A national audience will get a taste of two of the NFL’s best young quarterbacks on Sunday night when the Texans host the Bears.

Caleb Williams makes his primetime debut and CJ Stroud plays his first home game under artificial lights.

When the Bears have the ball

Though the Bears won their season opener last week, it was a tough debut for Williams, who completed just 14 of 29 passes for 93 yards, a league-low 3.2 yards per attempt and ranked last in EPA+CPOE among all starting quarterbacks.

Better days will come for the No. 1 overall pick, although it may have to wait another week as leading receivers Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze are questionable for this game.

I suspect Odunze’s MCL sprain will keep him sidelined, while Allen’s heel will not hinder his availability.

Williams missed numerous opportunities to connect with Allen, who made the quarterback’s first read a whopping 35 percent of the time, the most on the team, according to Fantasy Points Data.

The Bears’ offensive line was surprisingly underperforming in Week 1, after ranking in the top five in pass and run-block win rate last year, according to ESPN.

Guard Teven Jenkins and center Coleman Shelton struggled especially in the infield.

They’ll face a Texans defensive line that ranked in the top eight in adjusted line yards and adjusted sack rate last week.

When the Texans have the ball

Stroud had a solid game in Week 1, finishing with 234 passing yards and two touchdowns.

He ranked sixth in EPA+CPOE and seventh with an adjusted completion percentage of 80.6 percent.

Stroud is a threat in most defensive coverages, especially Cover 3, which the Bears ranked sixth in coverage last year (38.3 percent).

Against Cover 3 last year, the quarterback ranked third in total EPA with 8.72 YPA and eight touchdowns to no interceptions.

Nico Collins ranked third in the NFL with 3.67 yards per route run against Cover 3.

Collins will likely face Jaylon Johnson, who ranked second in the NFL in 2023 in Pro Football Focus coverage grade with a 33.3 passer rating, the lowest in the league.

The Bears should try to force Stroud into third-and-long situations so they can turn up the pressure.

Chicago ranked first in the NFL in pass rush winning percentage in Week 1. I think that was more due to their opponent’s poor pass blocking, but it’s still notable.

To avoid these types of third-and-long situations, we expect the Texans to use Joe Mixon early in the game after he carried the ball 30 times for 159 yards and a touchdown last week.

Chicago ranked 21st in defensive adjusted line yards after ranking third in that metric in 2023. They need a turnaround performance in run defense.

Betting on the NFL?

The verdict

The expectation for this game was -3.5 for the Texans, and the market likely overreacted with the current line of -6.5.

Williams struggled in Week 1, but he will likely feel more comfortable going forward.

Houston’s defense was a bit of a letdown last week, ranking 28th in PFF’s coverage grades, and Chicago’s offense could use a more productive passing game.

My numbers say this spread is Texans -5.2, so the Bears are valuable as visiting underdogs.

But I’ll wait for the injury report to see what the status of Allen and Odunze will be, and you should too.

Williams will need all the help they can get to keep up with Stroud in this race.

Recommendation: Bears +6.5 (awaiting injury news for Allen and Odunze)

Why You Can Trust New York Post Betting

Jacob Wayne handicaps college football and the NFL for the New York Post. He’s up 84.5 units in the two sports for a 6.27% ROI.