ARIZONA (2-8) at HOUSTON (5-4)
Sunday, 1:00 PM EST, CBS.
OPENING LINE: Texas with 4 1/2, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
AGAINST THE SPREAD: Arizona 5-5; Houston 5-4.
SERIES RECORD: Cardinals lead 3-2.
LAST MEETING: Cardinals defeated Texans 31-5 on Oct. 24, 2021 in Arizona.
LAST WEEK: Cardinals beat Falcons 25-23; Texans defeated Bengals 30-27.
CARDINALS OFFENSE: TOTAL (25), RUSHING (9), PASSING (31), POINTS (25).
CARDINALS DEFENSE: TOTALS (22), BUMPS (28), PASSING (11), POINTS (28).
TEXANS OFFENSE: TOTALS (6), BUMPS (25), PASSING (2), POINTS (10).
TEXANS DEFENSE: TOTAL (21), RUSH (8), PASS (24), POINTS (17).
TURNING DIFFERENTIAL: Cardinals minus-3; Texans plus-4.
CARDINALS PLAYER TO WATCH: TE Trey McBride had the best game of his career in last week’s win, catching eight passes for 131 yards. The second-year player was the first Cardinal tight end to have more than 100 yards receiving since 1989. The 6-foot-4, 246-pounder has quickly emerged as one of the team’s top playmakers and is third on the team with 418 yards receiving.
TEXANS PLAYER TO WATCH: WR Noah Brown set career highs with seven catches for 172 yards last week for the most receiving yards by a Texan since 2019. He joins Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins as the only players in franchise history with back-to-back 150-yard receiving games after having 153 two weeks ago.
KEY AGAINST: Houston QB CJ Stroud vs. Arizona’s pass defense. The second overall pick ranks second in the NFL with 2,626 passing yards and has 15 touchdowns with just two interceptions. Stroud is the second rookie in NFL history with back-to-back games of at least 350 yards passing, and a 350-yard game Sunday would make him the first rookie to have three in a row. He will face a pass defense that ranks 11th in the NFL allowing just 208.4 passing yards after holding the Falcons to a season-low 70 yards last week.
KEY INJURIES: Cardinals OT DJ Humphries has been limited in practice with an ankle injury. He missed the Falcons game with the same injury. … DL Jonathan Ledbetter (shoulder) and WR Zach Pascal (hamstring) were injured against the Falcons and did not practice Wednesday. … Houston WR Nico Collins is ready to return after sitting out last week with a calf injury. … RB Dameon Pierce likely to miss third straight game with ankle injury. … It’s unclear if LB Henry To’oTo’o will play this week after sitting out against the Bengals recovering from a concussion.
SERIES NOTES: The Cardinals have won three of their last four meetings. … The Texans won the opener, 30-19, in 2005. … The Cardinals are looking for their first road win in the series.
STATS AND STUFF: The Cardinals and Texans were among six teams to make a game-winning FG with no time left in regulation in Week 10. That’s the most in a regulation week in NFL history. … Cardinals rookie LB BJ Ojulari had two sacks against the Falcons last week. … K Matt Prater made FGs of 56 and 51 yards last Sunday and leads the franchise with 17 FGs of 50 yards or more. His 76 FGs of 50 yards or more are the most in NFL history. … Cardinals OT Paris Johnson Jr. played at Ohio State with Stroud providing protection to a QB who was a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2021 and 2022. … Arizona ranks ninth in the league with 126.5 rushing yards per game. … Greg Dortch had a 49-yard punt return for the Cardinals last Sunday, the franchise’s longest since Ted Ginn’s 71-yard return in 2014 … Houston is looking to win three straight games for the first time since 2018 … Last week, the Texans became the first team since Indianapolis in 1998 to have a 350-yard passer, a 150-yard rusher (Devin Singletary) and a 150-yard receiver in the same game. … Singletary’s 150 yards was a career high and it was the first time the Texans had a 150-yard rusher since 2019. … Collins has 448 receiving yards and four touchdowns in four home games this season. … WR Tank Dell has at least 55 yards receiving and TD in back-to-back games. He ranks second among rookies with five TD receptions and is fifth with 510 receiving yards. … TE Dalton Schultz has a touchdown reception in his last three home games. … DT Sheldon Rankins had a career-high three sacks and his fifth career forced fumble last week. … LB Jonathan Greenard had his seventh sack of the season against Cincinnati. … CB Tavierre Thomas led the team with eight tackles last week. … S DeAndre Houston-Carson had his first interception of the season against the Bengals.
FANTASY TIP: Collins could be a good pickup after having two games with more than 145 receiving yards at home this season.
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