The Houston Texans Week 3 battle with the Chicago Bears isn’t the best game on the weekend slate. These are two rebuilding teams that are closer to the No. 1 overall pick than to the playoffs. There are still some interesting things to watch, though, when the Texans-Bears kick-off, so let’s make some bold Texans Week 3 predictions. 

The Texans looked like they were about to steal a big AFC South win in Week 1 when the Indianapolis Colts came back on them and played to a tie. In Week 2, they had a 9-6 lead over the Denver Broncos heading into the fourth quarter before Russell Wilson won the game. 

The Bears have had a mixed bag in 2022 as well. After stealing a Week 1 win against the San Francisco 49ers in a monsoon to start the season, Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers blew the doors off the Bears in Week 2

After this Texans-Bears game, one team will be on its way to a possibly promising season, while the other is back to the drawing board. With that in mind, here are our bold Week 3 Texans predictions. 

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4. The Bears will test the Texans run defense 

The strength of the Chicago Bears offense this season is running back David Montgomery and his change-of-pace partner, Khalil Herbert. Montgomery has 148 yards on 32 carries so far, and Herbert has 82 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. 

The Texans will see a good deal of Montgomery and Herbert on Sunday, and that could be a problem. 

The Texans run D allowed 161 yards to Jonathan Taylor in Week 1, and Javonte Williams and Melvin Gordon ran for a combined 122 yards the next game. 

The Texans-Raiders game will again feature competent and dangerous RBs pounding it at the Texans defensive line. If the run D can hold up, stop Montgomery and Herbert, and force Justin Fields to win the game with his arm, the Texans have a shot at the W. 

This bold Texans Week 3 prediction is here because there just isn’t any evidence the Texans run D can accomplish this feat. 

3. Ka’imi Fairbairn continues to be the team’s MVP

When a team isn’t that good, it needs to have a standout kicker. So far this season, the Texans have that in Ka’imi Fairbairn. 

The sixth-year pro’s accurate leg is one of the biggest reasons the Texans have been able to hang around in games as much as they have this season. He was 2-of-2 on field goals against the Colts in Week 1 and 3-of-3 in Week 2. And he’s nailed both his extra-point tries. 

These FGs haven’t been gimmes, either. Save for one, all of Fairbairn’s 2022 FG have been from between 40 and 49 yards. 

It’s not that bold a Texans Week 3 prediction to say that Texans-Bears is going to be a field goal fest. But if it is, Houston is in good hands, and Fairbairn will nail four on Sunday. 

2. Rookie RB Dameon Pierce breaks out

The Texans drafted Florida running back Dameon Pierce in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL draft. The 5-foot-10, 218-pound runner was so impressive in the build-up to the 2022 season that Houston cut veteran RB Marlon Mack and made Pierce RB1. 

As fantasy owners rushed to get the rookie with a big opportunity in their starting lineups, it didn’t quite work out like it was supposed to in Week 1 for Pierce. 

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The former Gator had just 11 carries and 33 yards against the Colts. By comparison, journeyman RB Rex Burkhead had 14 carries and 40 yards. The next week, the rookie had a better day. He led all Texans runners with 15 carries and 69 yards. 

Pierce will have superstar linebacker Roquon Smith hunting him in the Week 3 Texans-Bears game, but the Bears D has given up 379 yards in the ground through two games, the worst mark in the league. The bold Texans Week 3 prediction here is that Pierce continues on his upward trajectory, getting 90 yards and scoring his first NFL touchdown. 

1. Texans 12, Bears 13

The Week 3 Texans-Bears clash, admittedly, isn’t the most exciting game of the season, and there’s a good chance it will play out as a boring field goal contest between the two teams. The prediction here is that the Bears get the slightly better side of that deal and pick up the win at home.

With that said, a loss isn’t as bad as it seems for the Texans. One, it will give the team a leg up in the race for the No. 1 pick in the QB-loaded 2023 NFL Draft if the season keeps going downhill for Houston.

Also, a loss doesn’t mean the Texans are out of the AFC South race yet. There’s a real chance Jacksonville will be 1-2, Indianapolis will be 0-1-1, and Tennessee will be 0-3 after this weekend. The AFC South might be the worst division in football right now, so a Week 3 L won’t be terrible for the Texans.