Houston is coming off an impressive Week 1 divisional win over the Colts in which almost everyone on offense was involved. Joe Mixon fit in seamlessly, Stefon Diggs caught both of C.J. Stroud’s touchdowns while Nico Collins remained the workhorse receiver. It was a well-oiled machine on both sides of the ball. The Texans play tonight at home vs. a Chicago team that looked to be on the opposite end of the football spectrum. In contrast to Stroud’s award-winning rookie season, Caleb Williams debuted with just 108 yards of total offense and looked lost on the field a lot of the time.
Houston is a 6.5-point favorite over the Bears, one of the largest spreads of the week. Perhaps more importantly, they don’t have another matchup as good as this one on the horizon all season (as anyone who picked — and stuck with — Cincinnati in Week 1 can attest, New England is not a gimme win).
The Bears did eke out an ugly Week 1 win over the Titans, thanks to their defense and special teams, which is possibly more of an indictment of Tennessee. I suspect they won’t be nearly as effective against Stroud, Mixon and Co., making Houston one of the safer picks this week.
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NFL Week 2 survivor pool picks, strategy: Why we’re not picking Ravens and a Texans debate
