Rookie Fuller shines for Houston in 23-14 win over Bears

But, overall, there should be positives taken from Sunday’s game.

Jay Cutler’s lack of chemistry with receiver Kevin White cost the Chicago Bears dearly.

Admit it, when Eddie Royal made that 13-yard grab on the Bears’ touchdown drive and made that 31-yard punt return later in the first quarter, you checked to see if anyone on your league had picked him up. Jay Cutler needs to play 60 minutes of football and understand the importance of closing games which he’s consistently failed to display over his career.

Cutler was intercepted by safety Andre Hal on the second play of the third quarter, the most costly misstep of a frustrating second half. Cutler was seen pointing at White, who missed his rookie season because of a shin injury, and waving toward the right sideline after the interception.

The Bears left Texas on Sunday afternoon with a frustrated edge.

But it’s fair to wonder what the plan was for White in his first game.

Props to Jay Cutler for throwing the ball in the flawless spot, and even more props to Jeffery for using his hands to haul in a pass right over cornerback Kevin Johnson’s head.

Still, Sunday’s game offered few major surprises.

I was tempted, in honor of the recently departed Cardinals and Cardinal coach Dennis Green, to go with a different lead, one that seemed apropos at least immediately following the game: The Bears are who we thought they were.

The Bears did not allow more than nine third-down conversions in any game last season in John Fox’s first year as coach, though the defense did rank 29th in third-down efficiency.

Aside from an interception on the first drive of the game, Osweiler was solid in his first appearance with Houston, completing 22 of his 35 pass attempts for 231 yards and two touchdowns.

“The thing I love about Will in that situation is he came back in the second half and made a couple big plays for us”, Osweiler said. He dropped a third-down pass that would’ve moved the chains, and he was not able to uncover from defensive backs well despite his speed.

In a somewhat surprising development, wide receiver Alshon Jeffery was only targeted by Cutler on six occasions on Sunday, but he was still able to make four catches for 105 yards in a losing effort.

No unit in football requires more communication, timing and teamwork than the offensive line. You get the sense that the former Super Bowl 50 champion (who started seven games for Denver last season) has some staying power.

Josh Sitton and Kyle Long were B’s, playing well for the most part and doing what they could to help out their linemates, and Cody Whitehair was a C that would have been a B- were it not for the botched snap on the quarterback sneak. But it’s probably time to adjust our expectations a bit after seeing him in his first regular season action. A lunge forward by Cutler with defenders running at him saved what would have been a game-clinching touchdown for Houston. “We wanted to get points on that first drive and it just didn’t happen”. Could we be going from the Peanut Punch to the Porter Pilfer? That’s all 32 teams in offensive line rooms. “They’re a talented front and when you get too one-dimensional like that, it becomes problematic for everyone”. Special teams did well with what they had to face.