Evan Silva’s Matchups: Bears at Texans

Editor’s Note: This Matchup was written by John Daigle, with input from Evan Silva.

Sunday Night Football

Chicago @ Houston

Team Totals: Bears 19.5, Texans 26

 First-year OC Shane Waldron did not instill any amount of confidence in his Bears debut, scheming the 10th-lowest rate (17.1%) of play action and forcing his hyper-polarizing (and debuting) QB to average 8.8 yards to move the chains on third down. Caleb Williams ultimately struggled when forced off his first read and, when Titans DTs Jeffery Simmons and T’Vondre Sweat crushed the pocket, completed one of seven passes for 11 yards (1.6 yards per attempt) under duress. Fortunately for Chicago, RG Ryan Baker did not allow a single pressure off the bench for Nate Davis, and Houston’s interior sans DL Denico Autry (suspended) hurried Anthony Richardson at the league’s fifth-lowest rate (24%). The team’s surrounding injuries cement Williams as a QB2 for Superflex leagues until further notice. … D’Andre Swift’s encouraging usage included 71.4% of the team’s RB touches and 21 routes (60%) to Travis Homer’s 7 (20%); Khalil Herbert was relegated to two carries (including none on early downs) behind both. In an inferior matchup (relative to Tennessee’s front seven) with a plummeting total (45.5), Swift’s fringe RB2 projection correlates with Chicago hanging around and covering this spread (+6.5). FB Khari Blasingame’s absence (and Roschon Johnson’s ensuing availability) creates an even murkier situation behind Swift.