2. The Ravens defense will put it all on Watson:
When you look at the Houston Texans, you almost have to wonder where the points are supposed to come from. They have a great quarterback in Deshaun Watson, other than that the offense doesn’t look that intimidating. This is especially true for the Ravens because Marlon Humphrey can neutralize their biggest weapon, Will Fuller. Fuller was the only Texans player with more than three receptions in the NFL kickoff game and some of those grabs came when the game was already out of hand for Houston.
While the Ravens entered the season with possibly the most doubted group of NFL receivers, the Texans have underwhelming talent at this position. Other than Fuller, the Texans have Brandin Cooks and Jordan Aikens as the main two pass catchers.
Cooks is fast but he’s dealt with a lot of injuries and he saw a drop in production in the 2018 season. Aikens is a good tight end, but he’s not one of the NFL’s best or anything, Jackson and the offense can take David Johnson and the run game out of the equation, though Johnson may not have a ton of success against this now warmed up Ravens defense.
If the Ravens can stop Fuller, they can completely handle the Texans. Marlon Humphrey will be tasked with this and the advantage has to go to the Ravens here. Odell Beckham Jr. was just held to three receptions for 22 yards, this will be just another day in the office for Humphrey. Humphrey will limit Fuller. Marcus Peters and Tavon Young will take turns covering Brandin Cooks.
Watson will have to extend plays and play hero football just to keep the offense on the field. If this game goes according to expectations, the Texans weaponry won’t help Watson out too much in this game. We saw what that meant in this match up last year (and the Texans don’t have DeAndre Hopkins anymore). Watson will turnover the football and have a rough day of work.