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The Houston Texans face the mother of all challenges when they take on the Arizona Cardinals this week. The Texans are 1-5 this season, whereas the Cardinals are free of any blemish on their 6-0 run.
Going into the game, there does not look to be much going on for the Texans. But if they must beat the Cardinals, there are some things they must execute perfectly.
It's going to be tough either way, but if they want to spring an upset, here are some of the things they must do right.
What should the Texans do to beat the Cardinals?
#1 - Keep the ball at all costs
The Texans have been woeful this season and the Cardinals are their toughest challenge yet. But peer under the curtain a bit and the reasons for their blowout losses become clear.
They lost to the Bills and the Colts by 40 and 28 points respectively and had a combined total of eight turnovers in those games. In the other games, they had a combined total of three.
For the Texans, the road to beating the Cardinals begins with the fundamentals: keeping the ball.
#2 - Keep the pocket clean for Davis Mills
The Houston Texans offensive line is about as bad as advertised, but their pass protection has not been the worst. Following on from the first point, if the Texans need to reduce turnovers, they need to keep the pocket clean for Davis Mills.
Encouragingly, pass protection is just about one area where the Houston Texans are not at the bottom of the league. Their 7.1% sack rate allowed is close to the league average and the Cardinals are without Chandler Jones.
If the Cardinals can be stopped from hammering Davis Mills, the Texans have a chance.
#3 - Use the running game effectively
The Cardinals' defense has been good this season, but if there is a slight chink in the armor, it is in the rush defense. They were ranked 28th before their last game but improved to 23rd after their performance against the Cleveland Browns.
The Texans came into the Colts game with Mark Ingram averaging 3.1 yards per carry. Yet on an otherwise hopeless afternoon for the Texans, Ingram had 4.1 yards per carry against the Colts.
That's the performance they need to carry on from against the Cardinals.
Taking the steps above should give the Texans a reasonable chance to win against the Cardinals. It will still be a tough ask, but without them, they have almost no chance.
