Two young passers meet in primetime.
Tonight’s primetime game features a battle between two hyped young stars at the quarterback position, and a contest between two teams on the rise in their respective conferences. One is hoping to be truly relevant for the first time in many years; the other is hoping to become one of the AFC’s dominant players.
Whether that translates to a quality football game remains to be seen, but there’s plenty of intrigue here between the Chicago Bears and the Houston Texans. The Texans have C.J. Stroud, already one of the league’s better young quarterbacks, and the kind of top-to-bottom talent that suggests they should be able to run the AFC South for years to come if all goes well. The Bears just drafted Caleb Williams to help them dominate the NFC North, even if that outcome is obviously a big further away, and spent the last two offseasons stocking the larder in the hopes that they could become a contender again.
The Texans squeaked past the Colts in their opener in an exciting game that saw Stroud and running back Joe Mixon roll over Indianapolis, while the defense did just enough to earn the victory on a tough day at the office against Anthony Richardson and company. The Bears didn’t get a lot from Williams and their offense in Week 1, but a big day from the defense working against an overmatched Will Levis helped them earn the victory.
Only one team is going to walk out of this with a victory—the oddsmakers and I think it’ll be the Texans—but the hope is that it’s a good game and a good showcase for two electric young players. Watch and talk about it here, if you would.
Check out the odds for this game and the rest of the NFL slate at FanDuel.