Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals head to Houston to take on the Texans in Week 11
Arizona Cardinals (2-8) at Houston Texans (5-4)
Time/site: 11 a.m., NRG Stadium
TV: CBS. Radio: 98.7 FM, 106.7 FM.
Last time they played: The Cardinals scored 31 unanswered points to beat the Texans 31-5 on Oct. 24, 2021, to remain the NFL’s only undefeated team, improving to 7-0 for the first time since 1974. Kyler Murray passed for three touchdowns, including a 47-yarder to tight end Zach Ertz, and James Conner ran for a score. Arizona rushed for 172 yards.
Series history: The teams have met just five times with the Cardinals holding a 3-2 series edge. Arizona, which is 0-5 on the road so far this season, is 0-2 on two trips to Houston. The Texans won 31-21 in 2017 and 30-19 in 2005.
Coaching matchup
Arizona: Jonathan Gannon (first year). Gannon spent five years in the same division as the Texans, serving in the AFC South as a defensive quality control coach for the Titans (2012-13) and defensive backs coach for the Colts (2018-2020). Gannon’s Cardinals snapped a six-game losing skid with a 25-23 victory over the visiting Falcons last Sunday at State Farm Stadium.
Houston: DeMeco Ryans is also in his first year as an NFL head coach after spending the first six seasons of his coaching career with the 49ers. He began as a defensive quality control coach in 2017 before becoming inside linebackers coach (2018-2020) and then defensive coordinator (2021-2022). Ryans’ club has won back-to-back games over the Buccaneers and Bengals in the closing seconds. Houston has the best point differential in the division (+25) and is just one game out of first place in the South behind Jacksonville, whom the Texans have already defeated once.
Storyline: Murray is set to make his second start of the season after a game-saving performance in Arizona’s win over Atlanta. It’ll be interesting to see if he can improve upon his debut when he completed 19 of 32 passes for 249 yards with no touchdowns and one interception, in addition to rushing for 33 yards and a touchdown. His counterpart in Houston, rookie C.J. Stroud, is off to a historic start. He ranks second in the NFL with 2,626 passing yards, has thrown for 15 touchdowns against only two interceptions, and is on pace to finish with 4,958 passing yards overall. That would shatter the previous rookie passing record of former Colts QB Andrew Luck, who threw for 4,374 yards in a 16-game schedule back in 2012. The Cardinals haven’t won back-to-back games since 2021 when they beat the Seahawks and Bears sandwiched around a bye in Week 12. The outcome of this game will have implications on the 2024 draft as Arizona, in addition to its own first-round pick, also holds Houston’s first pick via a trade during this year’s draft.
Arizona will win if …
1. Murray does Murray things: Kyler relied an awful lot on second-year tight end Trey McBride last week and McBride responded with eight receptions (on nine targets) for 131 yards, the most by a Cardinals tight end since Hall of Famer Jackie Smith had 149 yards against the Saints in 1970. Expect to see Murray try to target receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown more this week after going to him just four times last week. Murray showed he still has plenty of mobility and cat-quick speed so if situations call for him to use his legs, he will without hesitation.
2. The pass defense steps up big: The Texans’ run game ranks 25th overall (98.2 yards per game), so the key will be trying to pressure Stroud, force him into mistakes and hope the secondary can clamp down in coverage. The Cardinals don’t necessarily have to sack Stroud more than a few times, but the pass rush must get in his way and harass him whenever possible. The cornerbacks and safeties can’t let him exploit the middle of the field or be successful on deep routes.
3. Special teams deliver again: Whether it’s kicker Matt Prater, who made all four of his field goals in the win over the Falcons, including two kicks from 50-plus yards, or return man Greg Dortch, who had a 49-yard punt return, Jeff Rodgers’ units need to be on task and someone will have to deliver some clutch plays. Don’t be surprised if Rodgers unveils some type of trickery on Sunday.
Houston will win if …
1. Stroud has time to operate: In last week’s 30-27 win at Cincinnati, he was sacked just one time on 41 drop backs and was 23 of 39 for 356 yards and a touchdown. The week before, he passed for a career-high 470 yards and five touchdowns in a win over the Buccaneers. Stroud has only been sacked eight times after being brought down 11 times in his first two games.
