Despite falling short, Sunday night was another Chicago Bears performance that left more to be desired.
When looking at Chicago’s player usage across the board in its loss to the Houston Texans on the road, what stood out the most?
Chicago Bears’ Snap Count Totals in Loss Against Houston Texans
Offensive Snap Counts
- T, Braxton Jones: 70 (100%)
- C, Coleman Shelton: 70 (100%)
- T, Darnell Wright: 70 (100%)
- G, Teven Jenkins: 70 (100%)
- QB, Caleb Williams: 70 (100%)
- G, Nate Davis: 70 (100%)
- WR, DJ Moore: 69 (99%)
- WR, Rome Odunze: 66 (94%)
- TE, Cole Kmet: 54 (77%)
- WR, DeAndre Carter: 50 (71%)
- RB, D’Andre Swift: 46 (66%)
- TE, Gerald Everett: 25 (36%)
- RB, Travis Homer: 20 (29%)
- TE, Marcedes Lewis: 10 (14%)
- RB, Khalil Herbert: 6 (9%)
- WR, Tyler Scott: 3 (4%)
- WR, Collin Johnson: 1 (1%)
Defensive Snap Counts
- SS, Jaquan Brisker: 62 (100%)
- CB, Tyrique Stevenson: 62 (100%)
- LB, Tremaine Edmunds: 62 (100%)
- CB, Jaylon Johnson: 62 (100%)
- FS, Kevin Byard III: 62 (100%)
- DE, DeMarcus Walker: 52 (84%)
- CB, Kyler Gordon: 51 (82%
- DT, Gervon Dexter Sr.: 43 (69%)
- DT, Andrew Billings: 42 (68%)
- DE, Montez Sweat: 41 (66%)
- DE, Darrell Taylor: 27 (44%)
- DE, Austin Booker: 20 (32%)
- DT, Chris Williams: 15 (24%)
- LB, Jack Sanborn: 11 (18%)
- DT, Zacch Pickens: 7 (11%)
- CB, Josh Blackwell: 1 (2%)
Special Teams Snap Counts
- LB, Jack Sanborn: 27 (90%)
- DE, Daniel Hardy: 27 (90%)
- FS, Elijah Hicks: 27 (90%)
- LB, Amen Ogbongbemiga: 25 (83%)
- CB, Jaylon Jones: 22 (73%)
- RB, Travis Homer: 22 (73%)
- SS, Jonathan Owens: 16 (53%)
- RB, Roschon Johnson: 15 (50%)
- RB, Khalil Herbert: 13 (43%)
- WR, DeAndre Carter: 12 (40%)
- LS, Scott Daly: 9 (30%)
- P, Tory Taylor: 9 (30%)
- CB, Terell Smith: 9 (30%)
- K, Cairo Santos: 7 (23%)
- DE, Darrell Taylor: 7 (23%)
- DE, Austin Booker: 7 (23%)
- WR, Collin Johnson: 6 (20%)
- SS, Jaquan Brisker: 5 (17%)
- CB, Tyrique Stevenson: 5 (17%)
- DE, DeMarcus Walker: 5 (17%)
- DT, Gervon Dexter Sr.: 5 (17%)
- DT, Andrew Billings: 5 (17%)
- C, Doug Kramer: 3 (10%)
- T, Braxton Jones: 3 (10%)
- C, Coleman Shelton: 3 (10%)
- T, Darnell Wright: 3 (10%)
- G, Teven Jenkins: 3 (10%)
- TE, Cole Kmet: 3 (10%)
- TE, Marcedes Lewis: 3 (10%)
Bears’ Snap Count Takeaways
Bears Offense
When it comes to the offensive snap share for Chicago, there are still some major questions through the first two weeks of the 2024 season.
Most notably, it was good to see Rome Odunze’s snap share jump to above 90% for two reasons. The first reason is that it shows the Bears’ coaching staff trusts Odunze as WR2 if something happens to this receiver group (like Keenan Allen being out).
Another reason is that it shows Odunze’s knee injury sustained in Week 1 may not be severe. Had his knee been seriously hurt, it’s unlikely that he would’ve seen 94% of offensive snaps seven days later.
It appears the Bears got lucky with Odunze and his knee, which is one of the biggest wins of the week following a loss on prime time.
MORE: Simulate the Season With PFN’s Playoff Predictor
Another question surrounding offensive usage involves the running backs.
In a committee that includes D’Andre Swift, Khalil Herbert, Roschon Johnson, and Travis Homer, it’s surprising to see Johnson being used as little as he has been through two weeks of play.
Through eight quarters of football, Johnson has seen just 15 snaps, all of which were on special teams.
Johnson was a fourth-round pick just a season ago, and in 2023, he rushed 81 times for 352 yards and two touchdowns. This season, he has yet to take an offensive snap.
Considering how lackluster the rushing attack has been, the lack of usage from Johnson this season has been a bit mind-boggling.
Lastly, while he did see more offensive snaps this week, Cole Kmet remains underutilized in Shane Waldron’s offense.
Maybe it’s just the offense being unable to find a rhythm, but there has to be a more efficient way to get Kmet the ball this season.
Bears Defense
As for the defense, the question marks lessened significantly.
The Bears have been stout this entire season, and when looking at the snap counts for each player, there’s only one question: What is undrafted free agent linebacker Jack Sanborn’s role?
In both 2022 (38%) and 2023 (39%), Sanborn was much more utilized than he’s been through two games this season (11%).
This week, Sanborn saw just 11 snaps on defense, but he led the special teams unit in usage. Sanborn saw 90% of special teams snaps against Houston on Sunday night, so does that mean this is his new role on the team moving forward?
ENTER SANDMAN
📺: #CHIvsHOU on NBC pic.twitter.com/Oj5XlxavVN
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) September 16, 2024
Well, it could. Both T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds have been playing well this season. With how well those two linebackers have played through two weeks, maybe it’s best to keep what’s working intact.
If the Bears’ defense performed like their offense, there would likely be more suggestions on how to run the unit. But, that’s just not the case.
Eberflus might be a questionable NFL head coach, but as a defensive mind, he’s been impressive for the past couple of seasons with Chicago.