Houston Texans Preseason Week 1 Review

The Houston Texans completed their first preseason game of the 2023 season with a 20-9 victory over the New England Patriots. While it is nice to get a victory, we know that this is the preseason, and so in the grand scheme of things, this means nothing. However, this Texans team already showed flashes of being a much-improved team.

Overall, this is how the games need to go for the Texans to be successful this season. The defense has to be able to get stops, and the offense needs to control the clock and limit turnovers. Before the eight-minute touchdown drive by the Patriots on their last drive, the Texans were winning time of possession 30 to 19. The Patriots also had 14 of their 49 plays, 28%, on that last drive. This is the formula that they need to win, and it was on display Thursday night. 

Just like any NFL game, there was good, there was bad, and then there was ugly. 

The Good

Tank Dell

Anybody who watched the first half saw a lot of #13 for the Texans catching the ball. He ended the game with 5 receptions for 65 yards and an amazing touchdown catch. He had another nice sideline catch, but it was nullified by a holding penalty. It seemed like every time the ball was thrown his way, he was wide open, especially on their first touchdown drive, where he had four catches for 50 yards and a touchdown. Three of his receptions went for first downs to go along with his touchdown catch. 

 

THIS CATCH BY TANK DELL ? pic.twitter.com/DC0KL130cN

— PFF (@PFF) August 11, 2023

A big question coming into the preseason was whether or not the Texans had the weapons to help their rookie quarterback and take some pressure off the run game. Dell could be a very important part of this young offense if he is able to get open quickly and get those 8–15-yard plays that keep the drive alive and that clock rolling, which would be a huge help to a defense that looked very good.

The Defense

The Houston Texans 2022 defense allowed an average of 379.5 yards and 24.7 points a game. Going into the last drive, where the Patriots drove 75 yards for a touchdown and a failed 2-point attempt, the Texans had given up three points and 105 yards. That is pure dominance. Especially when the three points came off of an interception that put the Patriots in field goal range, they actually lost a yard on the possession they got those three points. The Texans’ defense was flying around and causing a lot of trouble for the Patriots’ offense, and they were not acting like this was a preseason game.

The defense had three sacks, forced six punts, and only allowed nine first downs, with four of them coming on the final drive-in garbage time. The Patriots were 3-12 on 3rd down and averaged less than 4 yards a play. The defense only allowed two plays to go over 10 yards, and one play could’ve easily been an interception by Jalen Pitre, but he took the wrong angle.

This was a very good showing by the young core of defenders who will be playing meaningful snaps this season. This is definitely an unrealistic expectation for any defense, especially in today’s game, but showing the ability to absolutely shut down an offense is always a good sign. Even if they get to use “it was against backups” as an excuse.

The Bad

Quarterback Play

It might be a little bit of a stretch to say the quarterback play was bad, but it definitely wasn’t good. Davis Mills had the best stat line going 9/12 for 99 yards and a touchdown, and was charged with a fumble. He did greatly benefit from Tank Dell running wide-open over the middle.

There were three missed throws that could’ve been big plays, but twice Mills threw the ball low, and a little behind Dell, so he had to fall to catch it instead of catching it on the run. Then he also missed Dell on a deep ball where he beat his man on a streak route. Some sloppy play is expected, it being the first preseason game, so as long as he can tighten up these throws, if he starts week 1, then they should be able to put some drives together.

Outside of Mills, Case Keenum and C.J. Stroud didn’t look amazing either. All three of them together were 20/30 for 176 yards, two TDs, and an Interception. That is 5.8 yards per attempt, which would be last place in the NFL in the last five years if that was their average for the whole year. I understand that the defense and run game are supposed to be the strengths, but one of these guys needs to step up and show he can spark this offense.

It will be interesting to see if any of them pull ahead in the next two weeks and also if the Texans keep all three on the active roster. At this time, it might be Davis Mills’ job to lose, but they will definitely need to leave Stroud in for more than two drives against the Dolphins on Saturday to see if he can bounce back.

The Ugly

Preseason Turnovers

Losing the turnover battle 2-0 is not in the recipe for winning games. The number of turnovers wasn’t really the ugly part; it was how the ball was turned over. 

C.J. Stroud’s interception was a textbook rookie interception. Stroud went through his first two reads, then stuck on his third. He pump-faked toward Tank Dell and then threw at him anyway. Jalen Mills was easily able to get a few yards in front of Dell to get the interception. Mills won’t ever have an easier interception than that his whole career. Stroud had Dalton Schultz running wide-open in the flats. Yes, he isn’t going to convert the 3rd and 21 with a check-down to the flats, but gaining positive yardage and punting is always preferred over an interception that puts the opponent in field goal range. Growing pains of a rookie quarterback.

Davis Mills was charged with the fumble, but it definitely wasn’t his fault. Dare Ogunbowale straight-up dropped the toss, and the Texans weren’t able to recover it. This fumble killed a drive that was approaching field goal range. These “shoot yourself in the foot” plays need to get out of their system in the preseason if the Texans want to compete. Especially when they are made by veteran players. 

Luckily on both of these turnovers, the defense responded. The two drives after the turnover were seven total plays for one yard and a field goal. The offense can’t always plan on the defense saving them, and the offense will have to perform better so they can bail out the defense sometimes.

At the end of the day, this was a very solid performance by the Texans. There are always things to work on, especially in preseason. If the team continues to show improvement from the last few years, then the Texans fans could have something to be excited about this upcoming season. The quarterback competition will definitely have a large part in that, so stay tuned.

See Also: More From Me on the 2023 Houston Texans