The Falcons and Texans have not played since 2019, so these two squads will be unrecognizable to one another. The Falcons were fading that way, and out of Atlanta’s 2019 starting lineup, only Jake Matthews, Kaleb McGary, and Grady Jarrett remain; the once-Deshaun Watson led Texans were 10-6 but headed for a major cratering of their own starting in 2020 and Laremy Tunsil is the lone starting lineup holdover for them.
These teams find themselves at similar moments, too, in terms of what they hope to accomplish this year. Atlanta is in year three of a rebuild and hoping to contend this year; the Texans have re-done their roster, gotten their franchise quarterback, and installed a new head coach and are dreaming of contending in an iffy AFC South themselves.