How Houston Texans can exploit these clear advantages over Bears opportunistic defense
TEXANS VS. BEARS
12 September
TEXANS VS. BEARS
The Texans are coming off a thrilling victory against the Colts in Week 1, and this week they host the Chicago Bears in the Houston home opener.
The Bears also come into this matchup with a 1-0 record, after their defense put on a show against Will Levis and the Tennessee Titans.
Bulls on parade
The Texans defense will face rookie QB Caleb Williams, who was unable to orchestrate a single touchdown drive against the Titans. Williams only passed for 93 yards last week, and failed to complete a pass over 13 yards.
This should work in the Texans favor, as they struggled with the deep ball against Anthony Richardson and the Colts. Two of the Bears' top receivers are dealing with injuries this week. Rookie Rome Odunze is expected to be unavailable, as he's dealing with an MCL sprain.
Pro Bowl receiver Keenan Allen is expected to play, but he's been playing through a heel injury that's lingered since August. Allen was also reported to have put on weight in the offseason, which is impacting his explosiveness. (Too much deep dish pizza in Chicago?)
Which means Pro Bowl receiver DJ Moore is the main threat to get over the top against the Houston secondary. Hopefully Derek Stingley Jr. can keep him in check.
CJ Stroud against the Bears defense
When looking at the PFF numbers for the Bears last week, all the highest-graded players were on defense. Pass rusher Montez Sweat only recorded two tackles, but he'll be a player to watch on Sunday.
Bears corner Jaylon Johnson had an impressive game, allowing only one catch and snagging an interception. Stroud may look to avoid throwing at Johnson when possible. He had an eye-opening 92.3 PFF grade last week.
Jaylon Johnson vs the Titans:
π 1 catch allowed
π -2 yards
π 1 INT
π 1 forced incompletion
π 2.8 passer rating allowed pic.twitter.com/rppRj4jj7q
β PFF (@PFF) September 9, 2024
The Chicago defense intercepted the Titans twice last week, and recovered a fumble.
They also sacked Levis three times and tallied ten QB hits. Stroud was sacked four times against Indy last week.
Nico Collins was the highest-graded Texans player against the Colts. He made a brilliant game catch along the sideline to seal the game for Houston. He caught six passes for 117 yards.
Stefon Diggs caught all six of his targets, two of which went for touchdowns. Tank Dell had one more target than Diggs, but only posted three catches for 40 yards. He also had two rush attempts for 19 yards.
With three top-notch options at receiver, we should expect at least two pass catchers to post big numbers each week. But it will be hard to know which two out of the big three will go off from game to game.
Ground and pound
The biggest offensive storyline from Sunday, was the emergence of running back Joe Mixon. Mixon rushed for 159 yards on 31 carries, including a touchdown.
Mixon should find some room to run against Chicago, as they allowed both Titans running backs (Tony Pollard, Tyjae Spears) to rush for over 5 yards per carry, totally over 100 yards.
Special teams
The Bears blocked a punt in Week 1, and the Texans had a punt blocked. Hopefully, the special teams unit will make some corrections before Sunday night.
What does Vegas think?
The Texans are currently favored by 6.5 points. The total for the game is 45.5 points.
Texans injuries to monitor
Houston #Texans Thursday Injury Report for Week 2 vs. the Chicago Bears: pic.twitter.com/cVazf8kn3c
β Houston Texans PR (@TexansPR) September 12, 2024
WR Nico Collins limited with an illness. RBDameon Pierce limited with a hamstring. TE Dalton Schultz didn't practice again (ankle). We wouldn't be surprised if he misses the game. Brevin Jordan recorded a quality 71.8 PFF grade against Indy. He may be set for a bigger role this week in the absence of Schultz. Center Juice Scruggs limited with a groin. Safety MJ Steward is still out of practice with a knee injury.
Don't miss the video above as the crew from Texans on Tap previews the Texans home opener against the Bears.
*Texans on Tap is a Texans podcast hosted by Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo. We drop a Texans preview every Thursday and react live following every game on the SportsMapTexans YouTube channel.
One of the nuggets that came out of Nick Caserio's press conference this week, was his thoughts on the job Bobby Slowik has done as an offensive coordinator. When asked if the team has considered sharing the offensive play calling, Caseiro responded with an emphatic, βabsolutely not.β
Caserio went on to praise the job Slowik has done this year, and to say the team's struggles in the second half this season is due to execution.
This stance is consistent with what we've heard from Texans insiders that believe Slowik will be back next season. As much as many Texans fans believe a change at OC could help CJ Stroud, who's shown regression this year, it doesn't appear Slowik is going anywhere.
To be fair, most teams aren't looking to replace their coordinators when they're leading their division and marching toward the postseason for the second straight year.
Number crunching
When comparing Stroud's stats to last season, there is a clear dropoff in 2024. But a lot of that has to do with the addition of Joe Mixon, especially when it comes to touchdowns.
Mixon is third in the NFL with 11 rushing TDs, while Dameon Pierce and Devin Singletary only combined for 6 over the entire 2023 season. One could argue the passing offense has regressed, but one could also argue the offense overall is more balanced.
Stroud is still Top 5 in passing yards, heading into this week's games. And even if we account for the bye week, Stroud will still be Top 10 after this week's slate of games.
The most concerning number to keep an eye on is sacks. Only one QB has been sacked more than Stroud, who's been sacked 41 times. CJ's protection has gotten better since Juice Scruggs was moved to guard, and Jarrett Patterson was inserted at center.
If Stroud starts getting hit again at a high level, that may be the one factor that could make the front office rethink their plans at coordinator. However, if the Texans do make a change, we expect them to address their o-line coach before any changes at OC.
Be sure to watch the video above for our full breakdown of the Texans offense, the coaching staff, and our thoughts on how the Azeez Al-Shaair suspension will impact the team.