The Houston Texans will put their unbeaten preseason on the line when they take on the Los Angeles Rams in Week 3 of the 2018 NFL Preseason at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, August 25, 2018.
The Texans are 2-0 in this preseason with victories over the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers. On the other hand, the Rams beat the Oakland Raiders last week after losing to the Baltimore Ravens in their opening preseason match.
Sophomore quarterback DeShaun Watson looked great in his return for the Texans. Watson appeared headed for superstardom with a fast start to his rookie season last year, throwing for 19 touchdowns in his first 7 games. However, he was forced to sit out the remainder of the season after tearing his ACL in practice.
Watson threw only one pass during Texans’ preseason opener but he completed five out of eight passes for 73 yards and orchestrated a touchdown during Saturday’s win over the 49ers. It’s obvious that the key to the Texans’ season is keeping Watson healthy for a full season and that means making sure he comes out of this preseason without any injury.
Backup quarterback Brandon Weeden threw for 7-15 for 50 yards while Joe Webb added 127 passing yards with one touchdown and one interception. Wide receiver Bruce Ellington led the Texans with four catches for 50 yards with one touchdown. Ellington looked in synch with Watson and that was a good sign for Houston.
Justin Reid had six tackles against the Niners while Johnson Bademosi had one interception. Houston’s defense has been solid throughout the preseason, allowing just a total of 23 points while forcing 4 turnovers in two games played.
In their first two preseason games, most of the Los Angeles Rams’ starters have spent much time on their brench. So far, only Samson Ebukam and Jamon Brown are the starters on offense and defense have gotten minutes so far in their first two games. Rams head coach Sean McVay has decided to rest his big guns in the preseason, perhaps to keep them fresh for the gruelling regular season.
Despite McVay’s strategy, the Rams have salvaged their preseason with a win over their rival Raiders. Starting quarterback Jared Goff was benched for the second consecutive preseason game. In his absence, Sean Mannion and Brandon Allen combined to throw 16-27 for 152 yards during the Rams’ 19-15 win over the Raiders. John Kelly rushed for 56 yards on 18 carries and had one touchdown. Henry Krieger Coble and KhaDarel Hodge combined for 92 receiving yards on three receptions. Rookie offensive lineman Joseph Noteboom displayed his versatility by playing left and right tackles plus right guard in one game.
On defense, Bryce Hager led Los Angeles with 5 tackles while Justin Lawler had one sack. As a team, the Rams had a total of seven sacks and 11 tackles for loss in their first two preseason games, proving their preseason reputation as one of the best defenses in the league to be correct.
Rams coach Sean McVay hasn’t played starting quarterback Jared Goff yet in this preseason and it may not be likely that McVay is just going to play Goff regular minutes right away in this game, if at all he’s going to give his starting quarterback some minutes. Moreso, Is he going to do so against a Texans team that has above average pass rush defense?
On the other bench, Bill O’Brien treats preseason more than just a dress rehearsal. O’Brien has won three of four games in Week 3 of the preseason. The Texans are also going to get an added boost in this game as superstar wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins figures to suit up in this contest after not playing the first two. With DeShaun Watson having his primary target back, O’Brien should have a good chance of making it four out of five week 3 wins.
It’s hard to say how much playing time the Rams’ starters are going to get in this “meaningless” game really and with most of them riding the bench in the first two preseason games, maybe coach McVay doesn’t really care much about winning in the preseason. Let’s not forget that McVay played star running back Todd Curley to just six carries in last year’s preseason so parking his best men isn’t new to the Rams.
The Texans have won seven out of their last nine preseason games while the Rams have won just half of their last six preseason contests. With the Rams’ intentions in the preseason looking like a mystery, and the Texans playing well in the first two weeks, we’re going with the road team here. We’re picking the Houston Texans to beat the Los Angeles Rams on 8/25/18.
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
