winning IS Everything]

Rex still looked like he was throwing off of his back foot.

Other than that, Rex looked good. 8/10 I believe.

Olsen looked real good, caught a few balls and ran some nice routes. This guy should be the man this year for the Bears. F Dez Clark. With Berrian streaking the field and Moose on the other side, he should be a great outlet for Rex.

Benson looked decent, really laid it on some guy on a 10 yard scamper.

I agree with the bolded point. He was facing some rush, but seemed to throw off the back foot. Plus his numbers were good as most throws were short. I do not think Grossman threw a pass over 15-20 yards.

 

[Green94]

Rex still looked like he was throwing off of his back foot.

Other than that, Rex looked good. 8/10 I believe.

Olsen looked real good, caught a few balls and ran some nice routes. This guy should be the man this year for the Bears. F Dez Clark. With Berrian streaking the field and Moose on the other side, he should be a great outlet for Rex.

Benson looked decent, really laid it on some guy on a 10 yard scamper.

I agree with the bolded point. He was facing some rush, but seemed to throw off the back foot. Plus his numbers were good as most throws were short. I do not think Grossman threw a pass over 15-20 yards.

Agreed, a few times he HAD to throw off of his back foot, but to me he still looked a tad uncomfortable which is concerning. Don't get me wrong, he made some good throws, but if I recall they said they had worked on his "pocket presence" and he seemed to look just the same as he did last year.

 

[Winning IS Everything]

Also for the Benson doubters, Peterson looked ok, but Benson is in no danger of losing the job. They can not affort to overwork Peterson as he is a special teams DEMON! He made a sweet takle possibly preventing a long return.

 

[Green94]

Forgot about Hester, he had a nice 10 yard catch from Griese. It will be interesting to see how he is utilized in this offense.

 

[Green94]

Orton looks like a completely different guy out there - he's actually moving around and making plays.

I heard rumors he was pushing strong for the back up job.

 

[THE UNDERCOVER BROTHA]

Sage looks good just like last year at this time.

The defense looks like its getting more of a push.

O.Daniels looks like he's gonna be a nice sleeper this year.

few thoughts from my texans tonight....team will really miss Chris Taylor though.

 

[Chaos Commish]

O.Daniels looks like he's gonna be a nice sleeper this year.

He's going to have a great year.

 

[David Comings]

Benson was 3 of 3 on passes that had a chance of being caught. Not bad for a guy who's hands have been questioned

 

[Houston turmOiler]

Random thoughts...

--Agree with the rest of the posters, Benson looked VERY strong. He flat-out abused Glenn Earl on one run. Looked like a big-time RB out to prove it.

--Green didn't do much but didn't get any blocking either.

--I thought Grossman played pretty well, the Texans actually got moderate pressure on him at times and I thought he responded well. Griese came in and promptly threw a pick to Von Hutchins that set up a FG, but then he settled down and had a nice night

--The Bears overall team speed on defense is impressive.

--Bradlee Van Pelt is one of the worst QBs ever. I felt bad for the guy because he knows he's getting cut-the only pass he completed was to himself, and he should've let that one drop b/c it kept the clock running at the end of the game.

--Jacoby Jones is going to be a player. He had a nice punt return and looked pretty good at WR. Still a little bit raw but further along than I anticipated. Beat Danieal Manning with a double-move but only got one foot down on what would've been about a 20 yard TD pass from Rosenfels. He seems like a very confident and competitive kid.

--Walter started, had a 3rd down drop on 1st series, then Schaub missed him (the defender had fallen down) for an easy TD on the second series.

--Schaub was OK, if he would've hit Walter for the TD it would've made an OK night a terrific one.

--Devin Hester lined up wide right and made a nice catch on a square-in route with tight coverage. Looked pretty comfortable at WR, at least on that play.

--Jerome Mathis is still a dangerous KO return man, had another long one into Bears' territory.

 

[GrossmanToHester]

Forgot about Hester, he had a nice 10 yard catch from Griese. It will be interesting to see how he is utilized in this offense.

 

[ericttspikes]

Tait, Harris and 54 not dressed. Lovie is a smart man.

Olsen is going to help Rex big time. He is going to be hard to cover.

