3. Mercilus will finally gain a sack
The stat sheet hasn’t been too kind for Houston Texans defensive end Whitney Mercilus this season. In four games he’s totaled nine combined tackles with no forced fumbles and even more worrisome, no sacks.
Having just nine tackles this season isn’t very good for a player with the abilities of Mercilus and it is very surprising he’s playing like he has. Just three seasons ago Mercilus has a 7.5 sack season and four seasons ago (2015) Mercilus had his best season to date with 12 sacks and 52 tackles.
Granted a lot has happened with Mercilus since his career season, including last year when he was injured after playing in five games. Maybe the issue with Mercilus is the fact he’s still getting his feet under him. This is the game where Mercilus can take advantage of an offensive line that is having some rare struggles this season.
The prediction for Mercilus will finish this game with his first sack of the season, but he’ll also make an important forced fumble sometime in this game which will become a difference maker on Sunday Night Football. Eventually the Texans will need more numbers from the defensive end and it will start on Sunday night.