Last season's NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year squares off against the favorite to win this season's award when C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans host Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears in the Week 2 Sunday Night Football game at NRG Stadium in Houston. After opening as -3.5 favorites, the Texans have settled as 6.5-point favorites in the latest odds. The line has been one of the biggest movers of Week 2. Meanwhile the over/under is 45.5.

Though Stroud and Williams will not be on the field at the same time, the biggest storyline will be the battle of the quarterbacks. Stroud is coming off a record-setting rookie season in 2023 in which he passed for 4,108 yards, the third-most by a rookie quarterback in NFL history, and led the league in passing yards per game (273.9). He also threw 23 touchdowns against just five interceptions and became just the third quarterback in the last 50 seasons—after Tom Brady (2007) and Joe Montana (1989)—to have led the NFL in passing yards per game and touchdown-to-interception ratio.

Last week, Stroud threw for 234 yards and two touchdowns and made multiple next-level throws in a key 29-27 victory at AFC South rival Indianapolis.

At the same time Williams, who was selected No. 1 overall in April's NFL Draft after a Heisman Trophy-winning college career, became the first No. 1 overall quarterback to win his first career start since David Carr in 2002 with a 24-17 comeback win over the Titans. However, he had a less-than-stellar performance through the air, completing just 14 of his 29 passes for 93 yards. He averaged just 3.2 yards per attempt and earned a lowly passer rating of 55.7. 

While the focus will be on the quarterbacks, others will play a key role in the outcome of the game. The Texans, who will be looking for their first 2-0 start since 2016, have found an improved rushing attack, led by running back Joe Mixon. Acquired via trade in the offseason, the 27-year-old Mixon was the biggest key in Houston's Week 1 victory over Indianapolis, running 30 times for 159 yards and a touchdown. Behind Mixon, the Texans possessed the ball for 40:00 against the Colts, the most of any team in Week 1.

Mixon and the rest of the Houston ground game will face a Chicago defense that allowed Tennessee running back Tony Pollard to average 5.1 yards per carry last week.

But aside from their issues against the rush, the Bears defense played well against the Titans. Chicago held receiver DeAndre Hopkins to one catch and eight yards and Calvin Ridley to three catches and 50 yards. The Bears also picked off Tennessee quarterback Will Levis twice and sacked him three times. Behind a pick-six and a blocked-punt touchdown, Chicago became just the third team in NFL history with a 17-point comeback win and zero offensive touchdowns in the same game.

We'll take you through every aspect of the Texans-Bears Sunday night game that you need to know before you lock in your bets, including SportsLine expert picks, props, trends, injury information and everything else that will help you know which plays are worth making for the primetime matchup. 

Who wins Texans vs. Bears in the Sunday Night Football game, and what critical X-factor makes one side of the spread hit? Join SportsLine right now to see everything you need to know about the Week 2 Sunday Night Football matchup.