The 8-5 Houston Texans are looking to come out of the bye week on fire. And with the Miami Dolphins next on the schedule, Houston needs a win to stay above the Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos, and Los Angeles Chargers, who all have the same record.
The Dolphins have been struggling all season, whether due to injury or poor production from their defense. Miami isn’t having quite the year everybody expected out of them. So, what do the Texans need to do to make sure the Dolphins remain in the losing column?
Let’s take a look at three players to keep an eye on in this matchup.
Safety Eric Murray
Why Eric Murray? He’s taking the starting job from Jalen Pitre, who’s out for the year with a pectoral injury and someone who the Texans really relied on throughout this season.
So, Murray will get called upon to keep the Dolphins passing game in check, and keep the speedy duo of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle contained. Murray is playing in his fifth season as a Texan and has made 39 starts to date in that time. The 30-year-old safety is someone who the Texans have faith in and someone who has already been making plays this season. The Texans shouldn’t miss a beat with Murray stepping into the starting role.
Tight end Dalton Schultz
After signing Dalton Schultz to a contract extension in the off-season, it’s mostly been a disappointing year for him. Schultz scored his first touchdown of the season two weeks ago against the Jacksonville Jaguars and is finally starting to get his feet back under him in this offense.
At the beginning of the year, Schultz was fighting for targets with Stefon Diggs, Nico Collins, and Tank Dell. Now, Schultz is starting to become a focal point of this unit again, and the offense is continuing to flourish because of it. This week should be a bit better as the Dolphins have been average against tight ends this season, and their defense will go into this game banged up.
Defensive end Danielle Hunter
With Terron Armstead likely not playing, and fellow tackle Kendall Lamm also injured you can pick either one of the Texans’ pass rushers to have a great game. But Hunter is the most likely of the two to have a great game. The big addition to the defense has totaled 10.5 sacks in the year, along with 21 quarterback hits and 15 tackles for loss.
Hunter has been unstoppable all season, and putting him against a backup tackle would only make matters worse for Tua Tagovailoa and the offense. Look for Hunter to be in the backfield early and often this weekend.