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We’ve talked about as much about Trent Taylor and his impressive game against the Chicago Bears as we have the much bigger name in Jimmy Garoppolo. It was a great game, with Taylor catching all six of the passes thrown his way for 92 yards, second behind Marquise Goodwin.
Taylor looked great against the Bears, a team that is bad at defending the middle of the field. His statline was the best of his short career thus far. He could be in line for another strong game when the 49ers play the Houston Texans on Sunday, too.
He’ll be going up against a Texans team that ranks bottom of the league when it comes to the middle of the field, too. The Texans allow opposing quarterbacks to post a 120.8 passer rating when throwing between the numbers, according to Pro Football Focus.
Garoppolo went 16-of-22 with 9.3 yards per attempt against the middle of the field against the Bears, again via PFF. Taylor doesn’t exclusively work from the slot and run routes over the middle, but some of his best plays came over the top of linebackers or on quick slants in the middle.
On the year, Taylor has caught 32 passes for 331 yards and a touchdown. Taylor is also the team’s primary punt returner, while the Texans are second to last in the league in yards allowed per punt return (12.2).
Against the Bears, Garoppolo completed 26 of 37 passes for 293 yards and an interception. He didn’t get a touchdown, but he could wind up with multiple touchdowns against the Texans.