Quick Hits: Texans vs. Panthers

It’s that time of the week again. With the Houston Texans about to square off with a Cam Newton-less Carolina Panthers, and J.J. Watt only six sacks and five holding penalties away from hitting the century mark, this weekend might provide some great fireworks for Texans fans. With that, here’s all those wonderful numbers that make football fandom so much fun:

• These two teams have split their games against each other 2-2. The first match-up between the newest franchise and the third newest one was on 11/2/2003, when Houston quarterback Tony Banks (remember him?) threw a game-winning touchdown to tight end Billy Martin for a fourth quarter comeback victory.
• Carolina head coach Ron Rivera is 2-0 against your Houston Texans, while Bill O’Brien is 0-1 against the Panthers.
• Houston tailback Carlos Hyde is averaging a solid 4.8 yards per carry, despite a slower performance against the Chargers last week. The Panthers’ Christian McCaffrey is chewing up yards at 5.4 per run. Watching Houston’s front seven against McCaffrey in an offense missing its star quarterback might be the measure of this game.
• Backup quarterback Kyle Allen has completed 19 of 26 passes for 261 yards, four touchdowns, and no picks, as often happens when a player comes in with no game tape for the opposing defense to dissect.
• Deshaun Watson is 61 of 93 for 778 yards with six touchdowns and one INT.
• Last week, Deshaun Watson became the fourth fastest player in NFL history to throw 50 touchdowns, doing it in only 26 games. Against the Chargers, Watson amassed 351 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, and a quarterback rating of 135.8. It was his first career game with 300+ pass yards, 3+ TD, and 0 INT. Pretty good for a guy touted as having weak arm strength and a penchant for throwing too many picks when he was coming out for the 2017 NFL Draft.
• Carlos Hyde has eclipsed the century mark in yards from scrimmage in two of his last four games at home against NFC opponents.
• McCaffrey is the fourth player in NFL history with 185+ scrimmage yards and a TD in two of team’s first first games of a season. He’s racked up 100+ scrimmage yards in ten of his past twelve games.
• Duke Johnson Jr., Houston’s other feature running back, has 2,225 receiving yards in his career, the most of any running back in that time span.
• DeAndre Hopkins hauled in six catches for 67 yards last week. This week, he’ll have the chance for his seventh game in row with 5+ catches. Hopkins has 405 receiving yards (101.3 per game) and three TDs in his past four matchups against NFC South opponents.
• Carolina tight end Greg Olsen (whose brother lives in Cypress) led the Panthers with six catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns last week, his fiveth career game with 2+ receiving TDs.
• Texans superstar J.J. Watt scored two sacks last week, nailing his 25th career game with 2+ sacks. The last time Watt met the Panthers, he had one sack and batted two passes down. Watt currently has 2.5 sacks, one forced fumble, and one pass defensed in his past three at home.
• Defensive tackle D.J. Reader had a career game last week, with 1.5 sacks and numerous disruptions.
• The reemergence of Whitney Mercilus is a real thing. Last week, Mercilus landed another sack and forced another fumble. This week, Mercilus is shooting for his fourth game in a row with sack. Mercilus is the only player in NFL this year with 2+ forced fumbles (3), at least one sack (4) and an interception (1).
• In other news, this is what Jadeveon Clowney has done in three games for the Seahawks:

• Panthers defensive end Mario Addison tied his career high with three sacks last week. Addison has 4.5 sacks in his past four road games. This week, he’s shooting for his third road game in row with a sack.
• Linebacker Luke Kuechly had ten tackles last week and leads the NFL with 36 tackles in 2019.
• Houston’s newest addition to the safety corps, Tashaun Gipson, is angling for his third straight home game against the NFC South with an interception. Meanwhile, Panthers cornerback Donte Jackson had two picks last week, which marked his second career game with 2+ interceptions.

What stat do you think will be most memorable from this week’s game? Give us your take in the box!