Quick Hits: Texans vs. Saints

With just a few more sleeps between now and real football, it’s time to dissect history to learn what to expect in Monday night’s Houston Texans - New Orleans Saints season opener.

• These two teams have only met four times, splitting the games with two wins each. They last met on 11/29/2015 when Houston took the win 24-6 at NRG Stadium. The last time they met in New Orleans was 9/25/2011 in a barn burner that saw 73 combined points with the Saints winning 40-33.
• Last year, the Texans put up 25.1 points per game while the Saints delivered 31.5. Houston gave up an average of 19.8 points while the Saints let opponents score an average of 22.1.
• To say these two teams are pass happy is an understatement. Last year Deshaun Watson and Drew Brees threw for a combined total of 8,157 yards.
• The two WR1s caught a whopping 240 passes with DeAndre Hopkins edging out Michael Thomas at 13.7 yards per catch to 11.2.
• Hopkins has the most catches (528) in the first six years of a player’s career in the 100 year history of the NFL.
• Thomas is one of three players in NFL history with 1,100+ yards in each of his first three seasons, joining Randy Moss and Odell Beckham Jr.
• Houston ended last season with a +13 turnover margin, while the Saints had +8; that helped both win their respective divisions.
• In 2018 Deshaun Watson became the first quarterback in NFL history to pass for 4,000+ yards with 25+ touchdown passes and run for 500 yards with 5+ rushing touchdowns.
• On the other side, Drew Brees is the current NFL passing leader with 74,437 yards in his career and only needs six touchdowns to pass Peyton Manning as the NFL’s all-time passing touchdown leader. Last year, Brees set an all-time NFL mark with a 74.4 completion percentage and ended the year with a quarterback rating of 115.7.
• Defensively, J.J. Watt is averaging .88 sacks per game, the highest in NFL history (since the league started tracking sacks in 1982, at least).
• Benardrick McKinney is one of two players with 300+ tackles and 9+ sacks since 2016.
• Johnathan Joseph leads all active players with most passes defended at 181.
• Justin Reid led the Texans with three picks last season, including the longest one by a rookie in Texans history; it was returned for a touchdown against Washington.

• For the Saints, Cameron Jordan is coming off his fourth year with 10+ sacks. He has had seven or more sacks in seven straight seasons.
• The Saints are currently seven-point favorites with an over/under set at 53.5 points. If each team can avoid the injury bug, expect this game to be one of the more exciting games on the Monday Night Football slate in 2019.

What are you expecting? Give us some predictions (score, yards, turnovers, sacks, etc.) in the comments box.