September 16—Ka’imi Fairbairn kicked four field goals, three of them from 50 yards or longer, and a strong defensive performance led the Bears to a 19–13 win over the host Houston Texans on Sunday night.
Bears freshman quarterback Caleb Williams had two interceptions and seven sacks, and Texans defensive ends Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. combined for three sacks to stop the order. Williams passed for 174 yards, while the Bears (1-1) totaled 205 yards.
Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud threw for 260 yards and passed to Nico Collins, who caught eight passes for 135 yards. Houston (2-0) extended its lead to 19-10 with 13:39 left in Fairborn after Derek Stingley Jr. kicked a 53-yard field goal off a Williams pass (Fairborn).
The third quarter was a roller-coaster, with both teams committing a total of nine penalties and six punts. The Bears committed nine penalties for 60 yards in the game, while Houston committed 12 penalties for 115 yards.
The Texans scored on their first three possessions before Chicago held its defense.
The Texans only gained 33 yards on their first possession, but it proved to be enough as Fairborn kicked a 56-yard field goal to take a 3–0 lead with 10:20 remaining in the first quarter.
Williams reacted immediately by completing all five pass attempts for 55 yards to move the Bears into Houston territory. But Hunter and Anderson combined to make sacks on third down, allowing Chicago to tie the game on Cairo Santos’ 53-yard field goal at 3:51 of the first half.
Stroud and the Texans got the ball back for a fourth down at midfield, then Collins got instant redemption with a 28-yard scramble after his 15-yard penalty pushed the Texans out of the red zone. Houston took a 10–3 lead early in the second quarter and made it 13–3 when Fairborn completed eight plays with a 47-yard kickoff and a 48-yard kickoff.
The Bears took advantage of a short field and a pass interference penalty on Texans safety Kalon Bullock to give Chicago the lead and the score at the Houston 6-yard line. Two quarters later, Khalil Herbert scored on a 2-yard run to give the Bears a 13–10 lead with 32 seconds remaining in the first half.
That stretch was enough for the Texans to gain 24 yards in five plays and Fairborn kicked a 59-yard field goal at halftime to give Houston a 16–10 lead.
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