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J.J. Watt’s back has ruined the NFL’s planned narrative (not to mention fantasy football teams all season). When the NFL schedule makers planned to send the Chargers to visit the Texans, they fully intended to see Derek Watt playing against big brother J.J. this afternoon, to see whether J.J. tackled his middle brother (the youngest, T.J. Watt, is still at Wisconsin) like he tackles everyone else. But that won’t be occurring today. Instead, Derek Watt will be playing against Jadeveon Clowney, Whitney Mercilus, Brian Cushing, and Vince Wilfork (doesn’t seem much better, but I digress).
The last time these two teams met, the Texans pulled out a win after looking like hot trash and going down 21 points. This time, the Texans cannot afford to be that far behind and hope to win.
What do you think will happen today? Will Philip Rivers demonstrate that he’s actually a pretty d@mn good quarterback? Will Melvin Gordon follow Derek Watt to glory? Will Brock Osweiler look like he’s worth $30+ million in guarantees? Will Clowney prove that he’s worth a contract extension? This is where we discuss the game before the game. Chill here until the first quarter thread opens up 15 minutes before the game. Inactives will post around 10:30 a.m.