The Houston Texans travel to the place where their 2016-17 season ended, Foxbrough, Mass., as they take on the defending champion New England Patriots. Take a look at the three things to expect below.
Houston Texans Gameday: Sep. 24, 2017
Time: 12 p.m. CDT
TV: CBS
Radio: AM KILT Sports Radio 610, FM 100.3 The Bull, ESPN Deportes 1180 AM (KGOL)
The Houston Texans last two bouts haven’t been pretty against the New England Patriots. The first one was competing with quarterbackJacoby Brissett, whom we will be seeing in a few weeks as a member of the Colts and the other time we faced playoffTom Brady. But, coming off a huge win over Cincinnati thanks to rookieDeshaun Watson‘s electric 49-yard touchdown run, you better believe the Houston Texans are riding high.
Last time the defense for a most of the game shut down the Pats and made the playoff game very interesting, untilBrock Osweilerhappened and obviously resulted in a division-round exit.If the defense can do what they did last time, canDeshaun Watsonand the Houston Texans offense lead the charge and pull off maybe one of the biggest wins in franchise history by stunning the Patriots at home?
Offense:
I’ll say it again,RUN THE BALL MORE WITH D’ONTA FOREMAN. Foreman is really hard to tackle and has someArian Fosterin him with the way he runs. Look,Lamar Milleris a fantastic running back but his body is not meant to be running the ball up the middle all day long. Foreman who is a big boy can take/give the hits when running up the middle. Plus, the good thing about Foreman is that he can pass block in the backfield, which will help out the line and Watson.
Speaking of running up the middle, if O’Brien wants to win this game he’s gotta be less predictable. I mean, if the fans already know what he’s going to run most of the time, you don’t think a mastermind like Belichick, who has your offense down to a T. Be likeAndy Reid, totally unpredictable and catch them off guard.
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DeAndre Hopkins,HANG ON TO THE BALL. I think the drops by Hopkins are not getting talked about enough. I’m concerned. We literally gave Hopkins our entire bank account and in the three games, he’s dropping balls that 2015 Hopkins would have caught. The Houston Texans paid him like a Top 5 wide receiver, he should be catching the ball like one. If the ball hits your hands, you should have caught it. We are gonna a need big plays from #10 if we want to beat the champs.
O-Line, please keep Watson on his feet. I think the Pats are going to bring the house a lot tomorrow knowing that our O-Line is average at best. But, we’ve had a long time to correct mistakes so let’s cross our fingers that the line does somewhat of a decent job of keeping Watson upright.
Nick Martinwill have a tough task againstMalcom Brown, I think he’s up for the challenge. Martin is a huge bright spot on this line, I’ve said before that he has all pro talent. Also, keepKendall Lammon the bench. I know, he’s a great guy off field, but on it I don’t trust him one bit. I will never forget seeing him quit on a play against Jacksonville which resulted in Watson getting sacked.
Now onto Watson. I’m not expecting him to go on a tear against New England, but I’m hoping to see signs of him being the franchise guy. He’s gonna struggle, all rookies do at one point in time, so I think this game right here is a good time to learn more and get used to the NFL speed.
Defense:
I’m expecting them to give Brady and company a hard time. I thinkJadeveon Clowneyis due for a big game. Other than that fumble return, he’s been silent so far. What better place to put on a show than New England? Watt will hopefully get his first sack (or two) tomorrow.
Skip Bayless is poking the giant with a stick and calling him overrated. As JJ has done in the past, he loves to silence his haters by putting on a display. We saw glimpses of a healthyJ.J. Wattofficially being back against Cincinnati. With more than a week to rest, I think its safe to say JJ will look fantastic Sunday.
Life withoutBrian Cushinghas begun, and I don’t even miss him. After showing signs last week, Cunningham has got to be great tomorrow. He’s fast, he can cover Gronk or one of those shifty New England running backs out of the backfield.
The unit that concerns me is our secondary. Now withKevin Johnsonhurt again, our corner back depth becomes slimmer. Against NE, we will be rolling with two aging corners inKareem JacksonandJohnathan Joseph.
I’m very interested as to who will be guardingBrandin Cooks, a speedy outside WR for the Pats. I just hope that tomorrow I don’t see our corners getting absolutely burnt by Hogan and Cooks. If we can’t stop these two, we have no chance to win this game.
Next: Three points on why to trade Tom Savage now
Prediction:
If the Houston Texans win, fantastic. If they compete, I’ll be happy. I just want to see flashes in Watson. If he plays good and we lose by seven to 10 points, I won’t be too mad about this loss. With that said…New England 28 Houston 17!
GO TEXANS!
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