Hub Arkush: Key matchups, players to watch and more for Bears vs. Texans

LAKE FOREST – Sunday’s matchup between the Chicago Bears and Houston Texans features two teams playing for pride and jobs ... and you never know how teams will react in situations like that.

The Texans are 4-4 under interim head coach Romeo Crennell, but two of those wins are over Jacksonville. They did beat the 6-7 New England Patriots, and they put the beating on the Lions on Thanksgiving Day that got Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn fired.

Offensively, the Texans hang their hats on big plays in the passing game, ranked 1st in the NFL with 8.35 yards per pass, but they are dead last in the league running the football. Defensively, the Texans are 31st stopping the run, just marginally better vs. the pass, and they are 31st in average gain per run allowed and 28th in average gain per pass allowed.

There will be plenty of big-play opportunities for Mitch Trubisky and the Bears offense, but can they take advantage of them?

MATCHUP TO WATCH

Deshaun Watson vs. Mitch Trubisky

No, they won’t be on the field together for a single play Sunday, but it’s the first time these two have ever met. You know the backstory, and let’s face it, it will be the No. 1 topic of conversation at every water cooler and bar in town next Monday and Tuesday.

Watson insists he’s never thought about the Bears passing on him for Trubisky, but ...

Their win/loss records are almost identical – Watson is 29-23, Trubisky is 26-21 – but Watson has been the better pro. He has two Pro Bowls to Trubisky’s one – each was the second alternate following the 2018 season – and is a bigger threat on the ground with 286 career carries for a 5.5 average, but he will take a lot of sacks.

COACHING DECISION TO WATCH

How hard will Matt Nagy push Khalil Mack?

Mack has spent most of the season on the injury list but shown up for game day every week, but he clearly hasn’t been himself recently, and this week was unable to practice Wednesday or Thursday with a shoulder issue, though he did have limited participation Friday and is questionable for the game.

The Texans are just 25th in the league protecting Watson, and with another Defensive MVP on the field in J.J. Watt, you know Mack will want to show up and make a difference.

But with the playoffs now little more than a pipe dream, should and will Nagy protect his greatest asset and try to get him healthy, or desperate for a win will he let Mack go all out again?

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Duke Johnson, C.J. Prosise, Brandin Cooks and Randall Cobb

David Johnson is on the COVID-19 list, so Duke Johnson becomes the starter. After he missed practice Wednesday and was limited Thursday due to illness, be aware of Prosise, who is No. 3 and has just nine carries for 17 yards on the season.

Will Fuller, Watson’s main target, has been suspended for PEDs, making Cooks and Cobb the next men up and the focus of Chuck Pagano’s pass defense.

THE X-FACTORS

J.J. Watt and Akiem Hicks

At 31, Watt is not the game-wrecker he once was after serious injuries limited him to just three, five and eight games in the 2016, 2017 and 2019 seasons, respectively. But he’s gone every week this year, will still show up everywhere along the line of scrimmage and win almost every one-on-one matchup, and while he only has five sacks this season, his 13 tackles for loss and seven passes defensed make him the Texans' top defensive weapon.

Hicks is the Bears version of Watt, but is his hamstring completely healed? If he is close to 100%, he’s the kind of presence that has given Watson fits at times.

WILD-CARD PLAYERS WHO COULD SURPRISE

TE Darren Fells and WR Keke Coutee

Fells is one of Watson’s favorite red zone targets, and Coutee has missed eight games this season already, most recently with a knee issue, but he was full go in practice Thursday and Friday, is a big play waiting to happen when healthy, and without Fuller, Watson will try and find him if he’s out there.

KEY STAT

The Texans haven’t lost to a losing team. Combined record of opponents in eight losses is 69-27.

THE FINAL WORD

Bears 30, Texans 26

This is all about: 1) The Bears defense showing up at least most of the time and more than it has the last two weeks; 2) How much more desperate they are right now for a win than the Texans are; 3) How hard it is to lose seven games in a row; 4) The Texans having just three interceptions and eight takeaways this year; and 5) The absence of Fuller and Johnson.