HOUSTON (vs Dallas)
About 2-3 TDs seems like the right estimate for Houston's offense. It marched the ball up and down the field at Indianapolis and is now playing at home. Dallas has a talented defensive front, which should ...
... cause some problems for their offensive line. Only four defenses have allowed fewer yards than the Cowboys, and only six teams have allowed fewer points. But this defense has also allowed 3 TDs in back-to-back games. ... With the way Houston's offense is structured, Deshaun Watson should put up top-5 quarterbacking numbers. Just hope he doesn't suffer a season-ending injury first. He's been sacked 17 times, and the Cowboys have one of the strongest pass rushes in the league, so no doubt they'll be coming after him hard. But the Texans can't run the ball, so Watson is pretty much a one-man offense. So far he's averaging 352 total yards and 2 TDs per game. Watson is playing on a reconstructed knee, but he's shown no reluctance to get hit or take off on scrambles -- he's run for 36-44 yards in every game. And since a clunker in the opener ...
This report is taken from today's Week 5 edition of Fantasy Index Weekly. The newsletter includes our player rankings and 19 pages of matchup previews, plus stat projections and custom rankings for the games being played this weekend.
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... he's thrown for 310, 385 and 375 yards in his last three, with 2 TDs each week. Dallas ranks 6th in pass defense, but Matthew Stafford was able to throw for 307 yards and 2 TDs against them last week. It's not an ideal matchup, but Watson should be in line for his usual top-5 quarterbacking numbers. ... Will Fuller missed most of the second half of the Colts game with a hamstring injury. He's been prone to injuries in the past, and he sat out all of the preseason and the opener with a hamstring injury. Bill O'Brien indicated the injury didn't seem serious -- that there was some chance Fuller might have returned to the game. But Fuller hasn't seemed to play through a lot of injuries in the past. It will be very risky to use him without knowing that he'll be playing, and that will be tough to pull off. This game kicks off Sunday night, so the inactives won't be announced until most of the games of the week are already over. Unless Fuller puts in a fair amount of practice time during the week, our leaning will be to assume he's not going to play. A really great player, though. He's played 7 games with Watson at quarterback, and he's scored 10 TDs in those games. ... Whether or not Fuller is active, we have some interest in Keke Coutee. Bruce Ellington is on injured reserve, so Coutee is their third receiver now, and he looks like he's going to be a big part of their passing game. He caught 11 passes at Indianapolis -- a record for a player in his first game. He was helped along by Fuller getting hurt in the second half, but Coutee looks like he'll catch 4-5 passes in a lot of games. He'll be their No. 2 option when Fuller is hurt, and this is a team that will pass for 300-plus yards in a lot of games. ... The Cowboys did a good job against Odell Beckham back in Week 2 (4 for 51), but we don't want to get into worrying too much about DeAndre Hopkins. The Texans pass it a ton, and Hopkins is really hard to shut down. With a quarter of the season in the books, he's on pace for 120 catches for 1,772 yards and 8 TDs. ... The Texans don't have much of a running game. Setting aside quarterback scrambles, they're averaging 83 rushing yards per game, with one touchdown in four weeks. The offensive line isn't opening any holes, and the running backs are ordinary. They seem to be going to more of a one-two punch. Lamar Miller is averaging 56 rushing and 14 receiving yards, with one touchdown. Alfred Blue played almost as much at Indianapolis; he's averaging 29 rushing yards, albeit with just 1 catch for 4 yards. Blue isn't much of a receiver but is a bigger, more rugged runner -- he might get more goal-line carries during the season. ... The Texans aren't using their tight ends much. Ryan Griffin, Jordan Akins and Jordan Thomas are all playing, and they've all got 74-80 yards in the first four games, with no touchdowns. ... Ka'imi Fairbairn looks like a middle-of-the-pack kicker this week. He's been active recently, with 3 field goals in back-to-back games, but Houston's offensive line could struggle against one of the league's best pass rushes. ... The Texans Defense looks like a middle-of-the-pack group. It's without two of its top three cornerbacks, which is a major turnoff, but there's some pass-rush potential. Houston is on pace for 44 sacks, while Dallas' fabled offensive line isn't what it used to be. Dak Prescott as a rookie was sacked only 25 times all year. This year he's been sacked 14 times in the first four games.