The Texans will be on Monday Night Football this week as they head to Denver to take on the Super Bowl 50 champions, the Broncos. Here are the staff predictions for the game:
Game: Houston Texans (4-2) at Denver Broncos (4-2)
Writer: Josh McSwain, Editor
Outlook: The Texans have faced an arduous road schedule here in the first half of the season. The Vikings are undefeated, the Patriots just one loss and the Broncos are the reigning champions.
Brock Osweiler suddenly turned it on in the last few minutes of the game last week against the Colts and lifted the Texans to a comeback win. He won’t be able to get away with that against the Broncos defense.
If the skill top to bottom of the Broncos defense wasn’t enough, you know that group will be out for blood against Osweiler. He left them in the offseason when he had the chance to be the guy there.
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On the flip side, the Texans have struggled against the run all year and that’s exactly what Gary Kubiak‘s offense is made for. The Texans will have to stop the run without committing too many men to the box, which is going to be hard against the talented Denver receivers in DeMaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders. The fact Houston is nursing multiple injuries in the secondary does not help.
If the Texans are to have any chance in this game, it’s going to be on the back of Lamar Miller. The Broncos defense is not great against the run, so he will have to consistently get more than four yards per carry. But I imagine the Broncos are going to let Aqib Talib and Chris Harris go one on one with DeAndre Hopkins and the Texans receivers most of the game and dare Osweiler to beat them.
Between all that, the altitude in Denver and the fact it’s a primetime game, I don’t think it bodes well for the Texans this week.
Final Score: Broncos 27, Texans 13