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With No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams --
slated to start at quarterback for the Bears on Week 1 -- and
Texans quarterback and reigning Offensive Player of the Year C.J.
Stroud held out of the game, Houston's Davis Mills and Chicago's
Tyson Bagent instead got the starts. Mills led Houston to a
touchdown on the game's opening drive, hitting Teagan Quitoriano
for a 9-yard score.
Mills finished the game 10 of 13 for 102 yards and the
touchdown.
While Bagent wasn't able to do much (2 of 3, 16 yards) in his
lone drive, Brett Rypien came in and sparked the Bears to the
win.
After Ka'imi Fairbairn hit a 33-yard field goal with 12:13 left
in the second quarter for a 10-0 Texans lead, Rypien threw for
three touchdowns.
First, he hit Collin Johnson for a 20-yard score with 8:22 left
before halftime. Then, after Cam Akers caught a 4-yard TD pass
from Case Keenum with 1:44 left in the second to reclaim a
10-point lead for Houston, Rypien connected with Tommy Sweeney
from 22 yards out with 46 seconds to go in the second to make it
17-14.
Rypien then hit Johnson again, this time from 9 yards, on the
second half's opening drive, scoring what ultimately became the
game's final points.
The game also featured the NFL's new kickoff rules. Among the
changes, most players on the kicking and returning teams line up
5 to 10 yards apart (between the return team's 30- and 40-yard
lines) and cannot move until the ball is received, and kickoffs
fielded between the goal line and the returning team's 20-yard
line must be returned.
The Texans returned three kickoffs for a 20-yard average while
the Bears returned four for a 24.8 average. The longest return
of the night was 31 yards.
--Field Level Media [© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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