Washington Commanders vs Houston Texans Preview: 3 matchups to watch

The Washington Commanders were coming off a come from behind loss to the Minnesota Vikings and were 11 point road underdogs against the 8-0 Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football. That didn’t stop them from reading last week’s 3 Matchups to watch, and containing Jalen Hurts, running the ball to exploit their defense’s weakness, and winning the turnover battle.

They are coming into this game as favorites, and Ron Rivera, Taylor Heinicke, Terry McLaurin, and others have been making the point this week that you can’t underestimate them. Washington felt disrespected coming into Monday Night Football, and the Texans will be feeling the same way tomorrow. They started the week as 3 point road favorites and that line has held all week. You can check out the odds for this one courtesy of our friends at DraftKings Sportsbook.

Matchup 1: Davis Mills vs Washington’s defense

Davis Mills is not a great QB, and it’s going to be night and day. Mills has been sacked 23 times this season, and Washington will likely add a few to that total tomorrow. Mills isn’t a very mobile QB, so pressure him into making mistakes and it should be a good day for Washington’s defense. Mills has only thrown 11 TDs this year, and has thrown 9 interceptions in 9 games. He’s also fumbled the ball 4 times, losing it once.

Matchup 2: Washington’s RBs vs Texans defense

The Houston Texans defense has allowed the highest yards per game(181.8) in the league entering Week 11. Their 5.2 YPC average is 3rd-worst in the NFL. They’ve also allowed the 3rd-most TDs(13) on the ground. Washington’s running backs will continue to be Antonio Gibson and Brian Robinson. They controlled the game on the ground last week against the Eagles, and will win if they can duplicate that against another terrible rushing defense.

Matchup 3: Keep the Taylor to Terry connection going

It’s really been night and day watching Terry McLaurin over the last 4 games, compared to the first 6 games with Carson Wentz. He has an amazing connection with Taylor Heinicke and you can see the fire really coming out after every big catch, and every win. It shouldn’t be difficult to get your best WR involved early and often, but with the Wentz/Scott Turner combo it just wasn’t clicking. McLaurin has more yards over the last 4 games(370) than he had over the first 6 games(364).