Two up-and-coming NFL teams are set to do battle Sunday night with the Houston Texans hosting rookie quarterback Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears.
Fresh off a surprise playoff appearance, C.J. Stroud led Houston to a Week 1 win over the Indianapolis Colts. Meanwhile, Chicago overcame a 17-0 deficit to defeat the Tennessee Titans in Williams’ regular season debut.
As one of the best games on the NFL Week 2 schedule, there are a ton of big individual matchups in this one. We take a look at the top five here.
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Stefon Diggs vs Tyrique Stevenson
Stefon Diggs caught six passes for 33 yards with two touchdowns in his regular-season debut with the Houston Texans last week. The four-time Pro Bowl performer has already found a great relationship with Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud.
It will not be easy against an elite-level Bears secondary come Sunday night. In particular, Stevenson is a difficult matchup. He recorded a pick-six of Titans quarterback Will Levis to clinch the game in Week 1. This comes after the former second-round pick out of Miami (F) registered four interceptions as a rookie.
Related: Houston Texans standing in Sportsnaut’s NFL offense rankings
Braxton Jones vs Danielle Hunter
Yet another Pro Bowler Houston acquired this past offseason, Hunter has been among the best pass rushers in the game through the years. Over the course of his final six seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Hunter registered a combined 62 sacks. That included leading the NFL in this category a season ago with 16.5.
It’s going to be important for Chicago to provide Caleb Williams with a clean pocket against Houston come Sunday night. The onus here will be on left tackle Braxton Jones. The former fifth-round pick from Southern Utah has struggled at times in pass protection throughout his young career.
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D.J. Moore vs Derek Stingley Jr.
Depending on the status of Keenan Allen for this one, the Texans could have Derek Stingley Jr. shadow D.J. Moore. The former top-three pick from LSU recorded five interceptions while yielding a mere 56.8 QB rating when targeted a season ago. He’s quickly turning into one of the top shut-down guys in the entire NFL.
For Chicago, it’s not hyperbole to say that the team needs more to step up for Williams. He tallied a mere 36 yards on five catches back in Week 1. This came after a first season in Chicago that saw Moore register 96 receptions for 1,364 yards.
Related: Chicago Bears standing in Sportsnaut’s NFL defense rankings
Tytus Howard vs Montez Sweat
Whoever wins the trenches in this one will likely come out on top Sunday night. That’s where this matchup comes into play. Since being acquired from the Washington Commanders ahead of the NFL trade deadline last season, Sweat has put up six sacks in 10 games. He did struggle in this area last week, failing to record a quarterback hit or a sack.
Can Howard hold up against Sweat in this one? Will Houston need to throw a double team with guard Shaq Mason? We’ll find out soon enough. What we do know is that the right tackle boasted a disaster class of a Pro Football Focus grade (38.9) in pass protection last season. Yikes!
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Caleb Williams vs Houston Texans defense
Despite winning his regular-season debut last week, Williams left a lot to be desired on the field. The rookie No. 1 pick from USC completed 14-of-29 passes for 93 yards. In fact, he put up just 64 net passing yards. That will obviously need to change if the Bears want to move to 2-0 for the first time since back in 2020.
It will be tough sledding against an elite-level Texans defense Sunday night in Houston. This unit was great against the pass in 2023, giving up just 17 passing touchdowns to go with 14 interceptions.