Friday, October 11, 2019

Red Friday Preview: Chiefs vs. Texans




Who: Houston Texans @ Kansas City Chiefs
When: Sunday, October 13, 2019
Where: Arrowhead Stadium
Betting line: Chiefs by 4

Last Sunday night I sat in my man cave, dealing with a bout of mild depression just after listening to the Chiefs’ first loss against the Colts. Let’ face it, losing in the fashion we did, at home, on Sunday night football, all that - as my father texted me - “is the worst part of being a sports fan”. But the other part of being a true sports fan, is not being a fair weather fan. We stick by our teams and our Chiefs no matter what and cheer them on as they head into their next game against the Texans.

Chiefs:

There is no denying that the Chiefs’ offense in the last two weeks has not been up to par. Our two best receivers are out with injuries. The offensive line protecting Mahomes is absolutely paramount in this game. Many want to hold the Chiefs defense responsible for the issues the team has faced this season. While that is partly true, it is hard for our magician of a QB to make magical passes if he is on his back. The O-line absolutely MUST protect Patrick Mahomes to give him a chance to do what he does best. Give him time to get those passes out to receivers who have time to run their routes. Andfor crying out loud, keep him off his back. As long as Mahomes is upright, even without Hill and Watkins, he can still get the passing game going with Demarcus Robinson, Mekole Hardman and Byron Pringle. This mixes in more than a little of a running game with Shady McCoy along with Damien Williams and Darrell Williams.

As for the Chiefs D, I know my readers are already tired of hearing this, but in a defense where everyone is concerned about a lack of truly great playmakers in the secondary, the atrociously run defense has proved to be an even bigger problem. At the beginning of this season, the Chiefs cut running back Carlos Hyde, before he ever played a regular season game down for the Chiefs. Now Hyde wears a Texans jersey is looking to make the Chiefs sorry that they didn’t keep him. The secondary will be tested as well, with Texans wide out Will Fuller coming off a monstrous game last week against the Falcons. The Chiefs best hope defensively is to find a way to bust through what has been called one of the worst offensive lines in football right now and make Texans QB Deshawn Watson very uncomfortable by invading his personal space.

Texans:

This will mark the first ever match-up between the 10th overall pick (Patrick Mahomes) and the 11th overall pick (Deshawn Watson). Watson has one of the best receivers in the league in Fuller at his disposal. Last week Fuller had 14 catches for 217 yards and 3 TD receptions. Be looking for him to have a similar week against a Chiefs secondary whose best player is the Honey Badger, but will the Texans offensive line be able to keep Watson upright long enough to make those passes? They were last week.

As far as the Texans’ defensive battle goes in keeping Mahomes and the boys in check, they will start in the trenches with Texans’ defensive ends Whitney Merciless and J. J. Watt. These two have been known to wreak havoc in an opponent’s backfield. Watt alone responsible for 4 sacks and 13 QB hits this season. Our QB took 4 sacks and 8 hits just last week. Behind the stout defensive front, the Texans will most likely follow the blue print that has seemed to neutralize the high flying Chiefs offense these last two weeks with man coverage. The only player who can consistently beat man coverage on the Chiefs roster is Tyreek Hill, who is still out on injury. Asking a corner or safety to cover Hill, is like asking Donkey Kong to cover Sonic the Hedgehog. But Mahomes’ other targets have yet to prove that they can beat man coverage, so count on teams using it until they do.

BQB prediction:

My prediction truly depends on which Texans team decides to show up to Arrowhead: The Texans that hung 55 on the Falcons last week or the Texans that only scored 10 points in a loss to the Panthers the week before.

Unfortunately, the Chiefs are very banged up with their two best receivers and one of their best defensive linemen out with injuries. The offensive line is still patch-worked together. Regardless pf his competitive nature, it is fair to assume that Mahomes is still somewhat limited by his ankle.

It pains me to do so, but I predict the Chiefs falling to the Texans 24-28. I deeply hope and pray that I am wrong.

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