Bear Digest

Chicago Bears Who Can Pose Biggest Problems for Houston Texans

Analysis: Either because of matchups or because they're on a roll, several Bears players can pose a real threat to the Houston Texans in Sunday night's game.

Gene Chamberlain

T.J. Edwards was a tackling machine against Tennessee in Week 1 and could be in position for similar production vs. Houston.
T.J. Edwards was a tackling machine against Tennessee in Week 1 and could be in position for similar production vs. Houston. / Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK
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The Bears and prime-time road upsets haven't exactly gone hand in hand.

They did knock off the Vikings in Minneapolis last year as a 3 1/2-point underdog but stepping up and doing it against a team as talented as the Houston Texans is another matter.  They should have scored a staggering upset when they led Detroit 26-14 with 4 ½ minutes left last year and found a way to lose 31-26.

It's something they have to prove they can do before being taken seriously.

The last time the Bears beat a 6 1/2-point favorite on the road in prime time was Bill Belichick in Matt Eberflus' first season of 2022.

This isn't to suggest it can't be done, even with inexperienced Caleb Williams at quarterback and coming off a 93-yard passing debut.

The Texans displayed several flaws last week against another inexperienced QB, second-year Colts passer Anthony Richardson in his fifth career start.

There are Bears capable of taking advantage of some of the problems Houston does have. They only went 10-7 last year before winning a playoff game over offensively challenged Cleveland, so it's not as if this is Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs the Bears face. They’re a strong, up-and-coming team with good coaching.

This is what the Bears think they are, and if they're going to accomplish the upset, there are several players they can lean on because of their talent, their matchup or both.

WR Keenan Allen

It's entirely possible he won't play because he didn't practice this week, but Eberflus admitted a veteran like Allen is more likely to be able to go without the work. They held him out of practice hoping it would help with an injury that requires rest for the recovery. The reason Allen is a player who could hurt the Texans is he'd be going much of the time against slot cornerback Nyles Bryant, who went through consecutive poor seasons in New England before winding up in Houston. Allen should be able to put up one of those big catch numbers in this one.

WR Tyler Scott

He could go from inactive to the big play guy this week. Scott has the best speed in the receiver corps other than embattled back/receiver Velus Jones Jr., and he'll be going up against a rookie in Georgia cornerback Kamari Lassiter. Scott's speed could make for big throws from Caleb Williams, who hooked up on several long completions early in training camp with Scott. It's entirely possible Rome Odunze's knee is good enough to allow him to start, as he was practicing on Friday. If this occurs, the Bears would really own a matchup advantage because Odunze has 35-pound and 5-inch height advantages on Lassiter.

LB T.J. Edwards

Edwards had 15 tackles last week and has the all-important weakside linebacker spot in this scheme down now. He and Andrew Billings wrecked the Titans running game in the second half. Whether he's able to do it again might depend on how much the Bears decide to go with a six-man box to try to stop the passing game. No doubt they'll be more interested in doing that. If they do, Edwards has shown over 18 games he doesn't need a lot of help to disrupt running games and could do it to Joe Mixon, who had an NFL high 159 yards last week. When the Bears silence a running attack, it happens with penetration. And a player like Mixon needs to get his momentum going toward the line of scrimmage because he's not going to dazzle with broken field style cutting to make his runs.

ROME ODUNZE CONFIDENT HE'S NOT RISKING TOO MUCH IF HE PLAYS

BEARS RULE OUT TWO PLAYERS FOR SUNDAY'S GAME WITH TEXANS

BEARS HOPING PASS RUSH FROM UNEXPECTED SOURCES CONTINUES

NO DOUBT ABOUT STATUS OF VELUS JONES JR. AS KICK RETURNER

CB Jaylon Johnson

Assume for now Johnson will be covering wide receiver Nico Collins because this is the chief Texans receiving weapon. Stefon Diggs is still good but not quite the downfield threat of Collins. They have two other top receivers, but Collins had six catches for 117 yards last week. Johnson neutralizes receivers. Better receivers than he is have run up against a true lockdown cornerback, and came away beaten. Johnson learned the hard way, as the only good defensive back the Bears had for several years. He had the highest Pro Football Focus grade in the league last year and again this past week.  The Titans liked their new-look receivers, too. They barely got a look at them going against Johnson.

DE Montez Sweat

He'll draw tackle Laremy Tunsil and may not have as much double-teaming directed his way in this one because Tunsil has a reputation as a good blocker. However, Tunsil got off to a horrible start against the Colts, allowing two sacks according to PFF stats. He also committed two penalties and  was given a sub-par 47.1 pass-blocking grade. Sweat set a tone for the Bears pass rush early in Sunday’s win by breaking in for a pressure and nearly a sack. Then the double-teams came while teammates beat their one-on-one blocking matchup.

T Darnell Wright

He looks to be facing off against Will Anderson Jr., the former Alabama player who he beat with regularity in college. Wright was 16th in Week 1 among all tackles in pass block win rate according to ESPN and Pro Football Focus graded him 10th in pass blocking for Week 1, 16th overall. Wright’s foot quickness and hand technique make it tough on edge rushers to get around him and he’s almost too strong to bully.

QB Caleb Williams

No, not last week’s Williams, but the one in training camp who threw it deep accurately and with regularity. One of the big problems the Texans had last week was stopping deep passes or passes caught downfield and turned upfield. Anthony Richardson completed passes of 60, 57 and 54 yards.  The Texans have two rookies in their secondary and if the Bears can get Williams protected, they can try the same thing with their strong-armed, accurate deep passer.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.