2017 Texans at the bye

[Arky]

The Texans are on a much needed break. Injuries around the NFL and particularly the Texans have been abundant this year. The two week break will allow players to heal up before they come back and play a tough road game vs. the Seattle Seahawks.

Ten games remain. Besides four games against division opponents (Indy x2, Tenn, Jax) there are six games against non-division foes (all times EST):

Sun, Oct 29 @ Seattle 4:05 PM CBS
Sun, Nov 5 vs Indianapolis 1:00 PM CBS
Sun, Nov 12 @ Los Angeles 4:05 PM CBS
Sun, Nov 19 vs Arizona 1:00 PM FOX
Mon, Nov 27 @ Baltimore 8:30 PM ESPN
Sun, Dec 3 @ Tennessee 1:00 PM CBS
Sun, Dec 10 vs San Francisco 1:00 PM FOX
Sun, Dec 17 @ Jacksonville 1:00 PM CBS
Mon, Dec 25 vs Pittsburgh 4:30 PM NBC
Sun, Dec 31 @ Indianapolis 1:00 PM CBS

I've got the Seattle, LA Rams, Baltimore and Pittsburgh games as pivotal games that could make or break the season. Of course, this is the NFL and any given Sunday, yada, yada..... But if the Texans could come out of those four contests with a 2-2 or even a 3-1 record, it would greatly help their chances of going to the playoffs. Undoubtedly, they need to take care of business against their division opponents - they really should beat Indy twice, I see revenge on their side vs. the Jags and I'm not sure Titan QB Marcus Mariota is going to make it through the year....

At the beginning of the season, the Texan offense had the questions marks, the defense seemed set and ready to go. Those roles have reversed as nearly half the starting defense has been decimated by injury. Watt and Mercilus are gone for the year. K Johnson is due back soon but injured LB Dylan Cole probably has several more weeks to go. Cushing may come back but who knows at what effectiveness....

OTOH, the offense led by rookie Deshaun Watson has been a revelation. Not since the days of Schaub-in-his-prime have the Texans been filling up the offensive stat columns. Can he keep it going? As long as he remains in good health, sure, why not....

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The 3-3 Texans are 4-2 ATS. With Watson starting, they are 4-1 ATS (lone loss against KC).