NFL Week 10: Lions at Texans — Four Things to Watch For

[ { "name": "Related Stories / Support Us Combo", "component": "11591218", "insertPoint": "4", "requiredCountToDisplay": "4" },{ "name": "Air - Billboard - Inline Content", "component": "11591214", "insertPoint": "2/3", "requiredCountToDisplay": "7" },{ "name": "R1 - Beta - Mobile Only", "component": "12287027", "insertPoint": "8", "requiredCountToDisplay": "8" },{ "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size 2", "component": "11591215", "insertPoint": "12", "requiredCountToDisplay": "12" },{ "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size 2", "component": "11591215", "insertPoint": "4th", "startingPoint": "16", "requiredCountToDisplay": "12" } While the news is overall good on Nico Collins' hamstring injury, it would appear that the Texans are exercising extreme caution and there's a good chance he doesn't play this weekend. I am basing that on Collins' being absent from practice both Wednesday and Thursday this week. DeMeco Ryans has said that players need to practice if they're going to play. We know, too, that Stefon Diggs is out for the season. It's time for Bobby Slowik to prove that he is worthy of the head coach buzz he was getting last season. It's time for Slowik to run some plays that scheme lesser players open against good defenders. It's time for Slowik to do SOMETHING. Goff's entire run as the quarterback of the Lions, since 2021, has been an amazing story, because the conventional wisdom seemed to be that he was a throw-in for the Matt Stafford trade, and the Lions would be drafting a young quarterback. That obviously has not been the case. Goff has been solid since arriving in Detroit, and this season he is having an MVP caliber season. He's made very few mistakes. That will need to change on Sunday. The Texans will need to force some turnovers, and that comes with applying heat on Goff. If Will Anderson doesn't play, DeMeco Ryans may have rely on blitzing to do so, but when Goff has had time to throw, he's been surgical this season, with a completion rate of nearly 75 percent. Improving the team's tackling had been a focal point for the Texans coming into the season. For a head coach who skews toward leaving criticism behind closed doors, DeMeco Ryans was very open about his dissatisfaction with the team's tackling in 2023. Out of the gate this season, the Texans were one of the best tackling teams in football. That didn't last. They've gotten back into some bad habits. That can't happen on Sunday, if they want to have a chance. The Lions' two running backs (David Montgomery, Jammer Gibbs) are among the best after contact in all of football, and many of the Lions' concepts in the passing game are designed to get guys on the run, in space, and get yards after the catch. Limiting the yards after catch is a must. As promised, protecting Stroud will remain the number one priority in this space, until the Texans prove they can do it at a merely below average level. Right now, they are so far below average, they are under the stadium. Once again, against the Jets last Thursday, they allowed pressure on Stroud on over half of his drop backs. He was sacked eight times. Most importantly and urgently, the pressured drop backs seem to be affecting him on ALL of his drop backs, as Stroud's pocket presence and feel have taken a hit. The key thing for this matchup in limiting pressure is the Lions' ability to turn teams over. Their safety duo of Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch have together picked off 10 passes. Stroud needs time to make his reads and make good decisions, not to mention avoid dying on the field from another dozen or so hits from opposing defensive linemen. SPREAD: Texans +3.5 PREDICTION: Lions 37, Texans 24