Voltar
The Houston Texans' Week 7 matchup against the New York Giants is sitting right around the corner.
And it's a game that, for the Texans, could hold some pretty high stakes for a few reasons.
They're back at home after a trip over the pond to London, they'll be looking to keep their recent momentum going to stamp a third-straight victory in the books, and of course, this game will mark wide receiver Tank Dell's first game back on the field since his knee injury suffered in December of 2024.
The Houston home crowd will be hungry for a win, and as will the Texans' roster in order to head into the bye on a high note.
But just how will the Texans and Giants' actions end up unraveling this Sunday? Let's break down a batch of three bold predictions for what this game might actually end up looking like:
The Texans are going to be without David Montgomery for a second-straight game in this one, as he'll be sidelined due to a groin injury he suffered back in Week 5 vs. the New York Giants.
On paper, losing your starting running back for a second week isn't the most ideal situation to be put in. But the good news for the Texans is that they have an explosive runner in Woody Marks ready to line up right behind him, especially coming fresh off one of his best performances of the 2026 season so far.
Last week, Marks combined for over 80 yards from scrimmage against a Jacksonville Jaguars run defense that stands among the best in the league. This week, Houston is facing a New York rushing defense that sits among the bottom five in the NFL for average rushing yards allowed per game.
If the Texans are able to get ahead early, or if Marks is simply able to pop off a couple of big runs over the course of the day this weekend, perhaps an even better showing from last week is in store for Houston's potent running back.
Last weekend against the Jaguars, the Texans' production on the defensive line wasn't anywhere close to the level we widely know them to be. Houston recorded a total of zero team sacks for the first time since the 2024 season.
That number feels bound to look a bit different this weekend against the Giants. The Texans are back at home in front of a raging Reliant Stadium crowd against the task of J.J. McCarthy and a New York offensive line that had both of their tackles–– Andrew Thomas and Jermaine Eluemunor–– on the injury report throughout the entire week.
And the one name that I'll be keeping the closest watch of is the NFL's current league leader in sacks in Will Anderson Jr.
He's going to be gunning for that Defensive Player of the Year award over the second half of the season, and a dominant two-sack performance in Houston's game right before the bye could give him the exact momentum necessary to go on a dominant run over the next few showings.
This would really be something. For Tank Dell to get a touchdown reception in his first game back on the field in over 650 days in front of a home crowd in Houston could be the plot of a sports movie.
So with that outcome being a real possibility in Dell's return, why not speak it into existence here?
Now, expectations should be tempered for Dell's first game back in a Texans uniform. He'll likely only get a select number of snaps throughout the day as the offensive staff works him back into the game plan, along with the fact that this Houston receiver core looks about as deep as it's ever been.
However, rest assured that the Texans will involve Dell in some sort of fashion throughout the day. He will get a catch, or maybe even two, and that might just lead to one of the more poetic touchdown scores in franchise history.