The Houston Texans very nearly upended the Dallas Cowboys in Week 14, but they still fell short and absorbed their eleventh loss of the season. The Texans will face an even tougher foe in Week 15 as they play the Kansas City Chiefs at home. The Texans have been out of the playoff picture for quite some time now, but they can play the spoiler's role against Patrick Mahomes & Co. A win here for the Texans will surely jeopardize the Chiefs' hopes of climbing to first place in the AFC. Here are our Texans Week 15 predictions as they take on the Chiefs.
Despite the Texans being overlooked by the rest of the league, the Chiefs are taking Houston pretty seriously. This is because the Texans almost pulled off a major upset against the Cowboys in their previous game. The Texans have a unique dual quarterback offense led by Davis Mills and Jeff Driskel and came close to securing a win against Dallas.
The Chiefs certainly don't want that to be the Texans' second victim of the season, lest they lose ground to the Bills in the race for the ACF's top seed. Take note that the last time the Texans defeated the Chiefs was on October 13, 2019, at Arrowhead Stadium.
With all these in mind, here are our four bold predictions for the Texans in their Week 15 game against the Chiefs.
Chiefs Week.
IYKYK. pic.twitter.com/trGQM4qq1D
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) December 15, 2022
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4. TE Jordan Akins reaches 30+ yards
In Houston's game against the Browns a couple of weeks ago, tight end Jordan Akins caught three out of six targeted passes for a total of 21 yards. Akins has been the leading target for the tight end position in recent games, but he faced competition from Brevin Jordan (5 targets) who had not played much in the three weeks prior. Last week, Akins had even fewer catches (just one) and logged only five yards. With most of the team's top receivers probably out this week, though, we expect Akins to see more targets come his way. We have him reaching 30 air yards in Week 15.
3. Chris Moore is still WR1
In last Sunday's game against the Cowboys, wideout Chris Moore had a standout performance. He caught 10 passes on 11 targets for a total of 124 yards. With Nico Collins and Brandin Cooks out, Moore saw an increased role and outperformed his teammates in terms of targets and yards.
He had two particularly long gains of 36 and 31 yards and set a career-high in yardage, although he did not score a touchdown. With both Collins and Cooks still questionable for Week 15, Moore's role should continue to increase. He certainly demonstrated his ability to perform well with the opportunity given to him last week, and we feel he deserves more chances to go his way. We expect him to put up more than 80 yards here against the Chiefs.
2. Davis Mills is still the main QB
In last Sunday's game against the Cowboys, the Texans used both Mills and Driskel as quarterbacks, resulting in 23 points, which is a high score for the team. Texans head coach Lovie Smith refused to commit to switching up the quarterbacks.
“I thought it was effective yesterday,” Smith said Monday of the quarterback rotation between Davis Mills and Jeff Driskel. “Two different flavors, that’s always tough for a defense to prepare for. … That's what we did yesterday. No more than that. We'll see exactly what we do that gives us the best chance. We're just transitioning over to the Chiefs right now. So we'll see how that game planning goes.”
Mills threw for 175 yards but did not score. Meanwhile, Driskel rushed for 36 yards, threw for 38 yards, and scored a touchdown.
Mills returned as the starting quarterback after being benched for the previous two games and completed 16-of-21 pass attempts, no touchdowns, and one interception. He took most of the team's pass attempts but also gave way to Driskel at times, including for the team's only passing touchdown. While Mills will likely remain the starter for the Texans, it is clear that there is a lack of trust in him as the quarterback.
He should still be QB1 in Week 15, going over 210+ yards with one touchdown and one INT.
1. Texans get blown out
The Texans have not won a single game at home this season (0-5-1) and are currently on an eight-game losing streak. Last week, their offense, which was missing key players, gave the Cowboys a tough game until the final minute, but ultimately lost again.
This week, the Texans will be without their star running back, Dameon Pierce, and the availability of both Brandin Cooks and Nico Collins is uncertain. Despite outperforming expectations and almost defeating the Cowboys last week, the Texans are expected to struggle against the Chiefs due to Kansas City's speed and athleticism.
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are likely to win and try to keep up with the Bills for the top seed in the AFC. The Texans may struggle to put up much of a fight with Pierce unable to play, and even if he is healthy, the Chiefs are expected to be too strong for the Texans. It'll be a blowout at NRG Stadium.
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