HOUSTON — The Houston Texans came from everywhere. All angles, all speed, all converging for a town-hall meeting on top of Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams.

When it was over, the Bears’ No. 1 overall draft pick had been sacked seven times, which is more than any quarterback in a game in this young season. According to the league’s Next Gen Stats, Williams was blitzed 20 times in passing situations and pressured 36 times on 37 dropbacks — the latter stat sounded like the Texans were lining up for every snap in their SUVs.

The end result was a predictable 19-13 loss that felt all-too familiar in Chicago: with a quarterback struggling, a defense keeping the final score respectable and a set of problems that might not have a quick fix. All of that … and pain.

“A little bruised up,” Williams said afterward, when asked about the punishment he absorbed in the loss. “You know, I took a couple hits today. I’m gonna get into the ice tub and do all the things I need to do to make sure that my body’s ready for tomorrow, practice on the other days and obviously next game.”

For the Bears, the early season is proving troubling. While it’s too soon to panic after just two games, it’s clear they need to address significant protection issues. They managed to get by against a struggling Titans team and even won against the Bears’ offensive line in Week 1. However, they won’t have the same luck against the Texans, who have a formidable defense, a promising franchise quarterback, and a strong roster.

The Texans have built a solid foundation with a well-improved offensive line and a running game bolstered by Joe Mixon, Cam Akers, and Dameon Pierce. Their strategy this season, despite C.J. Stroud’s impressive rookie performance, focuses on balance rather than heavy reliance on the passing game. This approach, evident in their split of 36 rushing attempts between running backs and wide receivers in Week 1, was intended to counter the Bears before Mixon’s injury disrupted their plans.

Even with Mixon’s leg injury, Sunday night should resonate with the Bears. What the Texans have done for Stroud, the Bears need to do for Williams. Starting with the offensive line that already looks overwhelmed to the point of being compared to the units that often left Justin Fields getting flattened in the past few seasons. To the point that Williams was pressured multiple times from every position on his line. From left tackle to right and everything in between. And a couple of times, from the tight end spot.

This produced an offensive flow that never seemed settled or sharp, with Williams sailing multiple throws over the heads of his receivers, or throwing ill-advised passes on the run — some hinting at the out of structure chaos that worried some talent evaluators leading into the 2024 NFL Draft. But if you want Williams to operate in structure, you have to provide the structure he can trust. That’s not what happened against the Texans, and it’s why he’s exiting the second week of the regular season without a touchdown scored thus far, and a pair of passing performances that are nothing less than ugly.

“You look at it, obviously we have seven sacks on the offensive line — everybody is going to talk about those types of things,” Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said. “I believe that protection is everybody. Protection is the tight ends, it’s the runners, it’s the offensive line, it’s the quarterback. It’s everybody involved. … In terms of running the ball, we obviously want to run the ball better than what we did. It was OK, but not good enough. We’ve got to establish the run game. I think that’s always a good friend to a young quarterback when you can do that.”

New coordinator Shane Waldron is facing scrutiny after producing only 353 yards of offense in two games and struggling with one of the league’s worst running games. This is a stark contrast to his previous work with the Seattle Seahawks, where he effectively balanced the run and pass. The expectation was that Waldron would shift the Bears away from a run-heavy approach to leverage Caleb Williams’ dynamic passing. Instead, the results have been disappointing, especially evident in their game against the Texans.

Waldron’s play-calling will be scrutinized, but the offensive line’s performance was also problematic. A critical moment occurred late in the fourth quarter during a potential comeback drive. Right tackle Darnell Wright, who had already struggled with penalties, missed a key block on defensive end Danielle Hunter. This resulted in an 8-yard sack on Williams and effectively ended the game, draining the Bears’ momentum. The ensuing plays—a 1-yard run by Williams and an errant throw to rookie Rome Odunze—sealed their fate.

These kinds of offensive line problems are rarely fixable inside of a season, unless you can either scheme protection packages that move a quarterback and take pressure off his line, or dial up a running game that allows blockers to impose themselves and find some chemistry. Time will tell if the Bears can do either. But the goal and measure should be clear now. They have some hallmarks of what the Texans have become. Now they know how far behind they are in the build. That was part of the message that Stroud imparted onto Williams when the two met midfield after Williams had been crushed the majority of the night.

“I just told [Williams] that everything that got you here is going to take care of you in the long run,” Stroud said. “Don’t put your head down. Don’t let a hard time humble you. It’s not going to be easy. You got picked at No. 1 for a reason.”

Stroud was talking about Williams’ talent. He easily could have been talking about the previous failures of the last high-hopes quarterback that led to Williams’ selection in the draft. After the Texans hammered Williams on Sunday, those Justin Fields failures and some of the problems that caused them seem closer in the rear view mirror than anyone realized.