Lions vs. Texans preview: Injuries, bad o

For those children of the new millennium, a matchup between the Houston Texans and Detroit Lions often meant a game between two teams destined for the offseason. A slew of high draft picks, disappointment, and constant turnover.

In the year 2024, however, we're looking at two of the better football teams this league has to offer.

Football is back once again, and we would never pass up the opportunity to get some intel from the opponent's perspective. We called on Scott Barzilla of BattleRedBlog.com to give us a glimpse into how and why things have gone a bit sideways in recent weeks, who Nico Collins might remind you of, and how they're shaping up ahead of this Week 10 matchup.

I'm a firm believer that no sweeping conclusions can be made about a football team based on how they play on a Thursday, but we all just watched the Houston Texans drop a game to a New York Jets team that reeks of dysfunction. After two losses in the past three weeks, is this just a bit of turbulence, or a sign of some bigger issues creeping their way to the surface?

It's a combination of injuries taking their toll and bad offensive line play. The over abundance of weapons helped ease the line issues as teams really couldn't afford to single cover those three receivers. When you went down to two and then one, it was easier to neutralize that and pressure Stroud. We hope Collins comes back this week and if he does that will help tremendously.

The Texans added some high-profile skill players during the offseason, trading for wideout Stefon Diggs and running back Joe Mixon. Diggs' season-ending ACL injury made a tough situation even more difficult after the team had already put Nico Collins on injured reserve a few weeks prior.

Collins could return ahead of this matchup with the Lions, so tell us how this Texans' passing attack most benefits with him back out on the field–and your level of confidence in Collins, Tank Dell, and C.J. Stroud getting the passing game back on track this week.

Collins is like a poor man's Justin Jefferson and was even more productive until he got hurt in the Buffalo game. He helps take the top off the defense, but also has a knack for syncing with Stroud on those off schedule plays. You essentially have to keep a safety on his side of the field, so that should open things up for Tank Dell and the tight ends.

To circle back to Mixon, he ranks ninth among running backs in yards after contact (418 yards, 3.32 YCO/A) and he's shouldering the workload unlike any other back: his 21.0 rushing attempts per game lead the league. Houston ranks 20th in rush DVOA this year, but after finishing 30th in the NFL a year ago, that's obviously a big step in the right direction.

Where have you seen these improvements on game day, and what has Mixon done to help pull this running game to being respectable this year?

Simply put, he makes enough guys miss to cover for bad blocking. He is especially adept at making quick cuts so that the line doesn't have to sustain blocks as long. J.J. Taylor showed some flashes last week but otherwise Mixon is the only back that has experienced sustained success.

Is there a player or two you could highlight from this Texans team that may fly under the radar nationally and will ultimately surprise Lions' fans by their level of compete?

On offense, I keep waiting for (tight end) Dalton Schultz to break out. If the Lions key on Collins this could end up being the week. On defense, Denico Autry had two sacks last week and appears to be rounding into shape. Kamari Lassiter and Calen Bullock have combined for four picks in the secondary.

Could you talk about the pair of premier edge rushers in Houston and how key they've been in their ability to get after the quarterback? And aside from their pass rush, what else on the defensive side of the ball has helped make the Texans pass defense (sixth in DVOA) one of the better units in football?

You can't double both of them, so at least one will apply pressure. Will Anderson is likely a game time decision, but he has been huge the last several weeks as some of those pressures have turned into sacks.