Bears vs. Texans Point Spread: NFL Week 2 Odds, Prediction
Houston opened as 6.5-point favourites on the NFL odds.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
Let’s rewind to the 2023 NFL Draft. The top two quarterbacks in the class forecast by scouts were Alabama’s Bryce Young and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud. The Chicago Bears originally held the top pick and could have chosen between them had they desired. They opted keep then-QB Justin Fields and trade the pick to Carolina, which took Young at No. 1, leaving Stroud at No. 2 for Houston. That looks like a franchise-altering decision for both the Panthers (in a bad way) and the Texans (in a good way).
Chicago had the top pick in the 2024 draft thanks to Carolina and took USC quarterback Caleb Williams, and he against Stroud could be a Super Bowl matchup of the future as Williams, a former Heisman winner, was considered an even better prospect than Young or Stroud.
It’s only the sixth all-time meeting between the franchises with Houston leading 4-2 – and 2-0 at NRG Stadium. They last met in Week 3 of 2022 in Chicago and the Bears won 23-20 when Davis Mills was the Houston QB, and he was picked twice. Fields was not good for the Bears, either, with only 106 yards passing and two picks. Khalil Herbert ran for a career-high 157 yards and two touchdowns.
Chicago Bears
Entering Week 1, NFL teams that trailed by two or more scores at halftime and didn’t manage to score an offensive touchdown before the end of the game had been 2-306 this century. Make that 3-306 as Chicago rallied from down 17-3 at the half on Sunday vs. Tennessee to prevail 24-17 thanks to a punt return touchdown and an interception return touchdown – the latter about midway through the fourth quarter was the go-ahead score.
The Bears had just 148 yards, and rookie No. 1 overall QB Caleb Williams was frankly brutal in completing only 14 of 29 for 93 yards but at least didn’t turn the ball over. He did take a 19-yard sack in the first half that took Chicago out of field-goal range. Williams became the first No. 1 overall pick QB to win his first career start since Houston’s David Carr in 2002.
Rookie WR Rome Odunze, the No. 9 overall pick this year, managed one catch for 11 yards before leaving with a knee injury. He is week-to-week. End Darrell Taylor, acquired from Seattle on the eve of the season for a late-round draft pick, had eight tackles and two sacks. Chicago is 2-11 in its past 13 road games.
Houston Texans
Houston was a 29-27 winner at Indianapolis on Sunday as Pro Bowl receiver Stefon Diggs, acquired this offseason from Buffalo, had two TD catches, one of which came on a crucial fourth-and-goal play from the Colts’ 2-yard line with 4:45 remaining in the fourth quarter. Running back Joe Mixon, acquired from Cincinnati, rushed for 159 yards and a TD.
Reigning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year C.J. Stroud threw for 234 yards and two scores with no turnovers. It was his third straight game completing at least 75 per cent of his throws, one shy of matching longest streak in NFL history with a minimum of 25 attempts (Tom Brady in 2007). Stroud was pressured on 38 per cent of his dropbacks and sacked four times, so that’s a concern as is a defence that allowed Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson to have three 50-plus-yard completions. Houston is 7-2 in its past nine home games.
CHI
HOU