How short-handed Texans can keep vibes high against struggling Patriots

TEXANS ON TAP

How short-handed Texans can keep vibes high against struggling Patriots
The Texans and Patriots square off this Sunday. Composite Getty Image.

The Houston Texans head to Foxborough this weekend to take on the 1-4 New England Patriots. The Pats will have a different look this week, with rookie QB Drake Maye making his first NFL regular season start.

The Texans also come into this matchup with some changes in place, as superstar receiver Nico Collins is on the injured list with a hamstring injury.

Receivers Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell will need to pick up the slack with Collins sidelined. Diggs will have his work cut out for him though against New England's standout corner Christian Gonzalez.

Diggs may be able to escape Gonzalez when moved into the slot, but it's hard to know how both teams will choose to match up this week. Will Diggs play more on the outside with Collins out of the equation? Will Gonzalez shadow Diggs all over the field? Gonzalez had success pressing Dolphins all-world receiver Tyreek Hill last week, and recorded 1 interception and 2 forced incompletions.

Per PFF, Pats corner Marcus Jones was actually the highest-graded Patriots player last week against Miami, so this team has some talent in the secondary.

The big question for the Texans passing game comes down to Dell's usage. Even with Collins out for most of last week's game, Dell only received four targets and played on 68% of the snaps.

Houston receiver Xavier Hutchinson actually out-snapped Dell, playing on 71% of the snaps, but with one less target.

Texans OC Bobby Slowik likes having bigger receivers on the field to help block in the running game. So we should learn a lot this week about how Slowik will deploy his weapons with Collins injured.

Speaking of the running game, both Dameon Pierce (full) and Joe Mixon (limited) returned to practice this week. It would be huge for the offense to get those guys back, to say the least.

Slowik should also be prepared to get the tight ends more involved, to take advantages of mismatches. The Texans brought back tight end Teagan Quitoriano this week. If he's active, perhaps we see him used for pass and run blocking, with Dalton Schultz lining up in the slot from time to time.

Bulls on Parade!

On defense, the Texans should have success against a rookie quarterback in his first start, especially after seeing what they did to Josh Allen last week.

Both Derek Stingley Jr. and Kamari Lassiter played well against the Bills receivers. But Lassiter is dealing with a shoulder injury that may prevent him from getting on the field. He didn't practice on Wednesday or Thursday.

 

Fortunately for Houston, the Patriots don't have a ton of talent at receiver. But with a new quarterback in the fold, anything can happen.

The Texans' ability to pressure Maye with Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter should give the team a big advantage. Houston leads the league with a 42% pressure rate.

The Patriots' biggest weapons this season have been running backs Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson. Stevenson is dealing with a foot injury and didn't practice on Wednesday or Thursday. If he's at all limited or doesn't play, that will work in Houston's favor.

What does Vegas think?

The Texans are favored by 7 points, and the total is set at 38. So don't expect too many points in this contest!

There are so many angles to cover in this matchup. Be sure to watch the video above as the crew from Texans on Tap gets you ready for the big game!

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The Guardians beat the Astros, 4-2. Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images.

José Ramírez homered for a third straight game, Angel Martínez also went deep and the Cleveland Guardians got a 4-2 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday night to complete a three-game sweep.

It’s the first time the Guardians, who entered the series on a 10-game skid, have won three in a row since a four-game winning streak from May 21-24.

Slade Cecconi (4-4) allowed five hits and two runs with a career-best nine strikeouts in 7-plus innings for the win. Paul Sewald pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save.

Martínez homered for a second straight at-bat with his shot to the Crawford Boxes with one out in the first inning. His grand slam with two outs in the 10th inning Tuesday night lifted Cleveland to a 10-6 win.

Four pitches after Martinez’s homer Wednesday, Ramírez also connected off Brandon Walter (1-2) to make it 2-0. Walter settled in after that, retiring the next 17 batters, with seven strikeouts before Bennett Sousa took over to start the seventh.

Ramírez and Carlos Santana hit consecutive singles with no outs in the inning before David Fry walked to load the bases. Johnathan Rodríguez then singled to score two and extend the lead to 4-0.

The Astros had managed just four singles when Taylor Trammell walked with no outs in the eighth and scored on a double by Mauricio Dubón that cut the lead to 4-1. There were two outs in the inning when Jose Altuve’s RBI double made it 4-2.

The AL West-leading Astros went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position to cap this disappointing series which came after they swept the Dodgers in Los Angeles over the weekend.

Key moment

Martínez and Ramírez had back-to-back homers in the first.

Key stat

Ramírez, who dropped out of next week’s All-Star game Wednesday to rehab a nagging Achilles injury, has four homers and seven RBIs this month.

Up next

LHP Logan Allen (5-7, 4.07 ERA) will start for Cleveland in the opener of a four-game series against the Chicago White Sox Thursday night. The Astros are off Thursday and haven’t announced their rotation for their weekend series against the Rangers.

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