The Houston Texans seek their first win of the season, and they face a challenge in producing it from the natural grass of Heinz Field Sunday.
The 0-2 Texans encounter the 2-0 Pittsburgh Steelers, who have a productive blitzing defense and a winning quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger.
According to Nathan Jahnke from Pro Football Focus, Roethlisberger is actually a quarterback fantasy players ought to consider starting for Week 3.
Roethlisberger has gotten off to a strong start to 2020 after missing nearly all of the 2019 season. His 81.2% adjusted completion percentage is the seventh-best for quarterbacks, and he has been a borderline QB1 in all major statistical categories except for rushing. He is the only quarterback in the top 15 of fantasy points without double-digit rushing yards.
PFF’s strength of schedule tool pegs Big Ben’s Week 3 matchup against the Houston Texans as the second-best QB matchup of the week — which is also Roethlisberger’s best matchup for the rest of the season — while the WR/CB matchup chart gives the Steelers two top-20 matchups this week.
One of the other reasons Jahnke believes Roethlisberger is a good start is because of the Steelers’ depth at receiver compared to what the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens had. In other words, Roethlisberger will be able to generate a majority of the offense’s yards and points, not just the run game.
What does this say about the Texans defense? It says they are viewed as a sieve through the first two games. Defensive end J.J. Watt is awakening with 2.0 sacks against the Ravens in Week 2. However, the Texans and the Detroit Lions are the only teams remaining who have not procured a takeaway.
It also says the Texans offensively have to match the Steelers’ output. Pittsburgh has scored 26 points in each of their first two games while Houston has faltered with 20 in Week 1 and 16 in Week 2.