“We talk about the D-line being the engine of the team,” Anderson said. “We’ve got the right group of guys to do that. Caleb was slippery. On the sideline, somebody said, ‘Keep chopping wood, the sacks will come.’
“It’s always fun getting after any quarterback. This week, we wanted to get pressure in his face and (concentrate) on rushing together. I think we did a hell of a job of rushing together and having fun.”
Anderson and Hunter combined for three sacks. Mario Edwards Jr., Derek Barnett, Azeez Al-Shaair and Henry To’oTo’o recorded one sack each.
“We had the mentality of swarming and making them one-dimensional,” To’oTo’o said.
Cornerbacks Derek Stingley Jr. and rookie Kamari Lassiter intercepted Williams.
“It starts up front with our defensive line,” Ryans said. “Will, Danielle, Mario – all the guys – the way they were rushing together, the way we were covering on the back end. That really set things apart. Credit to Sting and Kamari for the way they covered, allowing those guys to get the pressure. You don’t get pressure unless the coverage is tight. Those guys covered well and allowed the rush to get there.”
Ryans and defensive coordinator Matt Burke take a lot of pride in the way their defense stopped the run. The Bears averaged 3.2 yards rushing. Subtract a 24-yard run by Williams, and the Texans surrendered 47 yards and 2.2 a carry.
As they did in their first game against the Colts’ Jonathan Taylor (48 yards, 3 a carry), the Texans smothered running back D’Andre Swift, limiting him to 18 yards on 14 carries, a 1.3 average. Williams finished as Chicago’s leading rusher with 44 yards on five carries.
“Our guys did a great job of setting the edge,” Ryans said. “They tried to run the ball outside a lot. Guys just swarmed inside-out to the ball. We had a little movement up front. The way our guys tackled was really nice.”
In his second start,…
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