5 things to watch when Bears take on Texans

Next up for the Bears in their quest to end what has become a six-game losing streak is Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans.

Watson and the Texans will face Mitch Trubisky and the Bears for the first time since the Bears selected Trubisky over Watson in the 2017 draft. Here are five things to watch during Sunday's game:

1. Will Chuck Pagano adjust?

The Bears defense fell apart in last week's loss to the Lions. Even with multiple former Pro Bowl players in the secondary, the Bears allowed more net passing yards than they had in 12 years. It marks back-to-back rough games against the likes of Aaron Rodgers and Matthew Stafford.

Watson comes to Soldier Field with the second-most passing yards in the NFL behind only Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes. This will be another test for a talented Bears secondary, which underperformed the last two weeks. Can defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano find ways to put his secondary in better positions Sunday?

2. Contain J.J. Watt

Texans defensive end J.J. Watt played his best game of the season last week, with 4 tackles for loss and a sack against the Indianapolis Colts. How the Bears offensive line combats against Watt and edge rusher Whitney Mercilus will play a huge role in Sunday's game. The Texans defense is one of the NFL's worst, statistically, but Watt and Mercilus can still blow up a game plan.

While Watt hasn't wrecked games like he did four or five years ago, he can still make his presence known.

"He'll move around to a lot of different spots now," Bears offensive coordinator Bill Lazor said. "You had times earlier (in Watt's career) when you had a little easier time predicting where he would be. So that's also a challenge."

3. Keep Montgomery rolling

The Bears had 140 rushing yards against Detroit. David Montgomery totaled 72 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Cordarrelle Patterson added 59 yards and a touchdown. That's two solid games for Montgomery, who rushed for 103 yards on 11 carries a week earlier against Green Bay.

Houston is allowing more than 150 rushing yards per game. This week marks another prime opportunity for Montgomery and Patterson to do damage. Establishing the run must be priority No. 1 for the Bears offense.

4. The turnover differential

Houston's defense has a league-worst 8 takeaways. The Bears defense isn't much better with 12. Whichever team can break that trend will likely find itself on top.

Houston's offense doesn't turn the ball over much (12 turnovers in 12 games, tied for fourth-best in the NFL), but a fumbled snap in the red zone in the waning minutes of last week's game against Indianapolis cost the Texans a shot at a game-tying touchdown.

The Bears need their defense to create turnovers, and they need Trubisky and the offense to take care of the ball. Do both, and they'll be in position to win this game.

5. Reliving the 2017 draft

At a certain point, it feels mean-spirited. Every time Trubisky steps onto a field with Watson or Mahomes, the conversation returns to the 2017 draft. It's inevitable.

So how big of a deal will the CBS broadcast make of it Sunday? Given that it's the first time Watson and Trubisky have played against each other, it has to be mentioned. NBC played up the matchup last season when Mahomes and the Chiefs traveled to Chicago for "Sunday Night Football." Mahomes celebrated his first touchdown that night by counting to 10 with his fingers. He was, of course, drafted 10th overall in 2017 after the Bears took Trubisky second overall. Watson went 12th to Houston.

This will be CBS's chance to play up the Bears' misfire in the draft. It will be mentioned, it's a question of how much.