Oakland Raiders: A Few Keys To Victory Over The Houston Texans

Don’t Forget About DeAndre Hopkins

DeAndre Hopkins isn’t having the kind of year we’ve come to expect from him. For the season, he’s got 482 yards on 45 receptions. Which puts him on pace for roughly 858 yards for the season – his lowest receiving output since his rookie year.

While his 45 receptions put him on pace for an 80-catch season, his10.7 yards per catch is downright pedestrian by Hopkins’ standards.

The fault is not his own though. It’s having a quarterback like Osweiler who has been up and down all season long and has yet to get this offense clicking. Osweiler is hitting on just 58 percent of his passes and has thrown almost as many interceptions (9) as touchdowns (11) this year.

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Simply put, Hopkins just isn’t getting much of a chance to make plays.

But that doesn’t mean he can’t. Or won’t. If the Raiders do a good job of shutting down Lamar Miller, Osweiler is going to have to try to win the game. Which means that Hopkins and his fellow pass catchers – primarily wideout Will Fuller and tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz – are going to see a lot more targets.

But it’s Hopkins this secondary should be most worried about. He has the ability to take over a game and make life miserable for opposing defenses.

If Osweiler is allowed to get into a rhythm and Hopkins is able to find the soft spots in the Oakland secondary, he has the potential to run wild. The secondary, like the run defense, has been improving by leaps and bounds as the season has progressed. They’ll need to continue to improve by making Hopkins’ presence on the field irrelevant.