How Houston Texans can exploit these clear advantages over Bears opportunistic defense

TEXANS VS. BEARS

How Houston Texans can exploit these clear advantages over Bears opportunistic defense
The Texans host the Bears on Sunday night. Composite Getty Image.

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.

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

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.

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Texans hammer the Chargers, 32-12. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.

Eric Murray returned one of Justin Herbert's career-high four interceptions for a touchdown, C.J. Stroud threw a TD pass and the Houston Texans rolled past the Los Angeles Chargers 32-12 in a wild-card playoff game Saturday.

Be sure to watch the video below as the crew from Texans on Tap reacts live to the big win!

It’s the second straight year Stroud and the Texans (11-7) won in the first round after they beat Cleveland last season.

Herbert threw just three interceptions in the regular season and had never thrown more than two in a game before facing a Texans secondary led by AP All-Pro cornerback Derek Stingley, who had two INTs. Kamari Lassiter had the other pick.

The Chargers (11-7), who returned to the playoffs under first-year coach Jim Harbaugh, lost in the wild-card round for a second straight time after also losing in the 2022 season to remain without a postseason win since 2018.

Stroud threw for 282 yards with the touchdown pass to Nico Collins and an interception. Collins finished with seven catches for 122 yards. Joe Mixon ran for 106 yards and a score.

Herbert was 14 of 32 for 242 yards with a 40.9 passer rating.

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