Houston Texans still have to face Yannick Ngakoue in 2020

The schedule of the Houston Texans still includes Yannick Ngakoue after his trade to the Vikings.

In one sense, the schedule of the Houston Texans got a little easier with the Jacksonville Jaguars trading Yannick Ngakoue to the Minnesota Vikings for a 2021 second-round and a 2022 fifth-round pick (possible third-round pick), but the issue for the Texans is the standout defensive end will still be on the schedule.

The Houston Texans will only see Yannick Ngakoue once this season instead of twic as they are scheduled to face the Minnesota Vikings in Week 4 on Sunday, Oct. 4 at noon CT in Houston, but that is also the final game of a season opening four game stretch that could be very tough on the team to begin this season.

Houston is scheduled to open the 2020 NFL season on Thursday, Sept. 13 when they travel to face the Kansas City Chiefs, followed by a home game against the Baltimore Ravens, then an away game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Then comes the home game against the Vikings and Ngakoue. The Texans are scheduled to face the Jaguars on Oct. 11 and Nov. 8 this season.

Houston Texans: Yannick Ngakoue has faced the Texans for 4 seasons

In his first four seasons in the NFL while playing with the Jaguars, Yannick Ngakoue has 37.5 sacks and two interceptions. Last season, he faced the Texans once in Week 9 where he totaled four solo tackle.

The 2018 season in games against the Houston Texans, Yannick Ngakoue again only faced the Texans once on Dec. 30, where he collected three solo tackles, 1.5 sacks and had a pass defensed.

In the season opener on Sept. 10, 2017, Yannick Ngakoue collected three solo tackles and two sacks against the Texans, while also having two forced fumbles. In their second meeting that season, on Dec. 17, he totaled one solo tackle. Even in his rookie season of 2016, Ngakoue collected a total of two solo tackles and one pass defensed in the two games combined.

The good thing about the trade of Yannick Ngakoue to the Vikings for 2020 is there is only one meeting against him on the schedule this season, but the issue is by joining the Vikings, their defense is even tougher to face in Week 4, and that concludes a challenging four-game stretch to open the first month of the season.

There are pros and cons to this trade made by the rival Jaguars, but at least for this season it helps the Texans overall because they only know they’ll see Ngakoue once on the regular-season schedule, and not only that, but the Jaguars won’t be as good of a team without him on their roster.

Any time the Texans only have to face a strong defensive end like Yannick Ngakoue once instead of twice, that helps Deshaun Watson, but Week 4 just got a little scarier as now the Vikings defense is even stronger than it was already entering the 2020 season.