Chicago Bears' defense can be the difference in Week 2 upset

Taylor Doll recently spoke with Cole Thompson, the Managing Editor of USA Today's The Texans Wire, on her Making Monsters podcast to help us preview Sunday night's Chicago Bears vs. Houston Texans game. While Thompson believes Caleb Williams and the Chicago offense will eventually come around, he sees a lot of promise in the Bears' talented defense.

Thompson said on the pod, "What's really interesting is that both [head coach] DeMeco Ryans and [quarterback] C.J. Stroud gave a huge testament to what the [Bears'] secondary does, and they brought up Jaylon Johnson's name; they brought up Tyrique Stevenson's name. C.J. even said, 'I remember playing against Jaquan Brisker and his ability to be a ball magnet when he was at Penn State.'"

"DeMeco Ryan mentioned that the thing that really makes Chicago's defense hard to game plan for is that he likes watching as T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds play in coverage. So it takes away the middle of the field, the way you want to utilize your tight ends, the way you want to utilize your slot receivers."

The Chicago Bears' defense will be tested against the Houston Texans

He goes on to say that Chicago's outside corners, Johnson and Stevenson, are going to prove to be a tough matchup for Houston, but that they'll have Stefon Diggs playing in the slot. Diggs, a four-time Pro Bower, will need to find space in the middle of the field and the intermediate routes in order for the Texans to have success through the air.

Thompson also shares plenty on how the Texans will attack the Bears defensively, how running back Joe Mixoon could be the x-factor, and what he expects from Caleb Williams moving forward. He also said in this battle of 1-0 teams that a win for the Bears would mean more.

"If you get a win like this, confidence starts to build," Thompson told Taylor. "If you carry that momentum and start getting wins over teams that are at your level or potentially a little bit better than you, then you start to stockpile. A quarterback gets to feel more confident. Confidence for a player like Caleb Williams is going to be a huge difference for what could be a 9-8 season, or a 12-5 season, or an 11-6 season."

Give her full podcast a listen because she also spoke with former Bears offensive lineman Greg Huntington, who played on the team in the 90s, about his trip back to Chicago for the Titans game and his experience at Alumni Weekend.

You can also check out Taylor's interview segments on our YouTube Channel here for Cole Thompson and here for Greg Huntington.

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