Great to see Bradley out there making plays. This Bears team is DEEP at WR. Brandon Rideau had a nice game.

Dusty Dvoracek looked pretty good.

Benson took a huge hit and dished one out. If this guy can take a season of pounding, and that is a big IF in my mind, he will have a huge year.

If Benson can't take the pounding the Bears are in a world of hurt. I'm an Adrian Peterson fan, but he looked awful tonight, especially compared to how Benson was hittin it. I have to hope the Bears will bring in another back, because a backfield of AP and Wolfe ain't going to cut it.

I think they drafted Wolfe so Rex wouldn't be the shortest guy on the field. Garrett is tiny, almost shockingly so. I cringed everytime he got hit. He didn't really do much tonight. I don't know what the Bears plan on doing with this guy. Hopefully he can turn in a year like Leon Washington did for the Jets, but I didn't see it tonight.

 

[buck naked]

I think people have not mentioned two very important things about the Bears first drive.

First, Benson's three catches were all on the first drive. That reflects that the Bears likely will use Benson much more in the passing game than in the past.

Second, a couple of those passes to Benson were after Grossman went through his progression of reads. That shows Grossman is getting better going through his checkdowns. Grossman looked like he is getting better. Sorry Packer fans.

 

[eefflrat]

to add a little more on the Benson talk----he was in on third and 10 (caught a 6 yard pass to set up a missed Gould FG Attempt). I expected him to be replaced in those situations, but could we be seeing him used more in the passing game? My guess is with 3 catches out of 4 targets (and the 4th was way over his head) Benson could play a big role in the passing game too. Remember in the playoffs he caught a few passes in ht e Seattle game in the 4th qtr as well.

 

[Bri]

--Jerome Mathis is still a dangerous KO return man, had another long one into Bears' territory.

Did he play any WR? and how'd he look? At all comfy yet as a WR?Didn't (a forgotten name)Andre Davis do OK last night? Any thoughts on him?How'd Ryans do and the DL? Posts above say Benson ran strong and all but were they getting to him quick?

 

[Houston turmOiler]

--Jerome Mathis is still a dangerous KO return man, had another long one into Bears' territory.

Did he play any WR? and how'd he look? At all comfy yet as a WR?Didn't (a forgotten name)Andre Davis do OK last night? Any thoughts on him?How'd Ryans do and the DL? Posts above say Benson ran strong and all but were they getting to him quick?

Mathis and Davis each had a couple of catches but nothing stood out. Davis had a target in EZ from Rosenfels that the announcer seemed to think he should've caught (I disagree, there were 2 defenders right there and I believe one of them got their hand on it). Mathis looked a little bit frustrated at one point when Van Pelt bounced a pass at the TE's feet in the flat--it was a play-action waggle to the right, the TE was in the flat and Mathis had run a drag from the other side of the field and was wide open about 10-12 yards past the TE. You could see him behind the TE in the replay-he kind of threw his hands up in the air and rolled his head back.Ryans was very active in the time he was in there-he did miss a tackle on Benson but otherwise he was flying around the field. The problem with the Texans is that he's not the biggest MLB in the world and he doesn't have the DT's to keep linemen off of him. I saw the first team DT's do nothing, I'm not even sure who they started they were so invisible (think it was Okoye and Maddox). The second-team DL was as active as I've ever seen them, but they were playing against second-teamers as well. Babin had some nice pressures, including one that was almost a forced fumble that Travis Johnson returned for a TD (ruled as incomplete, and that was the correct call). Travis Johnson was also more active than I've seen him, and Kalu got some pressure when he was in with the first team at LE.

 

[GregR_2]

Comments to add from having been at the game. The Texans secondary was every bit as bad as the fears it would be. The Bears receivers were not having much trouble getting open.

Texans still lacking a solid pass rush though I'd say the 1st string effort was an improvement over last year. They at least got some pressure to make Grossman get rid of the ball even if they didn't get to him in time.

Van Pelt hasn't looked good in the practices I've seen, and the game probably is the last nail in his coffin. He doesn't have practice squad eligibility left and I can't see him making the team.

Jacoby Jones is still raw in some respects but I think the good may have a good future. I think if he can get more consistent in his route running he could replace Walters this year.

