4 things to watch for when the Chicago Bears host the Houston Texans

The Chicago Bears welcome back former head coach Lovie Smith when he comes to town with the Houston Texans. Smith was the last coach to guide the Chicago Bears to the Super Bowl in 2006. He is also the last Bears head coach to oversee a franchise playoff victory.

Smith is now in charge of a franchise that is very far away from even making the playoffs–much like this year’s Bears.

The Houston Texans might be even worse than the Chicago Bears and that is saying something.

The Bears were exposed in Green Bay as a team that is undergoing a massive rebuild and any good vibes felt after the San Francisco 49ers victory was washed away. The play calling, the quarterback, and the defensive line was ineffective against the Packers.

The loss to the Packers showed the gulf in talent that exists between Chicago and Green Bay. Thankfully, the Chicago Bears get a team that is also in the shallow end of the talent pool.

The Texans are a dysfunctional franchise.

Their offense is struggling on nearly the same level as the Chicago Bears. They are 29th in total yards (three spots ahead of the Bears) and tied with Chicago in points (which ranks in the bottom five of the league).

The Texans led the Indianapolis Colts 20-3 during the third quarter in Week 1 only to see the offense struggle to move the ball in the fourth quarter. The defense allowed three scoring drives in the final quarter and the Texans ended up with a tie against the Colts when neither team could score in overtime.

Houston’s offense did not look much better last week against the Denver Broncos. They only had 234 total yards in a 16-9 Week 2 loss.

The Chicago Bears run defense is worse than the Texans’. After Green Bay ran all over the Bears, expect Lovie Smith to have his team running the ball.

The run defense is one of the four things to watch for when the Bears look to send Smith off with another loss against his former team.