Nico is the single biggest mismatch in the Texans favor because we lack the CB1 you need to handle him. We have a bunch of CB2/3 types who for the most part have a lot to prove. So the key in this game is making Stroud shit his pants early and often in his drops. If Stroud has time we are gonna give up chunks in the pass game.
Verse is the single biggest mismatch in our favor, because he's going up against a rook LT. This is a nightmare matchup for Ersery in game one. If Verse dominates as expected we should see a domino effect up front, because our DL is loaded with threats.
Also I think for McVay the biggest thing will be staying balanced in his play calls. He tends to forget about the run game, and to his credit few are as good as he is at manufacturing drives with creative pass calls underneath when he needs to. But this is not the game to forget about the run. This is a playoff level opener.
I am eager to see how our ILBs fare vs Chubb. I expect the defensive front to own the line of scrimmage, which should mean our backers are running free to clean up behind them. But we really don't want Chubb to get rolling. Stop his ass early. I feel like stopping Chubb will be the single biggest determiner in whether we win this game, because if Stroud has to pass to move the chains he should get worn down by our rush.
