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.

Most Popular

Which team should concern the Astros the most? Composite Getty Image.

With only a dozen games left in the regular season, the playoff matchups the Astros could find themselves in are becoming clear.

It's looking more likely that Houston will be hosting either the Tigers, Twins, or Mariners.

Out of these three teams, which club gives the Astros the best chance to move on to the next round?

The Twins may have a winning record (4-2) against the 'Stros this season, but over the last 30 days, they haven't been playing well.

They are 28th in team ERA (4.96), and 21st in team OPS (.676). The Mariners and Tigers are much better than Minnesota in both categories. It's important to pay attention to how teams are playing as the regular season comes to an end.

But there are other factors to consider. Carlos Correa is back from injury, and the Twins have some big arms that have given the Astros trouble in the past.

This is one video you don't want to miss as we examine the Astros potential playoff matchups and try to determine which team would give Houston the best shot to advance to the divisional series.

*Catch our weekly Stone Cold β€˜Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Most Popular

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome

Listen Live

ESPN Houston 97.5 FM