GAMEDAY: Bears and Texans TV, Radio, the Line and the Pick

Houston Texans (4-8) at Chicago Bears (5-7)

Kickoff: Noon, Soldier Field, Chicago

TV: CBS (Kevini Harlan, Trent Green, Melanie Collins)

Radio: WBBM-AM 780, 105.9 FM (Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer, Mark Grote)

ESPN Radio (Marc Ketescher, Barrett Jones) (SXM Ch. 80)

Spanish: Univision Deportes 1200 AM, 93.5 FM (Hector Lopez, Miguel Esparza)

The Series: Fifth matchup. The Bears have never won against Houston. The Texans' last win was in 2016, 23-14 at Reliant Stadium. They won the last game at Soldier Field in 2012, 13-6.

The Line: Texans by 1 1/2 (46 over/under)

BearDigest Pick: Bears 30, Texans 26

Last Week: The Texans came in off a big 41-25 Thanksgiving win over the Detroit Lions and lost to the Indianapolis Colts 26-20 despite 341 yards passing from Deshaun Watson.

The Bears lost their sixth straight, 34-30, blowing a 10-point least in the final three minutes thanks largely to a lost fumble by Mitchell Trubisky that gave the Lions the ball at the Bears 7 to score the winning points after the two-minute warning.

The Coaches: Romeo Crennel is 4-4 since replacing fired coach and GM Bill O'Brien after the Texans started 0-4. Crennel is in his seventh season as a head coach in the NFL and has a 32-59 record.

Bears coach Matt Nagy is 25-19 in his third year and has not faced Houston.

The Quarterbacks: The Texans drafted Deshaun Watson 12th overall in 2017 after Bears GM Ryan Pace decided against taking him and traded the third pick away in order to move up to second and draft Mitchell Trubisky. Watson is enjoying possibly his best year statistically, with a career-high 110 passer rating and a league-high 8.8 yards per pass attempt. He's averaging 12.8 yards a completion, also No. 1 in the NFL.

Mitchell Trubisky is making his third start since returning to the lineup following his Week 3 benching. Trubisky has an 88.2 passer rating on 103 of 166 for 1,069 yards with 10 touchdown throws and five interceptions. Since returning, he's completed 65% and has an 89.0 passer rating, but has lost two key fumbles in two starts, both losses.

𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟐, 𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟓 | 🚀

Gale Sayers scores 6 touchdowns (4 rushing, 1 receiving, 1 punt return) for over 250 yards from scrimmage. pic.twitter.com/VIdDZ6bzWS
— This Day in Chicago Sports (@ChiSportsDay) December 12, 2020

Injury Report

Texans

Out

TE Pharaoh Brown (concussion)

Questionable

QB A.J. McCarron (non-injury)

CB Keion McCrossen (foot)
CB Phillip Gaines (knee, shoulder)
LB Jonathan Greenard (illness)
CB John Reid (neck)
WR Brandin Cooks (foot, neck)
WR Keke Coutee (knee)

*RB David Johnson has been placed on Reserve/COVID-19 pending re-testing

Bears

Out

OLB James Vaughters (knee)
Buster Skrine (concussion)

Questionable

LB Khalil Mack (back)
TE J.P. Holtz (shoulder/knee)

Matching Up

The Texans are 16th on offense, second passing and 32nd (last) rushing. Houston is 30th on defense, 21st against the pass and 31st against the run.

The Bears are 30th on offense, 23rd passing and 31st in rushing. They are 15th on defense, 17th against the pass and 17th against the run.

Key Individual Matchups

Bears RT Germain Ifedi vs. Texans DE J.J. Watt

Watt may not need to move around as much against the Bears because the mismatch is at his regular left defensive end spot. Ifedi isn't supposed to be playing tackle but is due to Bobby Massie's injury. Ifedi isn't fundamentally sound enough or as quick of foot as a tackle needs to be to handle a 288-pound edge rusher with quickness and an ability to bat down passes. Although Watt is not enjoying the sack season he's had in the past with five, he still has seven pass deflections. His production is down at 12 hurries and 21 pressures. In his last full season, he had 32 hurries and 60 pressures to go with 16 sacks. Ifedi's best chance at being effective against Watt is in the run game when he can use a 35-pound weight advantage and get the right edge open. As a pass blocker, he allowed the decisive sack last week. It's not where the Bears would prefer to us him after he'd enjoyed a season being effective as a guard.

Bears LT Charles Leno Jr. vs. Texans OLB Whitney Mercilus

One of the pass rushers the Bears could have drafted when Phil Emery chose Shea McClellin instead, Mercilus has had a year much like Watt's. The other Texans edge rusher is finding it difficult to tee off on passers when the rest of the defense is unable to provide much support. The Texans' interior run defense and pass coverage has been atrocious and pass rush alone can't carry a team. Mercilus has just four sacks and five tacles for loss. His pressures are down from 26 and 25 the past two years to nine this year. Still, he's healthy and an athletic force off the edge whose greatest strength is Leno's biggest weakness—getting around the corner with his speed. Leno's sacks allowed total has crept up to four, although Pro Football Focus still gives him a solid 70.9 grade overall.

Bears RCB Jaylon Johnson vs. Texans WR Brandin Cooks

Cooks' speed and elusiveness make him a challenge for better cornerbacks but Johnson will be particularly challenged after being beaten with regularity by Detroit last week. He and Tashaun Gipson struggled in communication and in simple fundamental coverage throughout the second half against the Lions. It was the first time Johnson had to contend with a team for the second time in a season and the Lions got revenge on the rookie for the outstanding game he had in the opener against them. Johnson's strength is being able to be physical and tight in coverage but Cooks' speed can make this difficult. Working on Johnson's side is Cooks is contending with neck and foot injuries, but it hasn't stopped Cooks from accumulating 65 yards receiving or more in three straight games.

