Texans' top-rated defense faces high-scoring Broncos in a crucial matchup

Denver (6-2) at Houston (3-4)

Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, FOX.

BetMGM line: Texans by 1 ½.

Against the spread: Broncos 3-4-1, Texans 3-4.

Series record: Broncos lead 6-4.

Last meeting: Texans beat Broncos 22-17 on Dec. 3, 2023, in Houston.

Last week: Broncos beat Cowboys 44-24; Texans beat 49ers 26-15.

Broncos offense: overall (9), rush (T3), pass (14), scoring (10)

Broncos defense: overall (5), rush (10), pass (7), scoring (5)

Texans offense: overall (17), rush (17), pass (16), scoring (20)

Texans defense: overall (1), rush (5), pass (4), scoring (1)

Turnover differential: Broncos-minus 1; Texans-plus 4

ILB Dre Greenlaw returns from a one-game suspension for berating a referee following his Denver debut two weeks ago. Greenlaw was the Broncos’ prized free agent acquisition but a strained quadriceps bothered him all offseason and sidelined him for the first 1 1/2 months of the season. He finally got back against the New York Giants and had six tackles in just 21 snaps. The Broncos are glad he’ll be back in the lineup while they navigate the injury to star cornerback Patrick Surtain II, whose absence will alter the way coordinator Vance Joseph deploys his defense.

QB C.J. Stroud. He is coming off his best game of the season where he had seasons highs in completions (30) and yards (318) and threw two touchdown passes. He completed passes to nine different players to lead the offense despite missing star receiver Nico Collins, who was out after sustaining a concussion. Stroud has five touchdown passes with just one interception combined in three home games this season.

Houston’s top-rated defense vs. Denver’s high-scoring offense. The Texans lead the NFL in both yards (266.9) and points (14.7) allowed. The Broncos have been hot since scoring all their points in the fourth quarter of a 33-32 win against the Giants two weeks ago before scoring 44 Sunday against Dallas. Their point total in the past two games is more than the 69 points Houston’s stingy defense has allowed in the past five games combined. The Texans forced San Francisco to three consecutive three-and-outs to start last week’s game and limited them to only about five minutes of possession in the first half.

Broncos: Surtain will miss multiple weeks after straining his left pectoral muscle making a tackle last week. ... TE Nate Adkins (knee) is also expected to miss multiple games after getting hurt against the Cowboys. He was the team’s best blocking tight end until they signed 41-year-old Marcedes Lewis, a 20-year NFL veteran, this week. ... WR-KR Marvin Mims Jr. was in concussion protocol all week after getting hurt on a kickoff return in the closing minutes Sunday when he wasn’t even supposed to be in the game.

Texans: Collins returned to practice this week and should play Sunday. … WR Christian Kirk said he expects to play Sunday after missing last week’s game with a hamstring injury. … WR Braxton Berrios is expected to play after suffering a chest injury last week. … TE Dalton Schultz should play Sunday despite dealing with knee and shoulder injuries that caused him to miss practice this week. … DE Dylan Horton could miss the game after injuring his knee last week.

Denver won the previous two games in the series before Houston’s win in 2023. … These teams first met in 2004 when the Broncos got a 31-13 win. … Houston won the next meeting in 2007 by the exact same score.

The Denver Broncos are off to their best eight-game start since 2016, when they also started 6-2. ... The Broncos are the first team in NFL history to eclipse 35 sacks within the first eight games of a season while allowing fewer than 10 sacks in that span. ... RB J.K. Dobbins has two 100-yard rushing games so far. He’s the first Broncos running back since Latavius Murray in 2022 to hit that mark multiple times in a season. ... QB Bo Nix is coming off his third career game with at least four touchdown passes. That’s tied for the third most among all quarterbacks since the start of the 2024 season, behind only Lamar Jackson (five) and Baker Mayfield (four). ... Nix has thrown a touchdown pass in 16 consecutive games, the third-longest streak in the NFL. … Houston RB Nick Chubb had had at least 60 yards of offense in five of seven games this season. He had a touchdown reception in his previous game against Denver last season with Cleveland. … RB Woody Marks had 111 yards of offense last week and is one of four rookies this season with at least two games with 110 or more yards of offense this season. … Collins has had at least 50 yards receiving in eight of his past nine home games. He had nine receptions for 191 yards and a touchdown in his previous game against Denver. … WR Xavier Hutchinson had a career-high 69 yards receiving and the third TD catch of his career last week. … Rookie WR Jaylin Noel had a career-high five receptions last week. … DE Will Anderson had his fifth sack of the season against the Niners. He has had a tackle for loss in six of seven games this season and had two sacks in his previous games against Denver. … DE Danielle Hunter has 8 ½ sacks and 11 tackles for loss combined in his past six home games. He had a sack and two tackles for loss in his previous game against Denver in 2023 with Minnesota. … CB Derek Stingley had a career-high four passes defensed and two interceptions in his previous game against Denver. … CB Kamari Lassiter had his fifth career interception last week. … S Jalen Pitre had his 20th career tackle for loss last week. He is the only defensive back in the NFL with at least 20 tackles for loss and 25 passes defensed (26) since 2022.

Collins could be a good pickup with 16 of his 21 career touchdowns coming in Houston.

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