Carolina Panthers vs. Houston Texans Matchup Preview (9/23/21): Betting Odds, Depth Charts, Live Stream (Watch Online)

Carolina Panthers vs. Houston Texans Matchup Preview (9/23/21)

The primetime games have been excellent so far, but the streak might stop here. Houston is dinged up with multiple players expected to miss this week, including Tyrod Taylor. We will see rookie quarterback, Davis Mills, make the start.

Carolina comes into this one as -7.5 favorites. The defense has looked great through the first two weeks and should keep that trend going. We also will see a mismatch against Houston’s defense as the Panthers have DJ Moore, Christian McCaffrey, and Robby Anderson primed and ready to roll.

Carolina Panthers vs. Houston Texans Betting Odds

If you were able to grab early lines on this game you should be feeling good about yourself. The line started out around -3.5 and -4.5 for Carolina and now that spread is up to -7.5 in most places. The over/under has stayed around 44 despite the injury to Tyrod Taylor.

With the way Carolina’s defense has played so far this season and being able to face another rookie quarterback, I still would take the Panthers in this spot. It is a short week where we tend to see some chaos on Thursday night but the Panthers should be able to have a pretty easy day at the office.

The offensive weapons are a major mismatch against this Texans defense that has surrendered 52 points through two weeks. Houston’s defensive line has struggled to put pressure on quarterbacks and Darnold has had an easy time slinging it from a clean pocket.

TV Schedule

Date: September 23rd, 2021
Time: 8:20 PM ET
Location: NRG Stadium – Houston, TX
TV Coverage: NFL

Carolina Panthers vs. Houston Texans Live Stream

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Injuries

Panthers: Pat Elflein (Q)
Texans: Nico Collins (O), Tyrod Taylor (Q), Danny Amendola (Q), Terrance Mitchell (Q)

Carolina Panthers Analysis

After a lot of noise in the offseason, New Orleans was still expected to be the second-best team in the NFC South. That might have changed as Carolina’s defense has looked great in back-to-back weeks. The defense has been building through the draft over the last few offseasons and they have made impact picks.

It started up front this past week against the Saints as they were able to get a ton of pressure on Jameis Winston and make him uncomfortable. Jaycee Horn had his first career interception and Haason Reddick was able to grab two sacks.

Sam Darnold had a strong game, as most of his production came in the first half. The Saints pass rush did start to get to him in the second which made his number take a dip, but the game was pretty much wrapped up. DJ Moore was the leading target receiver and Dan Arnold was sneaky efficient. Robby Anderson saw just four targets, catching two of them for 22 yards.

The offensive line has played better than expected and this week they faced a better pass-rush. McCaffrey was able to cross the 100-yard mark for all-purpose yards and found the end zone this week. He had a whopping 27 touches.

Carolina Panthers Depth Chart

QB: Sam Darnold
RB1: Christian McCaffrey
RB2: Chubba Hubbard
WR1: DJ Moore
WR2: Robby Anderson
WR3: Terrace Marshall
TE1: Dan Arnold

Houston Texans Analysis

While the 0-2 start is not necessarily a surprise for the Houston Texans, the offensive side of the ball has been better than expected under Tyrod Taylor. However, he is now expected to miss time and the Texans will turn to Davis Mills, the rookie quarterback out of Stanford.

Taylor was off to another efficient day going 10-of-12 averaging 10.8 yards per pass. He has usually relied on work after the catch, which has been the case in Houston too. Mills came in and struggled in efficiency as expected. However, Mills did air it downfield more, which is also a result of where the game was at.

Houston is down Nico Collins for the next few weeks and possibly Danny Amendola for this week. That leaves Andre Roberts and Chris Conley as wide receivers that are next in line. Jordan Akins could also see a tick up in targets.

This will be the best receiving core the Texans have faced so far through the first few weeks of the season. Cleveland was banged up and Jacksonville was a mess in Week 1. With minimal pressure from this defensive line it is going to be another tough defensive week.

Houston Texans Depth Chart

QB: Davis Mills
RB1: Phillip Lindsay
RB2: David Johnson
WR1: Brandin Cooks
WR2: Danny Amendola
WR3: Chris Conley
TE1: Jordan Akins

Carolina Panthers vs. Houston Texans Daily Fantasy Picks

The island games tend to have more of a focus on the showdown slates, where you are selecting players from only this game. However, the slates that do include Thursday make this an interesting game to target because Carolina’s offense is in a great spot. Christian McCaffrey is right back to his usual self getting a ton of work and is someone you could slot in from this game on a full slate and then build the rest through Sunday games.

Houston’s offense has been viable through two weeks as Brandin Cooks has had an excellent fantasy start, while the running backs have had their production but there is no real rhyme or reason in their usage. Cooks has survived many quarterback changes in his career and Davis Mills should be no different. However, there is a concern for the overall offense giving the growing pains of a rookie quarterback.

Hitting on the right Houston back will be key and I would opt to use a more receiving style back, yet that work is still unclear. Lindsay hat the receiving touchdown on his lone target, while Ingram and Johnson both had two targets. Ingram continues to lead the team in touches and overall carries but had just 19 snaps last week.

DJ Moore and Robby Anderson both are viable upside receiving options against a weaker Texans defense. Terrace Marshall Jr. is also in play as a value option.