2. Devin Singletary goes off again: The Texans’ running back had his best game of the season by far last week, rushing 30 times for 150 yards and a touchdown. His previous single-game high was 58 yards in Week 6 against the Saints. Singletary's big game puts a new wrinkle in Cardinals defensive coordinator Nick Rallis’ gameplan, which undoubtedly was leaning more toward trying to contain Stroud and the passing game.
3. The run defense stuffs Conner, Murray: James Conner was impressive last week in his first game back after missing four weeks with a knee injury, rushing 16 times for 73 yards. Murray added 33 yards, including a 6-yard touchdown run and a clutch 13-yard scramble for a first down on Arizona’s game-winning drive. Houston’s front seven, even without suspended inside linebacker Denzel Perryman, is stout enough to limit the damage. If the Texans keep the Cardinals under 100 rushing yards, they’ll win.
They said it
“They’ve got good backs and I think (Texans RB Dameon) Pierce will be back. I have a very, very high opinion of him having played against him a couple times or one time. They run the ball effectively. They’ve got a good O-line, and it sets up their action game too. We’ve got to make sure that we tackle. That will be a main focal point this week. We have to tackle because in the pass and run game they break a lot of tackles. They break down your leverage, so we’ve got to do a good job with leveraging the football and getting more than one hat on the ball.” – Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon on Houston’s rushing attack.
“The conversation that comes about success and how you handle it is don’t get the big head. We stay humble and we stay hungry, that’s what it’s all about. You stay humble and that’s the only way I know how to approach it. Just as much as people talk great about you, if something goes wrong, they’ll be talking bad about you the next day.” – Texans coach DeMeco Ryans on his team’s recent success.
“I can go into the game just trusting it and allowing myself to be me. If it’s the superhero plays and stuff like that, they just happen. It’s not forced. It’s just play within the system. Obviously, do what we’re coached and do what we’re taught, and then if something breaks down, do what you need to do and make something happen. Other than that, I think we’re being coached well. I love the scheme. I love what we’re doing, and the attention to detail to it all is really what I love the most.” – Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray on his confidence after making his season debut.
Related: Cardinals coach on Kyler Murray: 'He is who I thought he was going to be'
By the numbers
3 – Players selected in the top 6 of the 2023 NFL Draft that will be on the field Sunday at NRG Stadium – Houston QB C.J. Stroud (No. 2 overall) and DE Will Anderson (3) and Arizona OT Paris Johnson Jr. (6).
4.77 – Rushing average for the Cardinals this season (265 carries for 1,265 yards), which ranks third in the league.
6 – Games in the NFL in Week 10 in which a team converted a game-winning field goal with no time remaining. It’s the most such games in regulation in a single week in NFL history. The Cardinals and Texans each won their respective games last week via a field goal as time expired.
10 – Tackles by safety Budda Baker in each of the last two games. He now has 24 career games with 10 or more tackles, the most by an NFL defensive back dating back to his rookie year in 2017.
12 – Career games by Kyler Murray with at least three touchdown passes. Only four players in franchise history have more: Neil Lomax (15), Charley Johnson (14), Kurt Warner (13) and Carson Palmer (13).
22 – Career field goals made from 55 yards or longer by Matt Prater, the most in NFL history. Prater kicked a 56-yard last week against the Falcons to surpass Greg Zuerlein, who has 21 such kicks.
34 – Years to the day since the last Cardinals tight end had a 100-yard receiving game. Trey McBride finished with 131 yards for Arizona in Sunday’s win over the Falcons. On Nov. 12, 1989, Rob Awalt had 105 yards against the Cowboys.
49 – Yards gained on a punt return last week by Greg Dortch, the longest by a Cardinals player since Ted Ginn’s 71-yard return for a touchdown against the Giants in Week 2 of the 2014 season.
1956 – The last time the Cardinals had two different quarterbacks rush for a touchdown in the same game until Kyler Murray and Clayton Tune did it against the Falcons. In 1956, Lamar McHan and Jim Root each had a rushing TD in a game against the Steelers.
Who will win and why
Cardinals 27, Texans 24: The return of both Murray and Conner has definitely given the Cardinals a jolt of energy and enthusiasm. For Arizona to win this game, however, all three phases need to execute and limit the mistakes. That especially means protecting the football and not getting flagged with penalties. The Texans are building something special, but they can be defeated if the Cardinals bring it for a full 60 minutes and make a handful of explosive plays.
Reach McManaman at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @azbobbymac and listen to him live every Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. on Roc and Manuch on Fox Sports 910-AM.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Cardinals-Houston Texans NFL game preview, prediction
