Our NFL expert's best player prop bet for Chicago Bears vs Houston Texans on Sunday Night Football: CJ Stroud enters the MVP Race

Houston Texans wide receiver Nico Collins (12) celebrates with quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) after a touchdown in a 2024 AFC wild card game against the Cleveland Browns at NRG Stadium.
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Prop Holliday - Bobby Stanley

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Sunday Night Football is a showdown between last year’s Offensive Rookie of the Year CJ Stroud and this year’s favorite and the #1 pick for the 2024 NFL Draft, Caleb Williams. The Bears (+6.5) are coming off of an ugly Week 1 road win against the Titans, while the Texans open up at home after a divisional win against the Colts. The Bears come into Week 2 hobbled with Rome Odunze nursing a sprained MCL and Keenan Allen reaggravating a heel injury. Starting TE Dalton Schultz is likely to miss the game as he has not practiced all week with an ankle injury and would be a blow to the Houston offense.

The total is set at 45.5 and I’m excited to see if Caleb Williams can improve upon a poor Week 1 outing, throwing for just 98 yards on a 48% completion percentage. CJ Stroud (+850) will look to stamp his name in the MVP race this season with Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. Let’s break down my best Bears vs Texans player prop bet for Sunday Night Football, while you can also find our experts’ NFL picks for EVERY Week 2 game.

Read our full Chicago Bears vs Houston Texans predictions

CJ Stroud (HOU) Over 263.5 passing yards (-114)

Odds available at Caesars Sportsbook at time of publishing.

Stroud hit this in 8 of 16 regular-season games last season and 1 of 2 postseason matchups. In Week 1, Stroud went an efficient 24 of 32 for 234 passing yards, but the Texans had a lot of success in the ground game. Houston owned the time of possession 40 minutes to 20 minutes in that game against the Colts and managed to run the ball 40 times for 213 yards. I see this as more of an outlier than the norm for this Houston team and believe 263.5 is a very beatable number for Stroud, as this is 267.5 on other books. The biggest fear here is a full blowout similar to what we saw on TNF with the Bills and Dolphins, where the second half becomes run-heavy, clock-killing drives, but I’ll give Caleb the benefit of the doubt to keep it competitive in Week 2. This is a 1u play and playable to 265.5.

You can get the best odds for our CJ Stroud prop pick with Caesars Sportsbook, where new users can earn first-bet insurance up to $1,000! All you have to do is click here to join Caesars.

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