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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The Brewers beat the Astros, 4-3. Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images.

Jake Bauers hit a two-run homer as the Milwaukee Brewers got all their runs in the first inning of a 4-3 victory over the Houston Astros on Tuesday.

The Brewers produced that big first-inning outburst against Hayden Wesneski, who hadn’t allowed more than three runs in any of his previous five starts this season.

Rhys Hoskins opened the scoring with a two-out, two-run double off the center-field wall. Bauers followed that up by clearing that center-field wall as he connected on a 1-2 pitch and delivered a 416-foot drive.

Wesneski (1-3) didn’t allow any more runs but only lasted four innings. He struck out three while allowing five hits and two walks.

Milwaukee’s Chad Patrick (2-3) worked a career-high 6 2/3 innings and carried a one-hit shutout into the seventh before the Astros got to him.

After Yainer Diaz and Jake Meyers hit consecutive one-out singles, Brendan Rodgers hit a three-run homer with two outs to cut Milwaukee’s lead to 4-3. Rodgers’ drive to right field was his first homer of the season.

The Astros had runners on first and second with two outs in the eighth, but Nick Mears came out of the bullpen and got Diaz to hit an inning-ending grounder to shortstop Joey Ortiz. Mears had gotten the Brewers out of a two-on, one-out jam in a 5-1 victory over the Astros a night earlier.

Trevor Megill retired the side in order in the ninth for his fourth save in five opportunities. Meyers led off the inning with a deep fly that Jackson Chourio caught at the center-field warning track.

Key moment

Houston trailed 4-3 with one out in the eighth when Brewers catcher William Contreras threw out Jose Altuve, who was attempting to advance to second on a pitch in the dirt. Isaac Paredes walked and Christian Walker singled immediately after that second out, but the Astros couldn't capitalize.

Key stat

Patrick, a 26-year-old rookie, hasn't allowed more than three runs in any of his seven starts.

Up next

Left-hander Framber Valdez (1-4, 4.39 ERA) pitches for Houston and right-hander Quinn Priester (1-0, 5.79) starts for Milwaukee as the Brewers attempt to complete the sweep Wednesday afternoon.

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