Paul Lasike & Da Bears: Weeks 1-2 in Review
The last time we wrote about New Zealand’s lone representative in the NFL* he was crushing suckers in preseason and showing why he deserved a chance in the big time. But as Jarryd Hayne (who Lasike is gonna be forever linked to for better and worse, simply because of the backstory) might tell you, preseason is very, very different from the real thing, a different story altogether.
* (Stephen Paea was born in NZ but grew up in Tonga and has been in America since he was 16 while Rhett Ellison was born in America to an American mother but his dad is Riki Ellison, the first kiwi to play NFL, so they have loose claims as well - but Lasike was born and raised in NZ and identifies as a kiwi, rather than as kiwi-born or of kiwi-descent.)
For one thing, just making the 53 man active roster doesn’t guarantee anything as seven of those lads will be inactive every game – only 46 players get to take the field at a max. But then Lasike is also the only fullback on the Bears’ roster so that ain’t as much of a problem for him. By including him at all, they’re committed to a fullback. If they’re committed to a fullback then they’re committed to him too because there isn’t an alternative.
So after a year on the practice squad last season as an undrafted free agent out of BYU with only a couple of years of experience with the sport, Paul Lasike made his NFL debut in week one of the 2016 season against the Houston Texans.
And… it didn’t really go too well. For the team more than for Lasike, he took the field for 14 offensive snaps out of a total of 56 and also made an appearance on six special teams sets. No rushes in there but he ran a few nice blocks out of the backfield and he was out there for the opening offensive play of the game for Chicago so it’s registered as a start too. Pretty irrelevant stat for a fringe player but whatever.
That first play of the day was probably his biggest impact where he made good contact on his man, OLB John Simon, only he got him too low and slipped off which closed up the gap that Jeremy Langford was gunning towards. Probably cost them at least five or so yards… though Langford went down quite easy, he could have been a lot stronger driving through the tackle.
The Bears got out to a 7-0 lead thanks to a 1yd Jeremy Langford run (Lasike was in on the play but Langford ran outside his right guard rather than following Lasike to the left edge – a bit of deception no doubt) and were 14-10 up at half-time but the Texans are a legit team and a couple of Brock Osweiler touchdown passes and 106 yards on the ground to Lamar Miller got Houston through to a 23-14 win. Here’s that Langford TD for ya:
A fairly quiet debut then, week two things were better. This time he had to wait a few plays before popping up but turn up he did, smashing defenders as best he could. And in the second quarter with the Bears down 3-0 having missed a field goal already, coach John Fox and company turned to Lasike to carry the ball on a third & 1 on their own 44. He burst hard through the middle for two yards, and the very next play Cutler hit Alshon Jeffery on a 49 yard bomb to set them up in the red zone. A first career carry for Lasike, getting the job done too (though that average of 2 yards per carry is gonna need some adding to).
Langford then ran for five yards before Jeffery drew a pass interference flag in the endzone. First & goal at the 1. Langford left tackle for 1yd, touchdown. Lasike with the monster charging block on the goal-line. Way to go, lad.
That was about where the highlights ended for Lasike though. Down 9-7 at the break, things got a little ugly after that as QB Jay Cutler was injured and then for some reason stayed in the game to throw some terrible passes – including a horrible interception that went straight at Nigel Bradham – and by the start of the fourth quarter he was in the locker room not to return. Brian Hoyer entered but with the Eagles having put 13 unanswered points on them in the third he needed, the running game became a second thought.
Not that it helped them. The only other points they were able to log came from a 65 yard punt return by Eddie Royal and the Eagles won 29-14. The Bears therefore starting the season in an 0-2 hole… though nobody was kidding themselves that they could make the playoffs in 2016.
Nine of the 22 starters in week one were either first or second year players for the Bears, which gives you an indication of what stage of development this squad is at. They’re young and they’re prone to some errors. They also lost five key players to injury during the Eagles game which hardly helped either. Cutler struggled badly and they never got going in the run game. Their defence was good enough to keep them in the game for a while and Alshon Jeffery had the beating of anyone that Philly could put on him but it wasn’t enough.
Only 64 yards on 18 carries is a bit average for Chicago but it’s worse than that with their starting RB Jeremy Langford only making 28 yards at 2.5 per attempt. There’s a genuine case that Jordan Howard (three carries for 22 yards) might start seeing increased time himself. Or, you know, give Paul Lasike more oppos. If their run game needs reshuffling then more use of their fullback might be a part of that, hopefully. For now he’s mostly been used, as expected, in goal-line situations and short yardage. Although for a FB, that isn’t at all abnormal. In week one only Andy Janovich (Denver – 47%), Mike Tolbert (Carolina – 40%), Kyle Juszczyk (Baltimore – 31%) and John Kuhn (New Orleans – 29%) had a higher percentage of offensive snap counts than Lasike’s 25% (which a few others also matched).
Langford and Cutler also lost a fumble each and when your quarterback and running back are both struggling then it’s very hard to win. Cutler, by the way, had 157 yards on 12/17 passing with no TDs and an interception. He was sacked three times and pressured plenty more. It is now almost a year since the Bears last won a home game with their losing streak at five and only three wins from their last 18 matches at Soldier Field. At this rate, the All Blacks might win more home games there than the NFL team it hosts this year.
TE Zach Miller: "You can't point any fingers, we're not a good football team right now," Bears tight end Zach Miller said. "We didn't play well. Our defense kept us in it early, but we didn't do enough offensively to win that football game."
Eh, that’s the Bears for you. On the positive side of things, they now hold New Zealand’s all-time NFL leader in rush yards.
