LAKE FOREST, Ill. – After watching their passing game stagnate in a Week 2 loss to the Green Bay Packers, the Bears spent the week tweaking and finetuning their aerial attack.
A Week 3 date with the Houston Texans might be just what the Bears need to get quarterback Justin Fields in a good rhythm after two games against top-level defenses. On the season, the Texans rank 27th in the NFL, allowing 270.5 passing yards per game.
That Texans head coach Lovie Smith runs a similar defense to Bears head coach Matt Eberflus should also help Fields and the offense be comfortable Sunday at Soldier Field.
"I think it's helpful," Eberflus said Friday. "When you're facing a similar defense, something that you have faced in camp and something that you're familiar with—both offense and defense—I think it's better. It's not as many adjustments during the course of the week."
In Week 1, the Bears faced a San Francisco 49ers team that runs an offense similar to the attack that offensive coordinator Luke Getsy deploys. Preparing for similar looks they faced throughout training camp helped the Bears' defense hold the 49ers to 10 points.
After throwing for just 70 yards on 11 attempts against the Packers, Fields and the passing game are looking to find a groove and show the explosive offense they hinted at in training camp.
"Similar," tight end Cole Kmet said of the Texans' defense. "They play really hard. They have a front that's going to be rotating a lot. Between 10 guys, so they keep their guys fresh. They're a little lighter but they're a nasty group. They're definitely moving up front and we have to be able to take care of that. But similar to our defense. So, it'll be a lot of training camp stuff for us."
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It has been a week of questions about Getsy, Fields, and the Bears' passing attack. Anytime your franchise quarterback only throws the ball 11 times, there will be questions. But Getsy noted he called around 20 passing plays in Green Bay, but Fields elected to tuck it and run on a few and was sacked on others.
The Bears' biggest issue in Green Bay was the lack of plays. The Bears' offense ran just 41 plays thanks to three straight three-and-outs after an opening drive touchdown.
The opening drive touchdown saw the Bears lean on David Montgomery and the running game to march them down the field. When they came back out for their next drive, Getsy went away from Montgomery, and the offense sputtered due to an out-of-sync passing game and execution issues across the board.
After a week of ironing out the kinks, Eberflus is confident the passing attack will look much better Sunday against the Texans.
"I think it's been good in terms of us looking at how we're going to distribute the ball and how we're going to get the ball to get them to run with it, or intermediate pass, or taking the ball down the field," Eberflus said. "Our passing game's gonna feature all three levels and we're gonna feature a lot of guys. That's our hope that we do that. That's what the game plan's been all week."
The plan to ignite the passing game starts with getting the ball to Kmet and Darnell Mooney.
The Bears' top two passing targets have caught just two passes for 4 yards this season. Both catches came from Mooney, as Kmet has seen just one target in each of the first two games.
Mooney and Kmet aren't panicking. It's too early for that.
"Like I said they believe in me, the players believe in me, my team believes in me," Mooney said. "There is eventually going to be a time that I do get a ball or what not, when I take it to the crib then everyone is going to go, 'oh, there he goes.'"
The Bears are hoping Sunday is the day their passing offense awakens. A matchup against a Cover 2 team similar to their own defense should help unlock Fields, Mooney, and Kmet.