Grading Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears' flat performance on Sunday Night Football
After a Week 1 where two of the Chicago Bears' three phases earned their A+, the Bears came back down to earth.
Here's how we graded the Bears after they fell flat in Houston against the Texans.
Caleb Williams
The rookie struggled.
For all the success and hype around his Chicago Bears' debut, the No. 1 overall pick officially came back to earth on Sunday night.
Among all the hits he took, he threw two interceptions and struggled to adjust against the blitz.
It wasn't a clean game at all – there were 21 total flags on the evening – but Williams missed throws and forced passes. Those forced passes ended up as his first career interceptions.
Still, it's hard to place all the struggles on Williams' back. The offensive line struggled much, much more than any rookie did.
Grade: D
The Bears' offensive line
Houston, the Bears have a problem.
After speaking all week about how the Bears needed to get the running game going, the Bears couldn't. That was because of their offensive line.
At times, they set the Bears back before they even got to their plays with pre-snap flags. During the plays, they weren't good enough blocking. The Texans had five sacks before the eight-mark of the fourth quarter.
It wasn't good enough against the Titans. It was even worse against the Texans.
Grade: F
The Bears' linebackers
When the Bears blitzed, they set TJ Edwards, Tremaine Edmunds and Jack Sanborn in different ways.
Making sure those blitzes got home was a question of talent. Making sure the open gaps were taken care of is a question of smarts.
The Bears linebackers had both Sunday night. The defense had plenty of strengths, but the sound and consistent play of the Bears' linebacking corps is something that keeps the defense together.
Grade: A
Matt Eberflus
In primetime, Eberflus was generous with his challenge flag. Using both challenges before the fourth quarter cost the Bears a time-out in the first and second halves.
The first challenge, looking at a Stefon Diggs catch, was a bad challenge. It wasn't even close.
The second was an incomplete pass that Kyler Gordon almost snagged for an interception. It was close, but it was hard to rationalize that challenge.
Grade: C