The Texans should have had an easy win. They won but made it far harder than it should have been.
Houston held on to a 19-13 victory over the Bears on Sunday Night Football, moving to 2-0 with a two-game lead in the AFC South. Chicago fell to 1-1.
The Texans outgained the Bears 310 to 205, with Chicago averaging 3.1 yards per play. The Texans also had two interceptions and seven sacks of Caleb Williams. Next Gen stats has the Texans with 36 pressures on Williams with 11 hits.
Yet, it came down to the end.
The Texans scored only one touchdown — a 28-yard pass from C.J. Stroud to Nico Collins — and settled for four field goals as Ka’imi Fairbairn hit from 56, 47, 59 and 53 yards. Backup running back Cam Akers, subbing for the injured Joe Mixon, lost a fumble with first-and-goal at the 4 with 6:28 remaining that would have iced the game.
Houston also committed 12 penalties for 115 yards and had a subpar night from punter Tommy Townsend, whose short punt led to the Bears’ only touchdown.
It was an ugly win, but it was a win for the Texans.
Stroud went 23-of-36 for 260 yards and a touchdown, with Collins catching eight for 135 and the touchdown. Mixon, who had 30 carries for 159 yards and a touchdown in the season opener, had only 25 yards on nine carries.
Mixon injured his ankle on a hip drop tackle by Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards but returned briefly.
Williams took a step in his second game, going 23-of-37 for 174 yards, but he was harassed and battered by the Texans pass rush. Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter each had 1.5 sacks.
Khalil Herbert had the team’s only touchdown, a 2-yard run, and Cairo Santos made field goals of 53 and 54 yards.