The Houston Texans had a long break thanks to playing on Thursday Night Football in Week 9. They've had time to move past the loss to the New York Jets and turn their attention fully to the Detroit Lions.
This will also be the second time in a row they're on prime time, with their showdown with the Lions taking place on Sunday Night Football.
Let's look ahead to that game with these three bold predictions.
3. Texans hold Lions under 100 yards rushing
We'll start things off with a rather bold prediction. Detroit is a dominant run team with David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs. Those two will be the focal points for the Houston defense, which has been decent against the run.
In this bold prediction, they dare Jared Goff to beat him with his arm and shut down the running game. By doing so, they become the first team this year to hold the Lions under 100 yards rushing.
2. C.J. Stroud throw for 300 yards
As good as the Lions have been, there's one weakness in their defense — they give up a lot of passing yards. Entering Week 10, they're 29th in the league with 2,006 yards through the air. The reason they're so good is that they do clamp down once they're in the red zone, with just three touchdowns on the year through the air.
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Houston will be fine with this since they give the ball to Joe Mixon once they get close — and Detroit is 15th in rushing touchdowns against them. With that recipe, this prediction has Stroud throwing for 300 yards as he puts last week's poor outing in the rearview.
1. Joe Mixon tops 100 yards (again), scores twice
Joe Mixon is having a career year in Houston. Despite missing three full games, and getting just nine attempts in another, he has 609 yards and six touchdowns on the ground. He's added another 115 yards and a score as a receiver, providing the Texans an all-around back.
As stated above, Detroit has given up a fair number of rushing touchdowns so maybe Mixon scoring twice isn't bold. But with the Lions coming into the game seventh in rushing defense, predicting a fifth-straight 100-yard game might be.