Bears ILB Danny Trevathan vs. Texans RB Duke Johnson

This could be against David Johnson, but the Texans starter has gone on Reserve/COVID-19 and his availabilty is uncertain pending a retest. Normally the Bears are able to let Roquan Smith be a tackling machine and pursue backs in an attempt to make tackles for loss. With Smith's speed, his duty will likely switch more in this one to spying on Deshaun Watson in order to prevent scrambling yardage. Trevathan will have to take his chances covering Duke Johnson, who is a willing but underused receiver. IIf it is David Johnson, he not only has had a problem with COVID-19 but has had a concussion to contend with and has recovered from this. David Johnson has the speed and power to hurt the Bears, much like the Packers running backs did. Trevathan's pass coverage has suffered much of the year and he's allowing a passer rating of 114.6 when targeted, according to Sportradar. The inability of Texans tight ends Darren Fells or Jordan Akins to pile up big receiving numbers this year, and injuries at wide receiver make it likely Watson will look to whichever Johnson plays as a receiver in this one.

Bears WR Allen Robinson vs. Texans CB Phillip Gaines

Gaines is a former Chiefs cornerback who has started just 28 times in seven years and will be starting in this game because of a season-ending suspension assessed Bradley Roby due for a performance enhancing drug policy violation. Gaines has been on the field for 262 snaps this year but has allowed five touchdown passes and has an abysmal 136.9 quarterback rating against when targeted. He also is suffering from a pair of injuries, making matters worse or the Texans. They already have health problems at cornerback, compounded by a season-ending ankle injury suffered by Gareon Conley. Their other starting cornerback is a waiver wire pickup, former Buc Vernon Hargreaves III, who has a 98.9 passer rating against and allows a career-high 13.7 yards per catch. So Robinson can have a good matchup on either side of the field. Robinson is coming off a game when he committed a rare blunder, coming up short of the first-down sticks. Robinson needs to average just under six catches the final four games to hit 100 for the first time in his career. He played through a knee injury last week and still made six receptions for 75 yards. Mitchell Trubisky tends to look for Robinson more than Nick Foles did, averaging 29% of his targets to Robinson to 22% for Foles.

Bears G Cody Whitehair vs. Texans DT Brandon Dunn

The Texans are 31st in the league at stopping the run and Dunn is a major reason why. Pro Football Focus gives the 6-foot-2, 310-pounder a grade of 38.6, which ranks 124th out of 130 interior defensive linemen in the league. The Texans' linebackers haven't been standouts either, but it starts up front. Whitehair moved to left guard last week as Sam Mustipher became starting center and the Bears ran for 140 yards, their best effort since the opener. However, they managed only 34 in the second half with the game on the line. Some larger defensive linemen would overpower Whitehair but Dunn is not the size to cause this type of problem.

Bears DE Akiem Hicks vs. Texans RG Zach Fulton

Hicks' return from a hamstring injury didn't result in his greatest effort in terms of pass rush, but he definitely helped shut down the leaking Bears defense against the run as they had a season-low 66 yards rushing allowed against the Lions. Hicks' power rush could get more results this week as Fulton is experiencing a nightmare season as a pass blocker. Fulton has allowed eight sacks, according to Pro Football Focus. Last year it was the opposite situation for Fulton, as he was 21st among guards with a 73.9 pass-blocking grade but had a 42.5 grade against the run. Fulton, at 6-5, 321, has size to help stand up to the 352-pound Hicks in run blocking. Hicks hasn't had a sac since Week 3 and this would be his best shot, if he wasn't going after one of the league's most mobile quarterbacks.

Bears CB Kyle Fuller vs. Texans WR Keke Coutee

This will Coutee's second start as their receiver corps has been ravaged by injuries. He's made 14 catches for 179 yards and has played four total games. Fuller is coming off of one of his less effective games. He's having a so-so season with three TD passes allowed, although he has kept his catches per times targeted down to 50.7% and QB rating allowed when targeted at 77.2. The Bears need some interceptions from someone, anyone. Their last two picks came from Khalil Mack and Bilal Nichols, who should be rushing passers and not picking off the ball. They need to be aware this week of the tipped pass. Watson tends to throw high when he scrambles and throws, and the ball can come free to safeties or corners.

Of Note

The Bears haven't had a sack from Khalil Mack in four games, from Akem Hicks since Week 3, and from Robert Quinn since Week 2. ... Bears running back David Montgomery has averaged 6.25 yards per rushing attempt his last two games, second in the NFL in those two weeks behind only Aaron Jones (6.88). ... WR Darnell Mooney needs six receptions to break Harlon Hill's Bears wide receiver record for rookies of 45 receptions. Mooney did not practice this week due to personal reasons but may be available to play. ... Cairo Santos has made 16 straight field goals and his 90.5% made if maintained would break the team record of 89.7% set by Robbie Gould in 2013. ... LB Roquan Smith leads the NFL in solo tackles (77) and is second in tackles for loss (15). ... Deshaun Watson has had a passer rating of 109 or higher in eight of his last 10 games and has run for 24 yards or more in eight straight games. ... WR Brandin Cooks has had 60 yards receiving or more in seven of his last eight games. ... J.J. Watt is coming off a game against the Colts with four tackles for loss, his most in a game since Nov. 22, 2015.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven