5 Commanders reality checks for Week 11 against the Texans

1. The Reality Is, Houston isn’t very good.

As much as Ron Rivera has been working this week to convince his team that Houston is no push-over, it would be inexcusable for Washington to lose in Houston on Sunday. Washington is the more talented team, the deeper team, the team with more than one dependable weapon, the team that doesn’t have Rex Burkhead as their second-leading rusher. No offense to the Burkhead family, but if he’s tour second leading rusher, you should not be considered a threat to any team with something to play for this coming season.

Add to their limited offensive weaponry the injury sustained by their star corner Derek Stingley Jr, and it becomes inexcusable for Washington to lose on Sunday.

Outside of Dameon Pierce, there’s nobody on either side of the ball for Houston that would be considered a game-changer or significant threat. Brandin Cooks has put together a solid career, but he’s at odds with the organization and his production has fallen off a cliff after he posted 90 catches for 1,037 yards last season.

We’re going to find out a lot about this Commanders team this Sunday. If they play down to their competition and either lose or pull off a super-close win against the Texans, it will be cause for concern about the sustainability of their success moving forward the rest of the season. If Washington wants to change the national narrative around this team’s potential this season….if they want to maintain their presence in the postseason picture, they have to beat Houston cleanly.