The Houston Texans enter Week 6 at 4-1 and in first place in the AFC South. They have a favorable matchup against the New England Patriots this week but are missing their best target. Wide receiver Nico Collins is on injured reserve with a hamstring injury, so he will be out at least four games. Ahead of the Texans-Patriots game, let’s make our Texans Week 6 bold predictions.
Houston won their Week 5 matchup with the Buffalo Bills 23-20 on a 59-yard Kai’imi Fairbairn field goal. They would not have had that opportunity without some confounding play calls from the Bills coaching staff. Three incompletions from Josh Allen have CJ Stroud the ball back and led to the Texans’ victory.
They are heavily favored to win this game but need great performances from their depth offensive players to do so. With that said, let’s check out our Texans Week 6 predictions.
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Stefon Diggs racks up 80 receiving yards
Stefon Diggs got the last laugh in Week 5, as his new team took down his old team. His handshake/side-eye meeting with Josh Allen made headlines and his 82 yards went under the radar. Collins went out in the middle of the game and Diggs stepped up to clinch the game for the Texans. Expect him to match that performance against the Patriots.
While their offense has gotten much of the bad press so far, the Patriots defense has also been terrible. Even the Dolphins were able to move the ball with Tyler Huntley at quarterback. Expect Stroud to target Diggs plenty of times in this game and Diggs to be open a lot. Christian Gonzalez is the lone player on their defense worth talking about, but he will have his hands full with Tank Dell and Dalton Schultz also on the team.
Fantasy managers should lock Stefon Diggs into their lineup for this week and moving forward. Stroud is one of the premier quarterbacks in the league and should not miss a step without his top target.
Joe Mixon, or any running back, scores a touchdown
Texans running back Joe Mixon has returned to practice after missing the last three games. He remains questionable to play this game, which means Cam Akers and Dame Ogumbanwale could be thrust back into action. No matter who is running the rock for the Texans this week, they will score a touchdown against the Patriots.
Ogumbawale scored the winning touchdown in Week 4 against the Jaguars but Akers has not found paydirt yet. While they are not the best running backs out there, they can still run on this Patriots defense. They allowed 80 yards to Raheem Mostert last week despite the Dolphins not having a passing game to speak for.
The Texans’ offense will get out to a big lead early and start to rely on the run later in the game to kill the clock. That’s why it does not matter who the running back is for this prediction. Each of the other running backs can crush this defense and will get the opportunity to run the ball in this game.
Texans win by at least ten points
The Texans are 6.5-point favorites in this game on FanDuel. While big favorites have not fared well this season, the Patriots have been even worse over the last four weeks. With a rookie quarterback behind a brutal offensive line, their defense should flash in this game. CJ Stroud should dominate through the air and the running backs should be great on the ground.
The Patriots won their first game of the season over the Bengals and lost in overtime in Week 2. Since then, they have lost by at least five points in each game. They lost by 21 points to the Jets and 17 points to the 49ers, whose offenses are not as good as the Texans this season.