Texans

Hall of Fame: Biggest standouts with Bears vs. Texans called early; Game winners, losers

Winners and losers of the Hall of Fame Game: The most notable Bears vs. Texans players were called early.

It doesn’t get much more… lacklustre than the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, which serves as the official kickoff to the NFL preseason every year, almost six months after the thrilling and unforgettable Super Bowl – especially when it goes into overtime.

With the Chicago Bears and Houston Texans playing Thursday night in Canton, Ohio, to play for this year’s championship, despite all of its usual downsides, it serves as a reminder that football is (almost) back. The Bears emerged victorious, 21-17, in a game that was called due to bad weather midway through the third quarter.

However, there’s still enough to sort through here to identify some tangible winners and losers, even though it doesn’t matter much to anyone or count in the rankings aside from the platform it offers to players near the bottom of the roster:

WINNERS

New NFL kickoff rule

Perhaps the biggest anticipation leading up to Thursday’s kickoff was seeing the league’s new kickoff design, since the game lacked celebrity power, at least active star power. After touchbacks became unnecessarily frequent in 2023, the NFL looked to the XFL for inspiration. Essentially, they eliminated the collisions that resulted from kicking team players running down the field in favour of set-up and landing zones that made the play more akin to a running play once the kickoff was fielded.

As longstanding league referee Walt Anderson, who is also the officiating and rules analyst for NFL Media, put it, “the bottom line was really to try to simulate, to the extent possible, more of a scrimmage-type play to incentivise that return and hopefully reduce the injury rate as well.”

 

Thursday’s action lacked field-flipping runbacks, but it did feature seven aggregate returns with an average length of 22.7 yards. In addition, two infractional formation flags were thrown for players who moved prior to the ball being played. Teams and players are still adjusting here, so keep an eye out, but it seems clear that a significant new play could be forthcoming.

Brett Rypien and the backup quarterbacks

As expected, QB1 C.J. Stroud of the Texans and Caleb Williams of the Bears did not play in this game. However, in less than three quarters of play, their backup quarterbacks combined to complete 34 of 47 passes for 382 yards, five touchdowns, and zero turnovers. But whether it was for his present squad or a different one, Rypien, a journeyman seeking to stay with Chicago—Williams and second-year player Tyson Bagent seem to have the top two positions on the QB depth chart locked—had an incredible rehearsal. Even if it’s August football, making 11 of 15 accurate, high-yardage passes for 166 yards and three touchdowns will make an impression.

Collin Johnson

Leading wide receivers DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, and first-round pick Rome Odunze were among the Bears who did not play that evening. This presents a chance for a fourth-year player such as the 6-6, 222-pound Johnson, who also knows he needs to make an impression almost every time considering the already restricted number of positions open on Chicago’s wideout depth chart. However, Johnson really came into his own on Thursday, displaying a good rapport with Rypien and hauling in two touchdown passes from the backup quarterback during a three-catch, 56-yard performance. Since he was a rookie in 2020 with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Johnson hasn’t had a scoring catch in the regular season. However, perhaps he’s ready to make his debut now, in Chicago or somewhere else.

Jonathan Owens

He was not with the Bears on Thursday; instead, he was in Paris, witnessing his wife Simone Biles write another illustrious chapter in her GOAT history by winning the gymnastics all-around competition. Biles was a core special team member and backup safety during his tenure. Owens, who was given leave by the team to assist Biles—the Bears have also been staunch supporters of Team USA’s standout player—is expected back in Chicago on Saturday. My friend, you didn’t miss much back home.

Cam Akers

A veteran running back vying for a job in Houston’s deep backfield, he completed with seven touches for 31 yards from scrimmage, including a 4-yard touchdown reception. For a player attempting to continue in the league while suffering repeated Achilles injuries, not a bad start. “The majority of individuals wouldn’t even return to the pitch,” he said to NFL Network after the match. However, once more, the game itself was ruined by unfavourable conditions, with a massive Midwest storm making landfall at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, before Dwight Freeney, Randy Gradishar, Devin Hester, Andre Johnson, Steve McMichael, Julius Peppers, and Patrick Willis saw their new busts and donned their gold jackets. Before the game was abandoned late Thursday night owing to bad weather, it had been postponed three times in the previous 13 years: in 2011 due to a work stoppage, in 2016 due to unplayable field conditions, and in 2020 because to the COVID-19 epidemic.

Jason Kelce

Can a centre be a superstar? The former Philadelphia Eagles great is now retired from the National Football League. and as an analyst for ESPN’s pre-game and halftime studio presentations, Travis’ older brother made a strong debut. What really set Kelce apart, though, was his dedication to the beret during his own trip to Paris to watch the Olympics.

Loosers

This NFL birthplace, just an hour’s drive from Cleveland, hosts the Hall of Fame induction weekend. It’s a premier event. The Pro Football Hall of Fame Game is highly significant due to its anonymous players who are unlikely to be selected for a regular season roster. Therefore, the league made a smart decision in 2017 to move the exhibition to Thursday night in order to set up the weekend’s main event, which is the enshrinement of the new class of football legends.

 

The importance of preseason

A small spot for exhibition football will (probably) always exist in the league’s dwindling schedule. But this specific game has always seemed a little pointless, and the teams assigned to play it frequently view it as the bonus match—a chance to get a closer look at unproven players. And doesn’t it seem like it’s time to let the HOF Game and even more of the preseason go, given the 18-game regular season’s growing inevitability? Considering the increasing focus on joint practices—where it makes more sense to provide seasoned veterans with reps in safe environments—and the likelihood that players will request additional time off during the offseason, including the earlier training camp reporting date that this game allows its teams each year, it may be time to make Hall of Fame weekend all about the immortals and exclude the football transients.

League of the NFL’s young guns lost

It would have been lovely to begin the season, er, preseason, with just a few snaps for Stroud and Williams. Not that it was any kind of surprise. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be shocking if Stroud, the 2023 Offensive Rookie of the Year, missed all of August’s games and Williams, the top pick in the 2024 draft, didn’t make his professional debut right away even if he acknowledged he preferred the on-field experience. In an NFL Network interview, Chicago general manager Ryan Poles did say that Williams will probably play in the Bears’ next three preseason games.

Defence

The backup defenders for both teams failed to inspire confidence, which is possibly concerning because defences typically outperform offences during this time of year. But in a game that ended before the fourth quarter, the Bears and Texans gave up 38 points and 6.2 yards per play combined. Even though nobody is running complex schemes in August, there is still plenty for two teams with playoff hopes to work on in the upcoming days and weeks, especially since both teams’ head coaches—Chicago’s Matt Eberflus and Houston’s DeMeco Ryans—made their careers as defensive coordinators.

Houston’s latest outfits

It will take some time to get used to them. The primary home and road uniforms of the Texans remained true to their traditional, conservative style for the first 22 seasons of the team’s history. But both were modified throughout the offseason, and the squad will wear two different outfits, each with a different helmet. Houston debuted its road whites on Thursday, and despite the team’s long history of relatively austere dressing, there are a few fashion changes that stand out, such as the heavy striping on the legs and the bull horns wrapped over the shoulders.

 

 

Blessing Nzireh

Blessing Nzireh

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