Texans' offense poses big test
The Houston Texans' offense presents the ultimate conflict of interest.
The problem for the Bears' defense, as it tries to keep the playoff dream alive, is whom to focus its attention on.
Pro Bowl wideout Andre Johnson leads the NFL with 1,427 yards receiving yards.
Rookie-of-the-year candidate Steve Slaton has 1,190 rushing yards, 2 more than the Bears' candidate, Matt Forte.
Owen Daniels, the Naperville Central High School product, is third in the NFL among tight ends in receiving yardage with 825.
Quarterback Matt Schaub is ninth in the NFL with an 89.7 passer rating, and the Texans' "other" wide receiver, Kevin Walter, has 876 receiving yards, 296 more than the Bears' leading receiver, Devin Hester.
"It's almost pick your poison with this offense," said Bears defensive end Adewale Ogunleye. "Watching the film, it seems like the rookie is running really well, (Schaub) is a poised-type quarterback, and they get him on the edge while they max protect and they bootleg him a lot.
"You want to talk about the receiver who's leading the league in (yardage), and then they've got the tight end."
No one has done a better job of stopping the Texans' offense this season than - the Texans' offense, which has done an effective job of poisoning itself.
Only the San Francisco 49ers have turned the ball over more times than the Texans, who already have given it up 31 times, giving them a minus-10 turnover differential, second worst in the league.
That explains why an offense that is No. 3 in yardage is only 20th in scoring. No team has thrown as many interceptions as the 20 the Texans have allowed, 10 of them by Sage Rosenfels, who filled in for Schaub when he missed five games with a knee injury.
If turnovers decide Sunday's game, the Bears should be in good shape, since they're tied for the league lead with 31 takeaways and are plus-5 in turnover differential.
But, if the Texans hold on to the ball, they're capable of putting up big numbers.
In their 4 straight victories before they were upset by Oakland last weekend, the Texans averaged 408 yards of total offense.
The winning streak coincided with Schaub's return. But despite Houston's aerial firepower, Ogunleye said the Bears' first concern will be stopping Slaton, who is averaging 4.8 yards per carry, nearly a full yard more than Forte's 3.9.
"He's having a (heck) of a year," Ogunleye said. "Since Ahman Green was starting early, he kind of had a late start, but he's been putting up some impressive numbers. My focus personally is to stop the run first and get them in long situations where we can get after the passer."
Pressuring Schaub may be the Bears' best chance to neutralize Johnson, who torched the Tennessee Titans for 207 yards on 11 catches two weeks ago but was limited to 19 yards on just 2 catches by the Raiders.
So pressure is the key, especially since the Bears' secondary hasn't shown an ability to win matchups against top-flight receivers this season, and cornerback Charles Tillman (ankle) and safety Mike Brown (calf) are not at full strength.
"We need to get pressure," said Bears defensive coordinator Bob Babich. "(That's) a big part of our game, whether it's through the front four or with the blitz. We want the ball to come out quick. It allows us to make plays."
The Bears have made more plays on thrown balls than almost any team in the league. They're tied for second in interceptions with 22, but the seasonlong problem is the lack of a consistent pass rush.
The Bears are 28th in sack percentage, and they got just 1 sack on 83 pass plays the past two games.
If they don't get better pressure than that Sunday, their playoff hopes will be dashed, regardless of how much help they get from other teams.