Mathis had a good kick return, but you know, he didn't look as fast to me as I recall him being. I was surprised the guys in pursuit stayed as close to him as they did.

Jason Babin made some nice plays and if he keeps it up I wouldn't be surprised to see him get more playing time on passing downs.

 

[PahtyTom]

Did Dayne replace Green in the RZ or GL?

 

[coolnerd]

Did Dayne replace Green in the RZ or GL?

Green played so little that I could not draw any conclusion. Dayne did have a 2nd quarter goalline series where he looked liked just a big back not a power back. As for the game in general, I would only be echoing thoughts made by both Bear and Texan fans.

 

[saintfool]

so is the Texans receiving corps looking like....?

WR1 andre johnson

WR2 kevin walters

WR3 jerome mathis

WR4 jacoby jones

WR5 keenan mccardell

 

[coolnerd]

so is the Texans receiving corps looking like....?WR1 andre johnsonWR2 kevin waltersWR3 jerome mathisWR4 jacoby jonesWR5 keenan mccardell

I would say that Jphnson, Walter and J. Jones are the top 3. The rest still needs to play out through the pre-season. Mathis needs to stay healthy and McCardell needs to get healthy. Andre Davis and Bethel Johnson are not interesting per se, but can't be disregarded as to making the squad. The texans carrying 6 WRs is not out of the question, but 5 is most probably.

 

[saintfool]

so is the Texans receiving corps looking like....?WR1 andre johnsonWR2 kevin waltersWR3 jerome mathisWR4 jacoby jonesWR5 keenan mccardell

I would say that Jphnson, Walter and J. Jones are the top 3. The rest still needs to play out through the pre-season. Mathis needs to stay healthy and McCardell needs to get healthy. Andre Davis and Bethel Johnson are not interesting per se, but can't be disregarded as to making the squad. The texans carrying 6 WRs is not out of the question, but 5 is most probably.

i was really impressed with jones actually. he looked very capable, whereas walters and mathis were pretty blah. although i forgot to mention davis, he cold sneak up the depth chart...

 

[coolnerd]

so is the Texans receiving corps looking like....?WR1 andre johnsonWR2 kevin waltersWR3 jerome mathisWR4 jacoby jonesWR5 keenan mccardell

I would say that Jphnson, Walter and J. Jones are the top 3. The rest still needs to play out through the pre-season. Mathis needs to stay healthy and McCardell needs to get healthy. Andre Davis and Bethel Johnson are not interesting per se, but can't be disregarded as to making the squad. The texans carrying 6 WRs is not out of the question, but 5 is most probably.

i was really impressed with jones actually. he looked very capable, whereas walters and mathis were pretty blah. although i forgot to mention davis, he cold sneak up the depth chart...

I think the Texans like Jacoby a ton, but don't want to rush him. He is from a small school, and does not seem overwhelmed by the jump. I liked the quickness that he showed as a fairly sizable WR. My read on the situation is that he won't start unless injury or late in the year.

 

[The Houston Stallions]

Was anyone at the game? I'm working in the new field suites as an attendant. Suite# 127A. ( 50 yard line oppo sidline) Stop in a say hi if you are there.

I didn't get to watch the game as much as I would have liked. But what I did notice is Olsen is a big kid and is very athletic. I watched him in pregame warming up and he stood out on the field!

Benson did run hard and fought for extra yards. The Bears threw alot of "over the shoulder" caught balls to the receivers. I have no clue why the DBs didn't raise their hands to defend when they can simply read the receivers eyes to tell where the ball is. Maybe they didn't get to that in camp/

 

[GregR_2]

Was anyone at the game? I'm working in the new field suites as an attendant. Suite# 127A. ( 50 yard line oppo sidline) Stop in a say hi if you are there. I didn't get to watch the game as much as I would have liked. But what I did notice is Olsen is a big kid and is very athletic. I watched him in pregame warming up and he stood out on the field!Benson did run hard and fought for extra yards. The Bears threw alot of "over the shoulder" caught balls to the receivers. I have no clue why the DBs didn't raise their hands to defend when they can simply read the receivers eyes to tell where the ball is. Maybe they didn't get to that in camp/

I've got season tickets over on the 10 yard line on the northwest side of the stadium. Don't think they let you into the suite areas though without a ticket for that area. Had club level tickets one year. The extra shoulder room was awesome but just not worth the price.

