Texans' DeMeco Ryans, C.J. Stroud 'Cognizant' About Bears Secondary

Houston Texans coach DeMeco Ryans and quarterback C.J. Stroud know what they are facing in the Chicago Bears defense.

Caleb Skinner | Sep 13, 2024

Sep 17, 2023; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans shakes hands with quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) before the game against the Indianapolis Colts at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

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Houston Texans

The Houston Texans began their 2024 campaign 1-0 after escaping Indianapolis with a 29-27 hard-fought victory. It wasn't the most pretty outing for the Texans, but the good news is there is room to improve and things to point to where they can get better.

The defense is where the Texans saw the most of their struggles in Week 1, but the offense was humming along with newcomers Joe Mixon and Stefon Diggs having big debuts for their new squad after being traded for this offseason.

The Texans offense was able to dismantle the defense of the Colts, but they will have a tougher matchup this week when they face off against a staunch Chicago Bears defense. Last week, the Bears faced off against the Tennessee Titans in Caleb Williams' NFL debut and with their offense not able to get anything going, they were able to come back in the game to pull off the victory in large part thanks to the play of the defense and in particular their secondary.

Now the Texans will have their shot at trying to exploit a tough and balanced Bears' defense when they return home to NRG Stadium in Week 2. When discussing the issues that the Bears' defensive backfield presents to the offense, Texans' head coach DeMeco Ryans praised them for how they play the game.

“The Bears defense backfield, they take the ball away," Ryans said. "It's really impressive the way they attack the football, both of their corners last week ended up with picks, to game-changing plays to give them the lead there and to end the game. So, we have to understand that those guys are ball hawks and we have to protect the football so that's what they present."

The Bears' defense has a knack for finding the ball and has carried over their strong finish a season ago into the start of this new year. Chicago's secondary came away with two picks last weekend, as mentioned by Ryans, one from Jaylon Johnson and then another from Tyrique Stevenson that went for a touchdown that greatly helped them win vs. the Titans.

Texans' quarterback C.J. Stroud reiterated his head coach's sentiments about the Bears' secondary when prodded with the same question and highlighted a number of their game changers in the defensive backfield while showing respect for the great defense that they are.

“They have all the talent in the world. 29, [Bears DB] Tyrique [Stevenson] and [Bears DB] Jaylon Johnson, number one, are two great corners. They play the ball really well. [Bears DB] Kevin Byard has been playing at a high level for a long time. And [Jaquan] Brisker, I played in college. He’s a dog," Stroud said of the players in Chicago's secondary. "So, yeah, I think they had one of the most interception rates last year and they got two last week. So, we’ve got to be cognizant of that and know that you’ve got to be careful with the ball because they won the game, pretty much, on defense last week. So, definitely a great defense. A lot of respect for those guys and can’t wait to compete against them.”

It is clear that the Bears at least have it together on one side of the ball. Their defense led them to a victory last week, and the Texans are hoping to avoid the same fate that Tennessee faced just a week ago. The offense will need to come in with a well-thought-out game plan this week to get their playmakers into creative spaces to be able to move the ball and create explosive plays.

If they don't then the Texans could be staring down their first loss of the season, something no one would have expected coming into the matchup.

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