Bears Film Study notes the power of a second star pass rusher

For this week's Film Study, we'll utilize both the All-22 and a salary table.

Actually, no film is needed to note the difference in Sunday's game. The Texans defensive line dominated the Bears to the tune of 7 sacks. Danielle Hunter made life miserable for both Bears tackles, particularly Darnell Wright.

The whole thing is a bit infuriating because Houston showed what happens when a team has two problem pass rushers on the defensive line. It creates nightmares for the offense and makes every player on defense more dangerous.

Another issue here is Hunter, 29, was a free agent during the off-season after eight years with the Vikings. The Bears know him well, and it's easy to think they could have been the team with 7 sacks if Hunter was playing opposite Montez Sweat.

Hunter got a two-year deal from the Texans with $48 million guaranteed, according to spotrac.com. Could the Bears have outbid Houston? Not sure, but they certainly could have been smarter with their cap space.

The 2023 off-season brought in underwhelming players like Nate Davis and DeMarcus Walker. You could also point out that middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds is carrying a $22.4 million cap hit, compared to Hunter's $13.7 million.

That's not to say Edmunds is a bad player. He's been fine for the Bears, but middle linebacker just isn't a high-impact position in the NFL these days. The money would have been better spent on an edge rusher or left tackle.

Look at the first play of Sunday's game. Jack Sanborn made a great play by dropping in coverage and tipping a pass that would have been a big gain to Nico Collins. The Bears defense is good, but what if they had Hunter at edge and used Sanborn, T.J. Edwards and Amen Ogbongbemiga at linebacker? Based on what happened Sunday, they'd be better.

There was a longer look at what went wrong for the Bears offensive line on Tuesday, so we'll skip that today.

Slow burn

The jury is out on new Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, who previously held the same job in Seattle. Houston, meanwhile, has a young, creative offensive coordinator in Bobby Slowik, who is thriving with a young QB. Just 37, the Texans hired Slowik last year as a first-time offensive coordinator. He had been passing game coordinator with the 49ers.

Slowik's father, Bob, was defensive coordinator for the Bears under Dave Wannstedt from 1993-98, which means Bobby likely attended grade school somewhere in Lake County.

Anyway, the Texans were full of smart play calls. On the game's first drive, they motioned Joe Mixon out of the backfield and got him matched against T.J. Edwards for a third-down conversion. On their TD drive, the Texans got back-to-back 18-yard gains by lining up in a power formation on fourth-and-1, then throwing it to H-back Cade Stover. Then the Bears were caught off guard on a reverse to Tank Dell. Even the TD pass to Nico Collins was a perfect call against the coverage.

Carter comfort

Early leader for best new acquisition (non-draft edition) has to be wide receiver DeAndre Carter. He was a spark in the return game in Week 1, then filled in for Keenan Allen in Houston, came up with 3 catches for 32 yards and drew the pass interference that set up the Bears' lone touchdown.

A fun fact about Carter is he's 31, just a year younger than Allen. Undrafted coming out of Sacramento State, he spent three seasons on three practice squads, working as a substitute teacher between gigs, before playing his first NFL game with the Eagles in 2018.

Since then, he's played for six teams, including the Bears briefly and Texans, snaring a career-high 46 catches for the Chargers in 2022.

Best play

The bottom line is the Bears couldn't run the ball, were sacked seven times and still were driving with a chance to win at the end. Any pass Caleb Williams completed with the rush in his lap was a good one, but the forced fumble inside their own 5-yard line in the fourth quarter is what kept the game in doubt.

Nose tackle Andrew Billings was credited with the forced fumble and did a great job standing up a double-team. It also could have been Darrell Taylor, who poked the ball away from Cam Akers.