 

[The Houston Stallions]

Was anyone at the game? I'm working in the new field suites as an attendant. Suite# 127A. ( 50 yard line oppo sidline) Stop in a say hi if you are there. I didn't get to watch the game as much as I would have liked. But what I did notice is Olsen is a big kid and is very athletic. I watched him in pregame warming up and he stood out on the field!Benson did run hard and fought for extra yards. The Bears threw alot of "over the shoulder" caught balls to the receivers. I have no clue why the DBs didn't raise their hands to defend when they can simply read the receivers eyes to tell where the ball is. Maybe they didn't get to that in camp/

I've got season tickets over on the 10 yard line on the northwest side of the stadium. Don't think they let you into the suite areas though without a ticket for that area. Had club level tickets one year. The extra shoulder room was awesome but just not worth the price.

No, you can't come in the suite without a ticket. But if the guest aren't there yet I can let you in for a quick chat. I was more referring to just swinging by and meeting board members. These are brand new suites and built between the 40s on both sidelines. They are located right behind the top row. Not near as nice as the 200, 300, 400, and 800 level suites but certainly prime locations. And are a bit easier on the pocket book than the $120,000 - 50yard line suites on the 200 level.

 

[rubrink]

Hey, I didnt see the game, but I was wondering - who was playing RB with the Houston 1st string? I've got Green in a 3-man keeper league and am trying to see if he's going to be worth a shot.

 

[joffer]

so is the Texans receiving corps looking like....?WR1 andre johnsonWR2 kevin waltersWR3 jerome mathisWR4 jacoby jonesWR5 keenan mccardell

i'd be surprised if Mccardell is that low if he's healthy. i'd swap him and Mathis.

 

[coolnerd]

Hey, I didnt see the game, but I was wondering - who was playing RB with the Houston 1st string? I've got Green in a 3-man keeper league and am trying to see if he's going to be worth a shot.

A. Green is the clear starter with Ron Dayne as the back-up.

 

[Bri]

so is the Texans receiving corps looking like....?WR1 andre johnsonWR2 kevin waltersWR3 jerome mathisWR4 jacoby jonesWR5 keenan mccardell

I would say that Jphnson, Walter and J. Jones are the top 3. The rest still needs to play out through the pre-season. Mathis needs to stay healthy and McCardell needs to get healthy. Andre Davis and Bethel Johnson are not interesting per se, but can't be disregarded as to making the squad. The texans carrying 6 WRs is not out of the question, but 5 is most probably.

If Mathis is still regarded as just a return guy then I can see them going with 6.Must have missed Bethel Johnson getting cut by the Eagles, he's just a body for camp. There was another young WR on the Texans that did OK in TC and this spring that isn't mentioned here. Seemed destined for PS. I can't think of his name though, ya know who I mean coolnerd?

 

[Houston turmOiler]

so is the Texans receiving corps looking like....?WR1 andre johnsonWR2 kevin waltersWR3 jerome mathisWR4 jacoby jonesWR5 keenan mccardell

I would say that Jphnson, Walter and J. Jones are the top 3. The rest still needs to play out through the pre-season. Mathis needs to stay healthy and McCardell needs to get healthy. Andre Davis and Bethel Johnson are not interesting per se, but can't be disregarded as to making the squad. The texans carrying 6 WRs is not out of the question, but 5 is most probably.

If Mathis is still regarded as just a return guy then I can see them going with 6.Must have missed Bethel Johnson getting cut by the Eagles, he's just a body for camp. There was another young WR on the Texans that did OK in TC and this spring that isn't mentioned here. Seemed destined for PS. I can't think of his name though, ya know who I mean coolnerd?

I think it was Harry Williams #86-didn't see him last night, seem to recall someone saying on the radio that he was a guy they might try to stash on the PS...

 

[Bri]

I think it was Harry Williams #86-didn't see him last night, seem to recall someone saying on the radio that he was a guy they might try to stash on the PS...

yeah that's the guy, thanks

 

[BoulderBob]

How did Archuleta and Mario Williams look?