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The Week 7 matchup between the Houston Texans and the Denver Broncos should appeal to fans who love to watch solid defensive play. We've got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.
Houston Texans
The Texans staged an impressive come-from-behind win over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 6. Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins had to be happy with the victory. He didn’t score a touchdown in the game but he was targeted a season-high 15 times by quarterback Brock Osweiler. He finished with nine catches for 71 yards. The bad news is Hopkins has just 354 receiving yards through six games this season. That’s an average of 59 yards per game. Not exactly the kind of production fantasy owners expect out of a top-flight player. Defenses have simply found ways to smother Hopkins. No team in the NFL gives up fewer points to fantasy receivers than Denver. Hopkins likely won’t come anywhere near his projected totals on Monday Night Football.
The Texans will be better off relying on the running game, although only by a slight margin. Lamar Miller rushed all over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday Night Football. He carried the ball 24 times for 149 yards and a touchdown. As good as the Denver Broncos are against opposing passing games, they only rank in the middle of the pack against the run. Miller should be in for 20-plus carries again this week. He’s the one player on the team’s roster that is most likely to exceed expectations for fantasy owners this time around.
Denver Broncos
After scoring a touchdown in three straight games, wide receiver Demaryius Thomas was held out of the end zone by the San Diego Chargers in Week 6. The team struggled as a whole to move the football down the field. Thomas finished with just five catches for 35 yards in the game despite being targeted 10 times. Houston ranks third in the NFL in terms of defending fantasy wide receivers. Thomas will be hard-pressed to change that ranking in Week 7.
Perhaps the Broncos will be better off running the ball against Houston. It’s hard to say given the way that C.J. Anderson has played lately. He’s been held to less than 50 yards rushing in each of the last four games. In three of those contests he’s received less than 15 carries. Part of that is due to game flow and the fact that the Broncos spent a considerable amount of time playing from behind in those games. That said, Anderson notched fewer yards than teammate DeVontae Booker last week despite Booker getting half as many carries. Anderson might be nearing the end of his rope as Denver’s starting rusher.