On Sunday, the Houston Texans host the Buffalo Bills. These are two teams that surprised people with 2-0 starts and will meet after their first losses.
The Texans (2-1) beat Washington and Oakland before coming down to earth during a road game against the New York Giants. The Bills (2-1) beat Chicago and Miami before losing to the San Diego Chargers.
They'll both aim to show the first two games, not the last one, was indicative of who they really are. But can they? ESPN.com's Mike Rodak and Tania Ganguli sort through some details about the teams.
Ganguli: So, Mike, let's start on a happy note for both teams. One of the bright spots in the Texans’ loss to the Giants was receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who made one incredible catch that didn’t count and had 116 yards on catches that did count. His college career at Clemson was intertwined with Bills receiver Sammy Watkins’. Hopkins got his chance to shine while Watkins was suspended. It’s probably what made him a first-round draft pick. How has Watkins been so far?
Rodak: Watkins has been up and down through the first three games. He had a quiet opener, broke out for eight catches and a touchdown in Week 2 and went quiet again in Week 3. After making a few highlight-reel catches in training camp and generally impressing anybody who watched those practices, Watkins took a hit in the preseason that bruised his ribs. Last week, more than a month after that initial hit, he called it a "nagging" injury but downplayed its effect on his performance. While I think Watkins is still very much bothered by his ribs -- there was a play at the end of last Sunday's game where he clearly looked to be avoiding contact -- it's not the entire story to his slower-than-expected start. Part of the blame has to fall on EJ Manuel, whose inaccuracy has made life more difficult for Watkins.
Bills fans are all too familiar with Ryan Fitzpatrick. How is he being received in Houston and how secure is his starting spot?
Ganguli: He's not seen as the long-term solution here that the Bills apparently thought he was when they gave him a six-year, $59 million contract extension back in 2011. His starting spot is secure, especially if he plays more games like Weeks 1 and 2, when he protected the ball well, and fewer games like last week. Despite the fact that Fitzpatrick didn't come to Houston with great expectations, the reaction to last week's three-interception performance was strong. I got the sense fans felt like the dam was about to break. That doesn't have to happen, though.
Let's stick with quarterbacks since you mentioned Manuel when discussing Watkins. To what do you attribute Manuel’s struggles? Can he get better?
Rodak: There is no more pressing question for the Bills than this one. While I think Manuel has generally looked better than he was last season, the differences aren't striking. The problems we saw throughout training camp and the preseason are still there: Manuel is too spotty with his accuracy on intermediate and deep patterns and he tends to rely more on checkdowns and shorter patterns. Are either of those "fixable" issues? It's debatable. The Bills brought in a quarterbacks coach (Todd Downing) this offseason and Manuel also works with his personal coach (Steve Calhoun), so there are "teachers" who theoretically should be able to improve his play. While there have been some bright spots for Manuel in his young career, the bad has so far outweighed the good.
What's the latest on the Texans' backfield? How well did Alfred Blue fill the void last weekend?
Ganguli: Arian Foster is at a similar point he was last week, testing his hamstring to see how it does. It didn't go so well last week during practices. The Texans insist they made the decision not to start Foster immediately before the game, after working him out in New York, but based on some things I've heard, that decision was made much earlier than that. The Texans definitely lost something with Foster gone, but Blue did well. He gained 78 yards on 13 carries. He carried a lighter load than Foster had prior, in part because the Texans kept finding themselves in passing third-down situations and in part because they were playing from behind for so much of the game.
Numbers-wise it seems the Bills' run defense is a lot stronger than their pass defense, which bit them against the Chargers. When the Texans were forced into more passing situations last weekend, they struggled with Fitzpatrick throwing three interceptions. Could you see the Bills taking advantage of that as well?
Rodak: It's always a chicken-or-the-egg argument when it comes to run versus pass defense, but I think the Bills' defensive line would like to control the game as much as possible. That applies to both phases. If they can keep the running game contained, then yes, it will force the Texans into more passing situations. That's when the Bills' defensive line tends to really shine. There are three Pro Bowlers -- Mario Williams, Kyle Williams and Marcell Dareus -- who can cause all sorts of problems for an offensive line without the need to blitz. The Bills rank 23rd in blitz rate but 12th in disrupted dropback percentage, so they're putting some pressure on QBs. That should help a secondary that was exposed a bit against the Chargers last week.
How is this Texans team 2-1? Does Bill O'Brien deserve most of the credit or was this a talented roster that had a down year in 2013?
Ganguli: It's so hard to make sweeping statements about why the Texans' record is what it is when there are only three games to examine. The roster definitely isn't a 2-14 roster; it has a lot of talent on it. The head coach's message has done well with his players. But with 13 games remaining, they can still define their identity.
