The Houston Texans will open the 2019 regular season with a very tough opponent in the New Orleans Saints. How does the matchup break down for the two franchises?
One plus about the 2019 schedule of the Houston Texans is if they come out of it with a solid record of 10 or more wins, then we’ll all know they are a team to be reckoned with, because on paper the Texans’ schedule is tough.
The toughness of their schedule begins in the very first game of the 2019 regular season as they’ll be on the road — on Monday Night Football — against Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints in a contest involving two division champions, who had a combined 24 wins last season with the Saints finishing 13-3 and the Texans at 11-5.
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If those two teams can keep that pace of last season, and even more so — at least for the Texans — improve on their play from a season ago, fans of Monday Night Football should be in for a treat when this game eventually rolls around in Week 1 of the NFL schedule on Sept. 9.
One aspect of note in this game is going to be seeing the two quarterbacks on each side of the field with future Hall of Fame quarterback Brees against Texans third-year quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Though they won’t be “facing each other at the same time,” it will be fun to watch the present of the NFL in Brees and the future of the league in Watson and see how they compare to each other to start the season.
Also, there are battles like Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas vs. Texans cornerback Johnathan Joseph as that could be interesting to see, or Thomas could square off against Aaron Colvin, who needs to have a big bounce-back season.
Don’t forget about J.J. Watt as the top defensive end for the Texans against Saints tackle Terron Armstead or possibly Ryan Ramczyk on the right side of the offensive line.
The Saints are tied at 2-2 overall in their series, with the Texans winning the last meeting in 2015 by a 24-6 score in Houston.
There are other players and matchups which stand out, so here is a close look at the Texans’ possible matchups for their Week 1 game against the Saints to start the 2019 season.