Bears at Texans: Preview, Predictions, and More

CHICAGO, IL - NOVEMBER 11: J.J. Watt
CHICAGO, IL - NOVEMBER 11: J.J. Watt /
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Chicago Bears at Houston Texans

The Houston Texans begin their quest for a second straight AFC South title by hosting the Chicago Bears. The Bears look to get the sour taste out of their mouths from a disappointing 6-10 season in 2015. Chicago appears to be in somewhat of a rebuilding mode as they enter year two of the John Fox era. The head coach is trying to create a defense similar to what he had during his tenure in Carolina as well as Denver.

With both those teams, Fox made the Super Bowl with incredible play on the defensive side of the ball. So far, that’s not what Chicago is. One day they should be, just not yet.

As for Houston, they already are the defensive power house Chicago wants to be. Their defensive unit propelled them to a second-straight nine win season under Bill O’Brien. The head coach enters his third season having to figure out what to do about defensive end J.J. Watt. The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year had back surgery during the offseason. He should be ready to go, but chances are he is in a limited role at first.

Good news for the Texans is that their offense is much improved from last season. They upgraded the quarterback position by replacing Brian Hoyer (who ironically is the backup in Chicago now) with Brock Osweiler. They also drafted deep-threat receiver Will Fuller and picked up the dynamic Lamar Miller at running back.

So who takes this game when all is said and done? Well, let’s see what the powers that be in Las Vegas have to say about that.

Next: Odds