3 Houston Texans who need to step up besides C.J. Stroud vs. the Arizona Cardinals

The Houston Texans have the Arizona Cardinals this weekend and the team has got to be on their guard. This is a trap game, that the 5-4 Texans could easily lose the 2-8 Cardinals. Arizona knocked off the Dallas Cowboys with Joshua Dobbs under center, and they look to be as good, if not better with Kyler Murray returning from injury. He may be a bit rusty but he's still a threat to take a good team deep.

So the Texans have got to be aware of what Murray can do, and in turn, the offense may need to carry a bit more of the load if Murray finds his form after his ACL injury. This could easily turn into a shootout and if it does, the Texans better have a few key guys step up on both sides of the ball.

But who are those players? Here are three players who aren't C.J. Stroud who have to step up against the Cardinals if the Texans want to avoid a trap-game loss.

DE Will Anderson Jr.

The Texans are going to need the third-overall pick to step up his game some against the Arizona Cardinals. With Murray back under center, the pocket is going to be moving a lot around Murry and the Texans are going to need a lot of guys to close off the edges and keep him from running and that's where Anderson needs to step up. He's got to help keep Murry contained in the pocket so he can't hurt the Texans with his legs.

RB Devin Singletary

One of the reasons that Stroud's completion percentage is where it is revolves around the lack of a running game from the Texans. When you know they're going to throw, it's easier to defend the pass. Last week, Devin Singletary went off for 150 yards, a performance we don't expect him to repeat but one we'd like to see him get close to. Singletary has to put up some nice stats so Stroud can work the play-action pass to better effect. Otherwise, what's the point of having a running game?

WR Noah Brown

It' may be a bit unrealistic to expect Noah Brown to pass 120 yards for the third straight week, but if he were able to against the Arizona Cardinals then the Texans passing game may be able to continue its torrid pace that it's been on over the last few weeks, and that can only help the Texans win.