On the heels of their bye week, the Houston Texans are now set for a key divisional showdown in Week 11 with the road clash against the Tennessee Titans.
The bye week sure came at just the right time for the Texans, as they have dropped their last eight games. In their Week 9 road matchup against the Miami Dolphins, quarterback Tyrod Taylor made a return from his hamstring injury, but he found quite a difficult time in anchoring the Texans offense. He threw a trio of costly interceptions and failed to lead the team to a mere one touchdown drive.
Houston will be in for a grand test this week against arguably the most in-form team in the NFL today with the Tennessee Titans. Even with the multitude of injuries on both sides of the ball, the Titans simply continue to churn out wins by the week; they have won six games in a row and currently hold the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
One would presume that the Titans should go on to handily pick up their seventh win in a row with a home victory over the Texans. But as seen over the past month in the NFL, upset wins are now becoming a regular occurrence by the week.
If the Texans aspire to avoid their ninth loss in a row, then they must achieve each of these four feats in order to pull off what would arguably be the biggest upset win of Week 11.
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Texans Week 11 predictions
4. Jacob Martin has his way at the line of scrimmage
The Texans rank near the bottom of the NFL in a multitude of team defensive stats this season. At the least, defensive end Jacob Martin has been among the team's bright spots on this side of the ball.
Martin is just coming off of a potent performance against the Dolphins in Week 9. He played in 60 percent of snaps on defense and notched a pair of quarterback hits to go along with one sack.
Martin may be not a player who can single-handedly be a game-changer for Houston, but he sure can be a disruptor to Tennessee's offensive game planning.
3. Texans pick up timely takeaways
As noted, the Texans defense has been a unit that has had plenty of sluggish outings this season. Still, Houston has been a team with a knack to notch much-needed takeaways.
The Texans are currently tied with three other teams for ninth in total takeaways with 14. They have had a multitude of players step up when it comes to creating pivotal turnovers, from cornerback Lonnie Johnson Jr. recording key interceptions to defensive back Terrance Mitchell being a disruptor in forcing fumbles.
Houston should come away with crucial turnovers this week. But the only question will be on whether Taylor and the offense will be able to capitalize on such opportunities. For one, the Texans defense notched a season-high five takeaways against the Dolphins, but the offense failed to orchestrate a single touchdown drive from them.
This aspect of play may be an X-factor for the Texans this week.
2. Desmond King steps up to the challenge in coverage
If there is one Texans defensive player who is in dire need of a formidable performance in Week 11, it is cornerback Desmond King.
While King has emerged as a starter at the cornerback position in his first season with Houston, not much has gone his way so far in the campaign. He has allowed a 76.1 completion percentage while in coverage as the nearest defender to go along with a lowly 120.7 passer rating. More so, he has allowed a perfect passer rating of 158.3 two times so far in the season.
It is not yet known on just who King will primarily clash with in Week 11, but it may seem that Titans wide receiver A.J. Brown will see him quite a bit.
If Houston has any aspiration of slowing down the Titans offense, then King must at the least contain Brown's route-running prowess in the open field. And he has what it takes to do just that.
1. Texans end their 30-plus points drought
The Texans have had a multitude of lowly offensive performances ever since their standout Week 1 outing when they tallied for a season-high 37 points against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
While the Texans are being tabbed as heavy underdogs in this contest, they should put up a grand fight against the Titans by scoring 30-plus points, which sure would be a shocker considering their recent lackadaisical offensive showings.
As noted, a win for the Texans over the Titans sure would be a grand upset one in Week 11.
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