Wins are wins, and the Houston Texans will take them however they come.

Matt Schaub had only 95 passing yards and one touchdown, Arian Foster accumulated 102 yards on 29 carries, and Houston (8-1) exited Soldier Field with a tooth-and-nail 13-7 victory over the Chicago Bears (7-2) on Sunday night.

Even with heavy rain, strong wind, brisk temperaturesa and all, the Texans tied with the Atlanta Falcons for the league’s best record by the end of the night.

“It’s huge for us, we were 7-1 going in, to come out 8-1 in a hostile place, given the weather and the team we were playing, that’s a tough group to go against,” said Schaub.

Sloppiness throughout the night didn’t come to a surprise for anyone with the weather being as brutal as it was. Chicago turned the ball over four times with two Jay Cutler interceptions and two fumbles. Schaub equaled as many picks as Cutler, making him responsible for all of Houston’s turnovers.

A 51 yard Robbie Gould field goal put the Bears on the board and tied the game at 3 with 12:52 remaining in the second quarter.

The Texans went into the locker room with a 10-3 lead following a 2 yard diving touchdown reception by Foster into the right pylon with about four minutes left in the half.

Cutler would not return in the second half due to a concussion suffered late in the second quarter. Texans linebacker Tim Dobbins laid a helmet-to-helmet hit on Cutler as he stood in there and let one go downfield. Dobbins was hit with a personal foul penalty.

Former Washington Redskins and Oakland Raiders starting quarterback, Jason Campbell, replaced Cutler, who completed seven of 14 attempts for 40 yards.

Campbell made a handful of quality throws, but was unable to come through late in the fourth quarter, trailing 13-6.

Unsure of Jay Cutler’s status for the Bears next game, receiver, Brandon Marshall, stated “In the meantime, Campbell is more than capable. There was no heads hanged down when Jay was down. There was no complaining. We understand we have a starting quarterback in the backup so we’re fortunate to have him. There will be no drop off in our offense.”

For Houston, this was about a lot more than just one game.

“I think we showed them we can win any game, any situation, any time, any place, tough weather conditions, tough place on the road, a very good football team,” said defensive end J.J. Watt. “We won, so say what you want.”

Image Courtesy : Houston Texans

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The NFL’s oldest rivalry will meet for the 185th time Thursday night at Lambeau Field. The Packers will try to bounce back from a Week One, 30-22 defeat by the San Francisco 49ers, and the Bears look to make an early divisional statement and improve to 2-0 on the season.

Green Bay had an extremely difficult time stopping the 49ers’ offense this past Sunday. Green Bay gave up a total of 377 yards: 191 via pass, and 186 on the ground. In addition, the Packers struggled running the ball, compiling a total of 45 rushing yards. Packers’ newly acquired running back, Cedric Benson, only had nine carries for 18 yards- not exactly what the Packers wanted to see from their free agent signing. Unfortunately, the Packers also may be without wide receiver, Greg Jennings, who is ailing with a groin injury.

As for the Bears, their offense looked explosive. The Bears had a total of 428 yards, sixth best in the NFL, against the Indianapolis Colts. Jay Cutler and wide receiver Brandon Marshall did not miss a beat. In a Tuesday conference, when asked about the Packers’ defensive backs pressing and being physical with receivers Cutler said, “Good luck.” A very bold yet confident statement to make just a week into play.

Chicago’s running back duo could possibly be the best in the NFL. Matt Forte and Michael Bush were very effective Week One combining for 122 yards and three touchdowns. Defensively, the Bears were able to create turnovers, forcing three interceptions and two fumbles. Bears’ linebacker Brian Urlacher is expected to play even though he is still suffering knee problems. Also cornerback, Charles Tillman is expected to play. Tillman left Week One with an apparent shin injury.

Keys to Victory for the Packers:

Put pressure on Jay Cutler:

The Packers are going to have to be effective on the blitz and force Jay Cutler to make mistakes. They cannot allow him to settle in the pocket and find open receivers. Several times, Cutler threw questionable passes into double coverage in Week One against the Colts; Green Bay must capitalize on these mistakes, force turnovers and let their offense control the game.

Establish Some Type of Run Game:

The Packers had absolutely no run game Week One, which needs to change as the season progresses. By establishing a run game the Packers’ offense becomes more dangerous, and less predictable. This also gives Green Bay the ability to control the clock, and keep Cutler and his explosive offense off the field.

Keys to Victory for the Bears

Attack Green Bay’s weak Secondary:

The Bears have a talented offense and Cutler can definitely distribute and pass the ball. Cutler and the Bears should want to keep the ball in the air and see if the Packers are capable of stopping their receiving core revolved around Brandon Marshall.

Keep Aaron Rodgers off the Field:

Rodgers was not named MVP last year for nothing. He is extremely talented and executes very efficiently. The Bears must try and control the clock with Forte and Bush. The longer their offense is on the field the longer Rodgers is on the sideline. The Bears want to keep him off the field and put more pressure on the Packers’ defense to come up to make a big play.

The Packers will look to expand their current winning streak over the Bears to five games, but it definitely will not come easy. As coach Mike McCarthy said while addressing the press: “It’s a tough game every time we get together on the field, so we are expecting that, but yes we are focusing on winning the game.”

Image Courtesy of  Green Bay Packers , Chicago Bears

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The Bears finished last season with a record of 8-8 and just missed the playoffs after a late season collapse, which saw them lose five out of their last 6 games, but will be hoping for a much better showing in the 2012 NFL season.

Chicago reunited quarterback Jay Cutler and wide receiver Brandon Marshall this offseason. Both played together in Denver and were a very successful offensive duo. Cutler will hope for a bounce back season after only playing in 10 games due to injury, yet still managed to throw for over 2,000 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Brandon Marshall recorded over 80 receptions and over 1,000 yards in his last two seasons in Miami and will excite Bears’ fans who have been longing for a star receiver. Not a single Bears’ receiver last season recorded more than 52 receptions and no one had over 727 receiving yards. The addition of Brandon Marshall will make the Bears’ passing game more dangerous and help Cutler get back to his usual 3,000-yard passing season.

Matt Forte led the Bears in rushing last season, running just shy of 1,000 yards and scoring 3 touchdowns, but also suffered injury problems like Cutler. The Bears brought more running back support in, signing ex- Oakland Raider, Michael Bush. Bush played in 16 games and ran for 977 yards and 7 touchdowns last season, shining during Darren McFadden’s injury induced absence. The running back duo of Forte and Bush could possibly be the best one-two punch in the NFL.

Although the Bears have a multitude of offensive weapons, their biggest offensive concern is their offensive line. Chicago’s offensive line allowed the 6th most sacks in the NFL last season, 49, and also was 5th in the NFL for allowing quarterback hits, 87. A weak offensive line could mean trouble and lack of full production from the injury-prone Cutler and the rest of the Bears’ offense.

The Bears defense is led by veteran linebacker, Brian Urlacher. Urlacher has not featured at all this preseason because of knee trouble and has reportedly been in Europe seeking specialist treatment. However, he should be ready come the opening regular season game and after recording 102 tackles and 3 interceptions last season, will be eager to replicate those kind of numbers this season. Julius Peppers, Chicago’s defensive line anchor, is also coming off a great season in 2011, registering 37 tackles, 11 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles.

Overall, Chicago has the potential to win 10 or more games this season and will likely be back in the playoffs providing they can hold their own against divisional rivals the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers.

Image Courtesy of   Chicago Bears

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