Chicago’s Week 2 loss to the Houston Texans came with plenty of frustration.
Take one look at DJ Moore, who led the Bears in receiving with 53 yards on six catches, but appeared visibly dismayed by the time the game reached the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Those watching could easily interpret it as Moore being frustrated with rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, or the Bears’ passing offense as a whole.
Moore admitted during the following week that he erred in showing that much emotion on a national stage.
“I shouldn’t have shown as much,” Moore said on Wednesday, via ESPN’s Courtney Cronin. “But it’s a part of the game. Like I said, we were one play away from the game changing. And we just couldn’t connect, nobody on offense could connect with the one play or get the one play started to get us on track and go up. It’s football. Everybody is going to have their ups and downs and frustrations.”
Chicago and Moore certainly had their fair share of frustrations in Week 2. After pulling within 13-10 before halftime, the Bears appeared to be building momentum, so much that head coach Matt Eberflus told the NBC broadcast crew he expected their offense to go down the field and score a touchdown.
They went three-and-out instead.
Houston didn’t manage to pull away, but dominated defensively, speeding up Williams and forcing him to throw two interceptions. When the game entered its final stages and the Bears were forced to throw, it became clear they weren’t going to get the job done, leaving Moore clearly frustrated.
The loss dropped the Bears to 1-1, not a terrible spot for a team after two weeks. But the fashion in which they fell to the Texans reminded Bears fans of the same issues they experienced when Justin Fields was playing quarterback and Luke Getsy was calling plays as offensive coordinator.
Simply, they’d like to see players like Moore get the ball more. Williams attempted to deliver such a result, producing an interception and stopping a late drive in its tracks, forcing the Bears to settle for a field goal.
“Tried to give [Moore] the ball, and if I threw it a little less wide and gave him a little bit more time, he would have made the play,” Williams said. “And so, we’ll be hitting on those here soon, and we’re going to be making those plays.”
It’s wise to remain optimistic after just two weeks, but the Bears know they need to start producing positive results. They also know criticizing their rookie quarterback — who tried his best to extend plays and keep the Bears alive, sometimes to the detriment of Chicago — won’t help anyone.
“You want to keep things steady because then you don’t want him to get frustrated and just go out there and try to make a play, which he didn’t really try to go out there and make a play [out of frustration], he was just being himself,” Moore said. “That’s all you can ask of him.”
The Bears will get back on the horse this weekend with a trip to the home of another AFC South member, the Indianapolis Colts. They’ll hope for better results — and thus, less frustration.
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