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

Before Scooby Doo inspired my writing and we all witnessed the shenanigans of Sunday night, my evening began as expected.

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I burst through the front door to my apartment around 7:30 pm, a 12-pack of Coors Banquet in hand because it was on sale for $8 at Jewel Osco (Deal’s a deal, right?).

My roommate’s dog, Chance, glides off the couch, letting loose a big stretch before giving me the usual sniff down I get when I return home.

A few pets for the good boy later, I turn and look at the TV screen in our living room. Ka’Imi Fairbairn just sank his first field goal of the night to give the Texans a 3-0 lead.

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

The hands on the clock tick by as dinner is made.

As I finish my food, the game clock on the TV reads 1:45 to go in the fourth quarter, Houston is up 19-13.

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

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

The Texans registered seven sacks and eleven QB hits on 36 pressures by the time the clock struck zero, resulting in an astronomical 81.8% pressure rate on 44 drop-backs.

My first knee-jerk reaction was to blame the offensive line. After all, it would be pretty cliché of the Bears to doom a quarterback to four-plus months of being a piñata in the pocket.

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

“Protection is everybody,” said head coach Matt Eberflus during the postgame press conference. “Protection is the tight ends. It’s the runners. It’s the offensive line. It’s the quarterback. It’s everybody involved.”

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

Everyone sucked at protection Sunday night.

It wasn’t just the three blind mice rolling out to block air on a D’Andre Swift handoff. Nope. It was also the penalties, from false starts to being called for illegal formation, delay of game, intentional grounding, and old reliable, offensive holding.

It was Williams looking surgical on the game’s first drive, then later, getting driven into the turf because he didn’t throw the quick screen.

It was so many things. But to blame just the offensive line would be disingenuous.

“It’s just a matter of us being much better around him,” said Cole Kmet Monday. “And then him getting adjusted to the NFL playstyle, but he’s been great. I’m not concerned about him at all. His attitude’s been fantastic, and that’s what’s going to help him continue to grow throughout the season.”

I agree with Kmet’s sentiments on Williams’ attitude.

His approach to being a quarterback in the NFL is littered with green flags. He pairs a natural-born self-confidence with an undying belief in his teammates. His central goal, as he’s said time and again, is to win football games, and his work ethic pursuing victory borders on fanaticism known only to a handful of athletes I’ve watched while on planet Earth.

But unlike Kmet, I am concerned. Not about Williams, but for him.

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

But as he does so, the Bears need to have safety nets in place to catch him when he falls, or at least bumper guards to guide him toward hitting the pins of success, which definitely weren’t in place against Houston.

Sunday felt like the equivalent of a momma bird punting her child out of a nest atop the Willis Tower and saying, “Good luck son! Hope you know how to fly!”

Fly without pass blocking and a run game, at that.

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“We’ve got to establish the run game,” Eberflus said after the game. “I think it’s always a good friend to a young quarterback when you can 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 had a decent day on the ground though, which I’m guessing was a byproduct of running for his life.

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

As much as I’ve ragged on the Bears so far, one would think they lost 48-0 against the Texans.

Fortunately enough though, the defense was as advertised.

The linebacking corps flew around the entire game like madmen. Tremaine Edmunds, TJ Edwards and Jack Sanborn combined for 21 tackles, three tackles-for-loss, and two of Chicago’s three sacks.

As Stroud and the Texans offense looked like they were on the precipice of putting the final nail in the Bears’ coffin, defensive lineman Andrew Billings headbutted the ball away from Houston running back Cam Akers on the four-yard line and breathed new life into Chicago’s chances for victory with less than three minutes to go.

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And don’t forget Kyler Gordon — nicknamed “Spider-Man” — Who had he been able to shoot webs from his wrists, probably would’ve wrangled home the Bears’ second pick-six in as many weeks to take the lead around the four-minute mark in the third quarter.

Instead, the ball bounced around as he went to the ground, and instant replay upheld the play as an incomplete pass.

“I was also proud of the defense. The defense played well,” Eberflus said. “… The fumble at the very end, giving us a chance to win it at the very end. The third down stops and the way they played in the second half was really good as well.

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

And so, the team will go back to the drawing board this week and prepare for Indianapolis Colts, who they visit at Lucas Oil Stadium Sunday.

Hopefully, Velma finds her glasses and rediscovers the run game. Otherwise, Williams is going to need another big stretch before his date with the Colts’ pass rush.

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