Players that have to show up for Houston to beat Buffalo
Who better ball for Texans vs. Bills
Jan 3, 2020, 12:23 pm
These are the players that have to ball out for the Texans to beat the Bills
Deshaun Watson
Bills LB Lorenzo Alexander on Deshaun Watson: "I was watching my matchup -- offensive line, the guards, the tackles, the centers -- and on this film you see guys giving up pressures and opportunities to hit Deshaun, but he is shrugging guys off 2 or 3 at a time." pic.twitter.com/q1QcZ2J6dR
— Rivers McCown (@riversmccown) January 2, 2020
Deshaun Watson has to play better than he has after the bye. Before the bye he was regularly efficient and dynamic. Post-bye, it has been inefficient and irregularly dynamic. A season filled with promise and headed towards surpassing last year led to a season where he failed to beat almost all his statistics from last season. Some of that is on the offense but it is on Deshaun Watson too.
Last year, albeit with a terrible line and banged up wideout crew, he played awful in the playoff game. First-time playoff quarterbacks have issues usually. That's not Watson now. This is one of the toughest defenses he has played all season. Comparable to the New England defense he and the rest of the Texans offense shredded post-bye.
Whitney Mercilus
Texans' Whitney Mercilus' @Merci380 $54M deal has $7.5M signing bonus as part of his $28.5M guaranteed.
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) January 3, 2020
Salaries:
2020: $10.5M (fully guaranteed, $12M salary cap)
2021: $10.5M fully guaranteed, $12M salary cap)
2022: $12.75M ($14.75M salary cap)
2023: $12.25M ($14M salary cap)
New deal, new year, hopefully the same old Mercilus in the playoffs. Whitney Mercilus has to finish against the Bills to make sure the Texans win. He had a huge start to the season but he dipped in the middle only to recover with a huge game against the Buccaneers.
Mercilus has six career sacks in six playoff games. Here's what's important though, when rushing the passer as his primary job, which is over three games, he scored all six of those sacks to go along with three more quarterback hits and another tackle for a loss. He totaled 12 tackles. He was a force.
Dion Dawkins should draw the assignment on Mercilus and he is the best pass blocker on the Bills. Plus, Josh Allen's mobility is incredible in extending plays and keeping plays alive. Mercilus kicking ass would go a long way to the Texans getting a win.
Bradley Roby
#Texans safety Bradley Roby (@BradRoby_1),who signed a 1-year contract w/ the #Texans is hopeful of being back next year & beyond: “I really love this team.I love the city. I love the coach, the coaching staff.I love everything about being here.I feel like I was meant to be here” pic.twitter.com/x3HejfZNYE
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) December 30, 2019
Bradley Roby and who he covers will be one of the more interesting things happening on the field for the Texans. If he has to drop inside to cover someone, they trust others to not have the Bills playmakers hurt them. If he is taking care of their T.Y. Hilton, aka John Brown, then who is taking care of the over-the-middle success the Bills will surely have.
Roby wants a big deal and he took a one-year prove it deal. He has plenty to prove in the playoffs. For the Broncos a couple of seasons ago he forced a huge fumble against the Steelers that led to a game-changing touchdown. Time to prove it for a Texans team. He had a huge interception against Tom Brady and surely Josh Allen will give him chances.
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Expectations
The Texans are favored to win the AFC South for a third straight season with a team led by young stars quarterback C.J. Stroud and defensive end Will Anderson. Stroud’s strong first two years helped the Texans turn things around and this year they’ll try to reach the playoffs in three straight seasons for the first time in franchise history. Stroud will be directing a new offense led by first-time offensive coordinator Nick Caley, who took over after Bobby Slowik was fired this offseason following Houston’s loss to the Chiefs in the divisional round. General manager Nick Caserio also beefed up the team’s receiving corps, led by Nico Collins, by adding veteran Christian Kirk and drafting Jayden Higgins in the second round and Jaylin Noel in the third. Coach DeMeco Ryans has vowed the offensive line will be better this season after Stroud was sacked 52 times last season, which was second-most in the league. But it’s difficult to see how his protection will be better after they traded left tackle Laremy Tunsil and didn’t make any big moves to replace him. Defensively, Anderson should take another step forward in his second year playing with veteran Danielle Hunter after the third-overall pick in the 2023 draft had 17 sacks combined in his first two seasons. Cornerback Derek Stingley returns to lead a talented young secondary after earning first team AP All-Pro honors last season when he had five interceptions and defended 18 passes.
New faces
OC Nick Caley, WR Jayden Higgins, WR Christian Kirk, WR Jaylin Noel, LT Cam Robinson, RB Nick Chubb, RT Aireontae Ersery, LG Laken Tomlinson, C Jake Andrews.
Key losses
LT Laremy Tunsil, WR John Metchie III, G Kenyon Green, TE Brevin Jordan, CB Eric Murray, WR Robert Woods, CB Kris Boyd.
Strengths
Stroud and Houston’s stacked receiving group should be the stars of the team this season. The 2023 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year has been great in his first two seasons to bring the Texans back into contention after an awful stretch. His interception rate was up last season but he’s looking for improvement this season in Caley’s offense, which he has described as “exciting.” He’ll have plenty of strong targets to throw to, led by Collins, who had a second straight 1,000-yard season last year despite missing five games with injuries. He’ll be joined by Kirk, who should fill in at the slot with Tank Dell likely to miss all season recovering from an injury he suffered in December. Higgins and Noel come to Houston after combining for 2,377 yards receiving and 17 touchdowns last season at Iowa State.
Weaknesses
It’s hard to see how the offensive line will be improved this season with Tunsil gone to Washington. Though he was penalty-prone, he was the team’s most consistent lineman. They completely revamped the line after his trade and return just one starter from last year’s group. They’ll likely rely on rookie Ersery to protect Stroud’s blind side after taking him in the second round of the draft. He started 38 games at left tackle over three seasons at Minnesota. Veteran Tytus Howard returns at right tackle after starting 16 games there last season. The center is Jake Andrews in his first year in Houston and he returns after missing all of last season with an injury before being released by the Patriots. Left guard Laken Tomlinson and right guard Ed Ingram are also new to the team.
Camp development
Houston’s secondary sustained a big blow in camp when safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson suffered a leg injury. The injury isn’t season-ending but he is likely to miss significant time. Gardner-Johnson is in his first year in Houston after he was acquired from the Eagles in March in exchange for left guard Kenyon Green. He was expected to be the team’s starting free safety after the Texans lost Eric Murray in free agency to the Jaguars. The Texans will also be without backup Jimmie Ward indefinitely after he was placed on the commissioner exempt list Tuesday as he faces a felony domestic violence charge after a June arrest.
Fantasy player to watch
Collins should have another big year after finishing with more than 1,000 yards receiving in each of the last two seasons. He’s had 15 touchdowns combined in the last two seasons despite missing seven games with injuries.
BetMGM Sportsbook
Win Super Bowl: 35-1.