John McClain, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, is in his 48th year of covering the NFL in Houston, including 45 seasons at the Houston Chronicle.
The Texans are 2-0 for the first time since 2016 because of a dominating defense and a historical performance by kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn in their 19-13 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday night.
In the nationally televised game before a sellout crowd at NRG Stadium, the offense scored only one touchdown on C.J. Stroud's 28-yard pass to Nico Collins, but Fairbairn and Head Coach DeMeco Ryans' defense made life miserable for rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, the first overall pick in the draft.
As a result, the Texans already have a two-game lead in the AFC South because Tennessee (Jets (24-17), Indianapolis (Packers 16-10) and Jacksonville (Browns 18-13) lost for the second consecutive Sunday.
Analyzing how the Texans defeated Chicago, let's start with the kicking game that includes the league's best snapper in Jon Weeks and holder Tommy Townsend, the first-year punter.
In his eighth season, Fairbairn is off to the best start of any kicker in NFL history. He became the first kicker to make five field goals of at least 50-plus yards in a two-game span, and he's made six of them. He connected from 56, 47, 59 and 53 yards against the Bears. He started the season with field goals of 51, 50 and 51 yards in the 29-27 victory at Indianapolis.
"(He's) the reason we won these games," Ryans said. "He's the reason we're standing here (2-0). He puts a lot of work in. He's been consistent (and) he's confident. Our operation has been flawless. The kicking game is the reason we won this game."
And the extraordinary performance by a defense that allowed 205 yards, including 71 rushing, and one touchdown. The Texans sacked Williams seven times. The defense pressured him 36 times – on 81.8 percent of his 44 dropbacks -- including 17 by ends Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter, according to NextGenStats.
"We talk about the D-line being the engine of the team," Anderson said. "We've got the right group of guys to do that. Caleb was slippery. On the sideline, somebody said, 'Keep chopping wood, the sacks will come.'
"It's always fun getting after any quarterback. This week, we wanted to get pressure in his face and (concentrate) on rushing together. I think we did a hell of a job of rushing together and having fun."
Anderson and Hunter combined for three sacks. Mario Edwards Jr., Derek Barnett, Azeez Al-Shaair and Henry To'oTo'o recorded one sack each.
"We had the mentality of swarming and making them one-dimensional," To'oTo'o said.
Cornerbacks Derek Stingley Jr. and rookie Kamari Lassiter intercepted Williams.
"It starts up front with our defensive line," Ryans said. "Will, Danielle, Mario – all the guys – the way they were rushing together, the way we were covering on the back end. That really set things apart. Credit to Sting and Kamari for the way they covered, allowing those guys to get the pressure. You don't get pressure unless the coverage is tight. Those guys covered well and allowed the rush to get there."
Ryans and defensive coordinator Matt Burke take a lot of pride in the way their defense stopped the run. The Bears averaged 3.2 yards rushing. Subtract a 24-yard run by Williams, and the Texans surrendered 47 yards and 2.2 a carry.
As they did in their first game against the Colts' Jonathan Taylor (48 yards, 3 a carry), the Texans smothered running back D'Andre Swift, limiting him to 18 yards on 14 carries, a 1.3 average. Williams finished as Chicago's leading rusher with 44 yards on five carries.
"Our guys did a great job of setting the edge," Ryans said. "They tried to run the ball outside a lot. Guys just swarmed inside-out to the ball. We had a little movement up front. The way our guys tackled was really nice."
In his second start, Williams again failed to produce a touchdown passing or running. He finished with 23-of-37 (62.2 percent) for 174 yards. His longest completion was 27 yards. He averaged 4.7 yards per attempt with a rating of 51.0.
Williams played without veteran receiver Keenan Allen, who was inactive because of an injury. Rookie Rome Odunze was limited because of a knee injury and contributed two receptions for 33 yards.
With the Texans shutting down the run, Williams faced too many obvious passing situations, and he was forced to throw on the move too many times. Ryans called for blitzes on 41.7 percent of Williams' dropbacks – the highest percentage in his two seasons with the Texans -- according to NextGenStats. When the Texans blitzed, they registered 12 pressures and five sacks.
"They played amazing," Stroud said about the defense. "Shoutout to them. We lean on each other, and I'm super proud of those boys."
Anderson was impressed with the prime-time atmosphere with the roof open.
"It was rocking," he said. "I got chills. I looked up and I'd never seen the (roof) open. It was wonderful to see the fans come out. We do it for the fans. We want H-Town to mean something. We want our fans to be part of something great."
This game was one of the most physical of Ryans' two seasons. Al-Shaair knocked Williams out of bounds and was swarmed by his Chicago teammates that resulted in a lot of pushing and shoving. Al-Shaair could get fined by the league for throwing a sideline punch.
Safety Jalen Pitre delivered the hardest hit of the game, and the coaches love that kind of mentality.
"Guys were flying around sideline to sideline," Ryans said. "Pitre definitely jumped off. He's playing physical. He was active. He was around the ball a lot. A couple big hits. That's what we're about, physical defense. Pitre put it on tape. If you're going to play us, it's going to be a physical brand of football."
And yet this game was closer than it needed to be. Collins, who'd been called for unsportsmanlike conduct on the previous play after getting caught reacting to cornerback Tyrique Stevenson jamming his fingers inside his facemask, made a tremendous catch and run to score the only touchdown. He finished with eight catches for 135 yards, a 16.9 average. He had a one-handed catch for a first down on the sideline that was a showstopper. Collins got a game ball for the first time in his career.
One reason the Texans scored only one touchdown is because they struggled to run the ball. They generated only 75 yards rushing and 3.4 a carry against a Chicago defense designed to stop the run.
Stroud finished with 23-of-36 for 260 yards and a touchdown. He didn't throw an interception, averaged 7.2 yards per attempt and closed with a 94.7 rating.
What seemed to bother Ryans the most was the Texans being whistled for 12 penalties for 115 yards.
"That's definitely the attention grabber – undisciplined football," Ryans said. "We cannot play that way. That's not what we're about. We have to clean that up across the board. Every phase had penalties. We allowed them to stay in the game because we helped them, right? We have to pick that up."
The Texans committed one turnover, and it could have been catastrophic. They led 19-10 when Fairbairn kicked his last field goal early in the fourth quarter. They had a first down at the Bears' 4 with 6:38 remaining, and backup running back Cam Akers lost a fumble. Chicago responded with a field goal that pulled the Bears within six with 2:45 left.
The Bears got the ball one last time needing seven points to escape with a victory. Hunter's 8-yard sack led to the Bears running out of downs at their 40.
"The lessons you learn through adversity can only be taught through these kind of times," To'oTo'o said. "I think it's good we have it now, because later on down the road when we have another game like this, we'll know how to (face) it."
