It's VEGAS, BABY! For the first time ever, the Houston Texans will play a professional contest in the state of Nevada on Sunday when the Texans take on the Las Vegas Raiders. I figure the more times that I say "Las Vegas Raiders" the more apt I am to NOT call them the Oakland Raiders but I digress. Here's my weekly Daily Brew - By the Numbers.
4 - This will be the fourth regular season matchup with the Raiders since 2014. It'll be the fourth different location for this matchup
2014 - Oakland, CA
2016 - Mexico City, MX
2019 - Houston, TX
2022 - Las Vegas, NV
2 - This is the second game this season that takes place in a Stadium that opened in 2020. The Texans played a preseason game at SoFi Stadium back in August and will now play at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday. Both west coast stadiums opened back in the COVID season of 2020.
30 - The Raiders have sent a significant number of players, coaches and contributions, in addition to one owner, to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That list includes speedy Houstonian WR Cliff Branch who was recently inducted in August 2022.
0.00% - The Texans first half third down conversion percentage in the win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
62.5% - The Texans second half third down conversion percentage in the win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
1 - The Texans have one sack over the last two games.
10 - The Texans had ten sacks in the first three games. So, 0.5 sacks per game over the past two games, 3.3 sacks per game in the first three games.
8 - The Raiders have eight sacks in 2022 through five games.
6.0 - Pro Bowl star Maxx Crosby has 75% of his team's sacks through five games. In fact, the only other sacks came from CB Nate Hobbs who won't play in this game as he was put on IR this week and LB Denzel Perryman. Each had 1.0 sack.
55% - Crosby also has accounted for well over half of the team's tackles for a loss. He has 11 of the 20 that the Raiders have registered.
6 - Whereas the Raiders have just two players playing on Sunday who have recorded a sack, the Texans have six, perhaps seven (given the injury situation) who have registered at least a ½ sack.
Alright, that's going to do it for the trip to Las Vegas…man, I almost said the other place the Raiders used to play. I need to say "LAS VEGAS, LAS VEGAS, LAS VEGAS" 100 times to make sure I remember. Then again, when we see the bright lights of the Strip, I don't think we'll need to be reminded any more. See ya on Sunday!!