Patrick Creighton recaps the Texans' win and what he expects against the Vikings

Patrick Creighton and Shaun Bijani co-host Area 45 on Sports Radio 610 in Houston, airing weeknights from 7 to 10 p.m.

Patrick has been a long-time Houston radio personality, previously hosting locally on ESPN 97.5 and nationally on SportsMap Radio.

I had a chance to catch up with Patrick and get his thoughts on the Houston Texans.

Craig: After a 5-year hiatus, how did it feel to have Sunday Night Football back in town?

Patrick: The roof being open is a really big deal around here. I prefer to have it closed; I personally like the louder crowd effect when it is closed. Even with the excitement leading up to this game, there were lots of Bears fans here. There were even Bears chants during the game. The Bears fans were loud. It made for a college bowl game environment almost with 70% Texans fans, and 30% Bears fans. It was a fun atmosphere.

Craig: What did you think about the game plan that Bobby Slowik drew up for the Texans offense?

Patrick: It's a little difficult to access that because the Texans struggled with their pass block schemes in various series. C.J. missed some throws he doesn't usually miss. They also had to deal with the fact that Joe Mixon missed much of the 3rd quarter with that hip drop tackle. The Bears run a ton of zone, and Nico Collins destroys zone coverages. Nico had 135 yards and a TD and the week before, the Bears only allowed the Titans as a team to throw on them for 127 yards. They exploited that matchup.

Craig: The Bears kept Caleb Williams off balance and under duress for much of the night, recording 7 QB sacks. That was a nice collective effort.

Patrick: They came after Caleb all night. They actually recorded 36 total pressures for the game. The front four won the battle in the trenches. They beat him up.

Craig: The punch from Azeez Al Shaair. What do you think the fall out will be?

Patrick: He got away with one. He should have been ejected. He had 10 tackles in the game, a sack, hits on the quarterback. If he had gotten tossed, they would've really missed him. He was like a missile running all over the field. I would expect a significant fine coming down from the league office. He's lucky there wasn't a royal rumble type of the thing with that punch coming on the Bears sidelines where he was outnumbered 20 to 1. He has to know better than that.

Craig: Final question. Some Texans are returning to face their old team on Sunday in the Vikings. Extra motivation for guys like Stefon Diggs & Danielle Hunter?

Patrick: I think it's a bigger deal for Hunter, just because Diggs had 4 years with Buffalo. Stefon will build a chip on his shoulder. The Vikings chose not to pay him, and a player never forgets that. Minnesota has been surprisingly really good. The Texans might have a mini letdown here. The Vikings ran for 146 yards at a clip of 6 yards a carry against the 49ers which is not easy to do. Sam Darnold has played really well so far. That's going to be a tough game for Houston.