Chicago (1-0) at Houston (1-0)
Sunday, 8:20 p.m. EDT, NBC
BetMGM NFL Odds: Texans by 7.
Against the spread: Chicago 1-0; Houston 0-1
Series record: Texans lead 4-2.
Last meeting: Bears beat Texans 23-20 on Sept. 25, 2022, in Chicago.
Last week: Bears beat Titans 24-17; Texans beat Colts 29-27.
Bears offense: overall (32), rush (24), pass (32), scoring (15).
Bears defense: overall (8), rush (22), pass (2), scoring (6).
Texans offense: overall (2), rush (1), pass (11), scoring (8).
Texans defense: overall (17), rush (14), pass (19), scoring (22).
Turnover differential: Bears plus-2, Texans plus-1.
Bears player to watch
QB Caleb Williams. Williams vowed to do better after the defense and special teams bailed him out in a shaky debut. The No. 1 overall draft pick finished 14 of 29 with 93 yards and a 55.7 passer rating, certainly not the way he wanted his debut to go. The Bears are obviously counting on more from the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner from Southern California. Despite all that, Williams became the first quarterback drafted first overall to win his initial start since 2002, when David Carr led Houston past Dallas. The past 15 were a combined 0-14-1 in first starts, beginning with Cincinnati’s Carson Palmer in 2003.
Texans player to watch
QB C.J. Stroud. The second overall selection in last year’s draft picked up right where he left off in the opener following his stellar rookie season. He threw for 234 yards and had a 115.9 passer rating against the Colts. Houston’s offseason acquisition of Stefon Diggs paid immediate dividends with Stroud throwing both of his touchdown passes to the star receiver. Last year’s AP Offensive Rookie of the Year has 12 touchdowns without an interception in his past eight games, including the playoffs.
Key matchup
Joe Mixon vs. Chicago’s run defense. Mixon had a career-high 30 carries for 159 yards and a touchdown in his Houston debut to lead the NFL in yards rushing in Week 1 and earn AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors. The Texans finished with 213 yards rushing in their opener to lead the league. Now Mixon will face a defense which gave up 140 yards rushing to the Titans last week. He was great in four primetime games for the Bengals last season with four rushing touchdowns and a TD catch.
Key injuries
Bears WRs Rome Odunze (knee) and Keenan Allen are game-time decisions. Odunze sprained an MCL blocking late in last week’s game and practiced Friday on a limited basis after sitting out the previous two days. Allen has been dealing with the heel issue for awhile and did not practice during the week. … Texans CB Jeff Okudah was placed on the injured reserve Tuesday with a hip injury. … TE Dalton Schultz missed practice this week with an ankle injury.
Series notes
Houston won the first four meetings in this series, starting with a 24-5 win in 2004. … The Bears have won the past two games, which were both in Chicago. … These teams haven’t met in Houston since a 23-14 win by the Texans in 2016.
Stats and stuff
The Bears rallied from a 17-0 deficit last week even though their offense didn’t score a touchdown. In the Super Bowl era, teams that scored zero touchdowns and trailed by 17 or more points are 3-1,225. Two of those wins are by Chicago, with the 2006 team beating Arizona. The other was by Kansas City against Carolina in 2016. … Chicago got 17 points of turnovers against Tennessee. … Allen has 17 receptions for 218 yards and two TDs in two games against Houston. The six-time Pro Bowler had 29 yards in his Bears debut. … WR DJ Moore had eight catches for 126 yards in his most recent game against the Texans, playing for Carolina on Sept. 23, 2021. … Tyrique Stevenson returned an interception 43 yards for the go-ahead touchdown last week. … Daniel Hardy blocked a punt and Jonathan Owens returned it 21 yards for a score against Tennessee. It was the Bears’ first blocked punt returned for a touchdown since 2012 — and the first in a season opener since 1993. … CB Jaylon Johnson has three fourth-quarter interceptions over the past two seasons, including one last week that sealed Chicago’s win. … Tory Taylor had three punts downed inside the 20 against Tennessee, tying for the most by a Bears rookie in a single game since at least 1970. … Sunday’s game is the first of a franchise-record six nationally televised games for the Texans this season. … Houston hasn’t appeared on “Sunday Night Football” since a 28-22 win over New England on Dec. 1, 2019. … WR Nico Collins led the Texans with 117 yards receiving last week for the sixth 100-yard receiving game of his career. He’s had a touchdown reception in four of his past five games at home. … Diggs was one of three players in the NFL with two touchdown catches last week. He has seven touchdown receptions in nine games against the Bears. … DE Danielle Hunter had 3½ sacks in two games against Chicago last season while with the Vikings. He has 14 tackles for losses in 14 games against the Bears. … DE Will Anderson, last year’s AP Defensive Rookie of the Year, has seven sacks in his past six home games. … S Calen Bullock was one of two rookies to have an interception in Week 1.
Fantasy tip
The Texans should continue to rely heavily on Mixon this week, making him a good pickup for any fantasy roster.
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