Falcons-Texans Preview Capsule
ATLANTA (1-3) at HOUSTON (2-2)
Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, Fox
OPENING LINE - Texans by 4ˆ½
RECORD VS. SPREAD - Falcons 1-3, Texans 2-2
SERIES RECORD - Tied 2-2
LAST MEETING - Falcons beat Texans 48-21, Oct. 4, 2015
LAST WEEK - Falcons lost to Titans 24-10; Texans lost to Panthers 16-10
AP PRO32 RANKING - Falcons No. 26, Texans No. 17
FALCONS OFFENSE - OVERALL (11), RUSH (27), PASS (2)
FALCONS DEFENSE - OVERALL (9), RUSH (15), PASS (25)
TEXANS OFFENSE - OVERALL (22), RUSH (11), PASS (27)
TEXANS DEFENSE - OVERALL (17), RUSH (16), PASS (12)
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES - Falcons have lost six straight and 12 of past 13 games to AFC opponents. ... Fifth-year Atlanta coach Dan Quinn is 6-13, including Super Bowl loss, against AFC. ... Bill O’Brien, in sixth year with Houston, is 8-14 vs. NFC. ... Falcons 18-18 since start of 2017. Texans are 17-19 over same span. ... Atlanta is minus-5 in turnover differential. Houston is plus-2. ... Falcons QB Matt Ryan ranks second in league in yards passing and in completions for a first down with 65. ... Atlanta WR Julio Jones last week surpassed 11,000 career yards receiving, becoming fastest to reach that mark in league history in 115 games. Calvin Johnson, previous record holder, got there in 127. ... Atlanta RB Devonta Freeman is averaging just 3.3 yards per carry on 47 attempts. ... Falcons TE Austin Hooper ranks fifth at his position with 307 yards receiving. ... Atlanta K Matt Bryant, 44, ranks 10th in NFL history with an 89.5 percent average on field-goal attempts. ... Texans have forced a turnover in 17 consecutive games, NFL’s longest active streak. ... Texans have 13 sacks to rank sixth in NFL. ... Houston’s offense is 7 for 10 in red zone to rank fifth. ... Texans QB Deshaun Watson needs 198 yards passing to reach 7,000 yards in 28 career games. In NFL history, only Kurt Warner, Dan Marino and Marc Bulger reached 7,000 in fewer games. ... Houston ranks fifth in NFL with 5.12 yards per carry. ... Texans RB Carlos Hyde has team-best 250 yards rushing. ... Texans LCB Johnathan Joseph needs two pass breakups to move past Ronde Barber for the most career games (49) with multiple pass breakups in NFL history. ... Houston OLB Whitney Mercilus needs one sack to become fifth Texans player to get one in five straight games. Mercilus looking to force fumble in fourth consecutive game. ... Texans FS Justin Reid leads team with 26 solo stops. ... Houston LDE J.J. Watt has team-best eight tackles for losses. ... Texans FS Mike Adams signed this week and is with sixth team since debuting in 2004. ... Fantasy Tip: Watson averaged just 4.8 yards per attempt last week and did not exceed 160 yards passing for the second time this season, but should match up well against an Atlanta defense that’s often been out of position in coverage.
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