he Houston Texans have struggled after starting the season 3-1. Those struggles continued Sunday when the Texans lost their fourth in five games, falling to the Philadelphia Eagles, 31-21.
Arian Foster, DeAndre Hopkins shine, Andre Johnson struggles for fantasy in Texans loss
Two skill players had big games, while the longest-tenured Houston player had an awful one. We break down the fantasy implications.
Thomas B. Shea
The Texans stayed in Sunday's game, tying the score at 7-7 and 14-14 and pulling within three at 24-21 in the fourth quarter, but never led. The team could be two games shy of the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC South if Indianapolis can win Monday night.
Let’s look at the fantasy performances in the game:
Ryan Fitzpatrick: Fitzpatrick equaled his best fantasy performance of the season Sunday, but that's more of an indictment on his season than it is a compliment on his Sunday. The quarterback had 203 passing yards on 13-of-27 passing, with two touchdowns and an interception, and had 49 rushing yards on six carries. That's 18 fantasy points. Fitzpatrick has averaged just over 13 fantasy points a game this season; he's a low-end QB2 even in great matchups.
Arian Foster: The running back continued his run of strong performances Sunday, with 17 fantasy points. He had 56 rushing yards on 15 carries, adding 63 receiving yards and a touchdown on two catches, including a 56-yard score in the second quarter. That gives Foster an average of 24 fantasy points a game over his last five. The bad news, though, is that Foster left the game in the third quarter Sunday with what appears to be a groin injury, and early reports aren't great. The Texans are off in Week 10, which is good news for Foster owners, but anyone that has him needs to already have Alfred Blue or go in a mad dash to get the backup.
Andre Johnson: The veteran receiver had his worst game of a disappointing season Sunday. He caught only two of his seven targets and went for only 12 yards in the game. Johnson has gone for 10 or more fantasy points once all season, averaging only six fantasy points a game. Johnson is slipping down the rankings, and looks like little more than a flex play going forward.
DeAndre Hopkins: Hopkins, meanwhile, has outscored Johnson in all but one Texans game this season. That was especially evident Sunday -- Hopkins went for 115 yards on six catches, including a 7-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Hopkins has leapfrogged Johnson in both the Texans' pecking order and fantasy desirability, and looks like a reasonable WR2 going forward.
