The Houston Texans must feel like they have a new quarterback next season, with Deshaun Watson returning from an injury. Watson can see some action this Thursday against the Kansas City Chiefs, who legitimately are introducing a new starting signal-caller in Patrick Mahomes. Read on for a preview of this intriguing showdown below.
Deshaun Watson was doing a decent job of leading the Texans’ offense last season until an injury took him out and led Houston into giving the quarterbacking duties to a pair of whack jobs in Tom Savage and T.J. Yates. Should anything happen to Watson this season again, there’ll be a new set of backups to handle the job in Brandon Weeden and Joe Webb. The preseason will help determine who between the two will win the QB, but don’t count out the possibility of Watson getting some reps, too. No.2 job. A ton of work is also needed on defense for Houston after finishing last in the league last season with 27.2 points and 20th with 346.6 yards allowed per game, though, that’s largely because of the absences of J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus due to injuries.
The Texans have covered the spread in five of their last seven games in the preseason.
Betting on the Kansas City Chiefs (-2.5)
Whether he is truly ready or not, gunslinger Patrick Mahomes is now at the helm of the Chiefs’ offense after the team shipped Alex Smith to the Washington Redskins in exchange for Kendall Fuller and a 2018 third-round pick. However, it’s possible that we don’t see even that of Mahomes’ shadow on the field this Thursday, so look out for Chad Henne and Matt McGloin to get the snaps under center. Elsewhere, it’s worth focusing on the Chiefs’ tight ends. We know Travis Kelce is up there with Rob Gronkowski, but should anything happen to him in 2018, the No. 2 tight end needs to be a quality one, considering how big Kelce’s role is on Kansas City’s offense. Demetrius Harris, Tim Wright, and Jace Amaro are all in the mix to get that slot, while Alex Ellis and Blake Mack are also in the mix for at least the No. 3 tier in the pecking order.
The Chiefs are 4-2 ATS in their last six preseason games.
