The Miami Dolphins will head out west to the Lone Star State to face the Houston Texans this Sunday. The game will take place at 1pm eastern standard time at NRG Stadium. The Texans sit at 8-5 and are currently 1st in the AFC South division. For the Texans, this game is an opportunity to solidify their lead in the division, while the Dolphins desperately need this win to keep their playoff hopes alive. Below I will break down both teams strengths and weaknesses, as well as how I believe the game will go. Let’s get into it.
For Houston, it all starts with their 2nd year quarterback out of The Ohio State University, CJ Stroud. Stroud is having a sophomore slump of sorts, as he has a touchdown to interception ratio of 15 to 9. Regardless, Stroud has still shown elite quarterback play less than 35 games into his NFL career.
Houston has a new running back in town this year in Joe Mixon, who has been nothing short of a rockstar. Mixon is top 11 in the NFL in all of carries, yards, and touchdowns. Shutting down the Houston run game and specifically Mixon will be Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weavers number 1 priority.
Houston also has a deep receiving core that Miami will have issues with. Nico Collins, Tank Dell, John Metchie III, and Dalton Schultz are Stroud’s primary targets. It should be worth noting Miami struggled against the Jets receiving group last Sunday.
On the defensive side for Houston, they will be without their Mike linebacker and former FAU star Azeez Al-Shaair. This is a tough loss for Houston, as Miami has an unpredictable motion heavy offense that puts linebackers in uncomfortable positions. Houston will line up young linebacker Henry To’oTo’o and former first round pick Devin White in Azeez’s absence.
Houston’s front is ferocious, and will be a tough task for Miami who will be starting their two backup tackles. With Terron Armstead getting injured against New York and Austin Jackson being out for the year, rookie Patrick Paul and Kendall Lamm should be starting in their absence. Houston has Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson coming off the edge, so blocking those two should be an issue.
Where Miami can take care of business is with their weapons against a younger Houston secondary. Houston’s secondary consists of rookie Kamari Lassiter, rookie Calen Bullock, Derek Stingley Jr, Jimmie Ward, and Jalen Pitre. This is a talented group who will have their hands full with Miami’s track team of weapons.
In terms of the game on Sunday, I believe Houston can dominate Miami’s defensive personnel. Miami is coming off two bad defensive performances against the Green Bay Packers and New York Jets. Before they played two of the worst offenses in the NFL, they also struggled against Arizona and Buffalo. Nothing has pointed to Miami being able to play capable defense against league above average offenses. If Miami wants to be in this game, they need to start fast on offense. If Tua Tagovailoa continues to play the way he has been, this shouldn’t be an issue.
This game I believe has two very evenly matched opponents, both are in that second tier of NFL organizations who cannot beat the league’s best teams. Both have star quarterbacks, Tagovailoa has already been paid while Stroud will be paid in due time.
My official prediction for this game is Houston 28 Miami 25.