The ugly side of the Houston Texans showed up this past Sunday as they lost for the first time at home this season to the San Diego Chargers, 21-13. They’ve now lost two-straight games and are in real danger of losing their grip of the top spot in the AFC South.
Brock Osweiler once again proved that Houston may have made a huge mistake of signing him to a massive contract in the offseason by throwing three interceptions in Sunday’s loss. He finished the game with 246 passing yards and no touchdowns, and now has more picks (13) than TDs (12) for the season. And because of Osweiler’s struggles, the Texans are the second-to-the-worst team in the league with under 196 passing yards per contest.
What was worse about the defeat to San Diego was that the running game struggled to make up for its QB’s bad play. Lamar Miller racked up just 57 rushing yards on nine carries on Sunday, and he also lost a fumble on a crucial drive for one of Houston’s four turnovers that afternoon.
The Texans’ defense only looks good on paper right now, too. While the unit remains in the top five of the NFL in yards given up (316.7 per contest), it isn’t doing enough to turn the tides of games. The team is tied for the third-least number of takeaways this season with just 10, and its minus-9 turnover differential is also third-worst in the NFL.
A lot of things have to be fixed for the Texans, and fast. However, don’t count on the turnaround to happen in this week’s trip to Green Bay, as they are just 1-5 on the road this season (SU/ATS).
The Green Bay Packers might’ve saved their season on Monday night with a convincing victory in Philadelphia over the Eagles, 27-13. Green Bay snapped its four-game skid with the win and are back in the thick of the division race in the volatile NFC North.
Apparently, there was nothing wrong with Aaron Rodgers after all. Rodgers went 30-of-39 for 313 passing yards, a pair of TDs and no picks on the road against a relatively tough Philly defense. The former regular-season MVP now has 17 touchdowns since Week 8, which is the most amongst all quarterbacks during that stretch.
Between the Packers’ terrific three-pronged wideout corps of Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb and Davante Adams, it was Adams who had the spotlight with a team-high 113 receiving yards on five catches versus the Eagles. The third-year receiver now has three 100-yard receiving games and a total of six TDs this season after being somewhat considered a bust through his first two seasons in the NFL.
Even the defense was rather composed on Monday night by limiting Philly to just 13 points and after giving up an average of 38 points during their four-game losing streak. While that D remains porous against the pass, it has done well at stopping opposing running games with just 91 rushing yards allowed per contest this season. Houston has the fifth-best rushing offense with nearly 30 more yards gained than what the Packers have given up on average, so Clay Matthews and the gang mustn’t take the Texans lightly this Sunday.
Then again, the Packers will return to Lambeau Field in Week 13 to host a Houston team that’s been terrible on the road this season. And with the winter chill creeping into Cheesehead country, Green Bay’s chances just get better, as the team has won seven of its last nine games played in the month of December (6-3 ATS).
Writer’s Prediction
The Packers (-7) hand the Texans their third-straight loss, 31-17.
