With another NFL week upon us, we have another slate with good matchups throughout. With all the action, there are plenty of stats to digest as we try to see how these matchups will play out.

We’re in Week 10 of the NFL season now, meaning all the data we have on teams is real. We know the teams’ identities and each team’s weaknesses. That means when we dive into these stats, you’ll start to see them come to fruition on game day.

Here are some stats to take note of before the action kicks off on Sunday.

Houston wants to air it out

The Houston Texans run the ball 37.1 percent of the time, ranking 24th in the NFL. It’s clear this team wants to utilize the heater quarterback, CJ Stroud, and they should. Houston, throughout nine weeks of action, has 697 yards on the ground — that isn’t good.

Looking at how Cleveland will play defense against this Texans offense, it’ll be primarily man coverage. Cleveland ranks first in the NFL in man coverage percentage at 43 percent. So, where does Stroud go against man coverage?

First, let’s take a peek at how Stroud performs against man coverage. Stroud is 40-of-66 for 411 yards with seven touchdowns and no interceptions. He’s only taken one sack against the coverage, which is equally as impressive.  Stound likes to target his slot players on these looks, having 44 targets to the slot against man coverage.

So, we can expect players like Tank Dell and Xavier Hutchinson to get significant targets against the Cleveland Browns. Houston has abandoned the run game and should continue to do so, leaning on Stroud’s arm.

Who has the advantage on Sunday Night Football?

We have a classic AFC North matchup to cap off Sunday’s action. The Cincinnati Bengals take on the Pittsburgh Steelers for first place in the division. It doesn’t get much better than this.

Looking at the Steelers’ offense, they’ll have the advantage throughout this game. The Bengals’ defense has struggled to defend plays over the middle and outside runs. Cincinnati has an EPA allowed against outside runs of-0.25. Teams have started to understand how to attack this unit, run away from Dexter Lawrence, and make their linebacker run horizontally.

Luckily, for Pittsburgh. They thrive in the run game. Pittsburgh is a top-five rushing offense, but they don’t run zone schemes. They’re primarily a man-running team, meaning you won’t see many outside zone runs. That doesn’t eliminate the ability to get out in space. Pittsburgh can run tosses and pin-and-pull concepts to get to the outside.

Expect the Steelers to utilize the running game to create advantages in the pass game. The Bengals’ linebackers struggle against play-action type looks, so Aaron Rodgers should have plenty of answers over the middle.

Cincinnati offense

Now the real challenge is limiting this Bengals offense for Pittsburgh. It’s hard to slow down the trio of Joe Burrow, JaMarr Chase, and Tee Higgins. There really isn’t an answer, especially when the Bengals get into the shotgun. Cincinnati leads the league in EPA per pass, pass success rate, passing yards, and passing touchdowns out of the shotgun. They want to and will air it out against defenses.

Naturally, it makes sense. Cincinnati has abandoned the under-center game in the last couple of weeks. They are now in the shotgun 75 percent of the time, which is the most in the NFL.

Pittsburgh likes to run Cover 3 the most against shotgun looks, allowing a 42.6 percent success rate and an EPA per play of -0.2. The Steelers also rank ninth in the NFL in EPA allowed per pass against shotgun looks. So, Pittsburgh is manned and experienced enough to face an offense like Cincinnati, but can they limit it?

Burrow has thrown for 926 passing yards, five touchdowns, and two interceptions against Cover 3, with an EPA per play of 0.19. It’ll be a good matchup on Sunday Night Football, and let’s be honest, we’d have it no other way.

Can Kirk Cousins fix the Vikings offense?

This one could take up an entire article, but we’ll try to break it down quickly here. This Minnesota Vikings offense hasn’t been good, and that doesn’t surprise anyone. So, the expectation is it’ll look significantly better with Cousins coming in. He has the familiarity with the franchise and with head coach Kevin O’Connell. Cousins has also been playing like a top-12 quarterback this season, which is miles better than what Minnesota has had.

So, we should expect fireworks, right? Well, let’s pump the brakes.

The Vikings are a bottom-five rushing team in the NFL. They can’t muster anything on the ground, ranking 29th in EPA per rush. Now that significantly hurts the O’Connell offense. It needs the rushing game to work because the passing game is an extension of it. That’s the biggest reason this offense hasn’t looked good, no matter who’s taking the snaps.

Looking at how the Raiders and Vikings offenses have differed this season, the two biggest differences are their use of man-scheme runs and 11 personnel. Cousins is used to operate in 12 personnel around 50 percent of the time. The Vikings run 11 personnel 54 percent of the time, often shifting into 12 personnel. So, Cousins will have to expect more defensive backs on the field as a result.

There are red flags with this Vikings offensive line and the lack of a rushing attack. But the bottom line is Cousins has been a top-12 quarterback in the NFL this season. Minnesota doesn’t need him to continue that trend. They need him to be a top-20 quarterback the rest of the way, and this defense can do the rest. So, don’t expect fireworks off the bat, but expect a more efficient offense that can put up 20 points comfortably.