Houston Texans Week 2 Slay and Bomb

Whelp. I was wrong.

On paper this was the most winnable game for the Texans in the first six weeks of the season. On the first play of the game, the Texans were inches away from recovering a fumble and starting the game with a huge turnover. It was out of bounds, and after that, the Colts marched right down the field and scored a touchdown on an Anthony Richardson quarterback draw. C.J. Stroud fumbled on the Texan’s third play, and Richardson ran another touchdown on the next play. Just under six minutes into the game, Houston was down 14-0, and they were never able to recover.

The positive is that they did fight until the very end. They did have a 51-yard field goal attempt with 3:19 left to bring it within eight points, but Ka’imi Fairbairn missed it wide left—definitely a kick he expects to make. Giving up four touchdowns in six first-half drives is not going to win you football games. Especially when combined with three of the first four drives of the Texans combining for three total yards. In the second half, the defense settled in, and the offense was much more effective. Partially due to them executing better and partially the Colts slightly taking their foot off the gas to run the clock. 

Texans Who SLAYED

 

C.J. Stroud

30 of 47 for 384 yards and two touchdowns. This is a good stat line for any quarterback and an even better one for a guy making his second start in the NFL with a makeshift offensive line. The run game was non-existent, so all of the pressure was on the passing game to get any points on the board. When Stroud had time to throw, he was accurate and on time. He was making throws all over the field and allowing receivers to pick up yardage after the catch. He looked to be in sync with multiple receivers and was able to pick apart this Colts secondary when given the opportunity. 

Stroud did have two fumbles, with one being recovered by the defense, leading to Richardson’s second touchdown. The pass rush was on him very quickly, and you can tell he wasn’t ready to take a hit and didn’t have proper protection on the ball. Outside of that and a few balls, he tried to make a “hero throw,” rather than throwing it out of bounds that could’ve been intercepted; Stroud played about as good as you could expect from him. He looks very comfortable even with all of the chaos around him. Having the ball snapped at his feet and then completing a slant to Robert Woods was one of the most impressive plays of the game.

Stroud has started his career on the right foot, and making the selection of him at number two overall looks like a very good choice. Keep on slaying.

The Wide Receiver Core

The week before the season started, I was doing a fantasy football draft, and my two-year-old son was in my lap. I asked him, “Kadarius Toney or Nico Collins?” Without hesitation, he said, “Nico.” How did he know that Nico Collins was going to slay like this? Collins has gone over 80 receiving yards three times in his 26 games in the NFL, and two of those have been in the two games this year. 

Nico was getting yards in huge chunks, ending with seven catches for 146 yards and 1 TD. Averaging 20.9 yards a catch is amazing, but when you have seven receptions and still do it, it is insane. He could have had more with a 28-yard reception being called back for illegal formation. He runs good routes and uses his 6’ 4” frame to get into good positions to make contested catches. I think the most impressive thing has been his run after the catch. He runs angry and punishes these smaller corners and safeties for trying to tackle him. The Texans have their number one receiver, and their number two and three receivers looked good, too.

Robert Woods and Tank Dell combined for 13 catches for 146 yards and a touchdown. Woods was inches away from having a long TD catch, but his foot just barely stepped out of bounds. He proved why the Texans signed him. A very good number-two receiver who can get open quickly is willing to block in the run game and is pretty good after the catch. He has been Mr. Reliable, catching four first downs in each of the first two games. 

Tank Dell continued showing the talent that he displayed in the preseason. He is a quick slot receiver who makes people miss and excels after the catch. 22 of his 72 yards were after the catch. Including a nice juke move to get into the end-zone for his touchdown. Serving as a very solid third option for Stroud. 

The question coming into the season about the Texans having weapons might be answered, but they need to keep slaying if they want to start winning games. 12 of the 18 passing first downs for the Texans went to these three guys, and I expect many more to come.

Texans who BOMBED

 

The D-Line

Not a single sack. A defense that sacked Lamar Jackson four times against a team that gave up four sacks the week prior couldn’t get Anthony Richardson or Gardner Minshew down for a sack once. There was only one quarterback hit, and that came on the first play of the game which was a completion for 12 yards. The Colts also lost their starting center, three-time Pro-Bowler Ryan Kelly, during the game, and there was basically no change when the backup came in. Long-developing crossing routes and people able to find holes in the zone were no issue for either quarterback as they had plenty of time to throw. 

To go along with no pass rush, the rush defense was awful. The Colts averaged 5.5 yards per carry and had some pretty large holes to run through on each of their three rushing touchdowns. The two touchdown runs by Anthony Richardson started with a lack of discipline by the defensive front. A good QB Draw play call by Indy got the ends way up the field, and Richardson was gone. Then, on the fake reverse, Will Anderson Jr. chased hard on the fake and left Richardson a clear path to the end zone once again. Against a quarterback like Richardson, you would think he would need to stay home on that and avoid the wide-open field for Richardson. 

I thought this had the potential to be a big game for Anderson and Greenard, but the Indy O-line stepped up big and shut down a good defensive line from getting any sacks. Paving the way for a 4-4 day on red zone trips, each ending in a touchdown. Much will need to be improved in the entire defense for the Texans to have success in the coming weeks.

This Makeshift O-Line

Coming into the game, the thing that scared me the most was the offensive line. And then Laremy Tunsil was ruled out, and it truly became a nightmare. From the very first play to the last, the Colts defensive line had their way. Literally, the last play of the game was a sack. Four of the five preseason projected starters for the Texans were out with injury, but averaging 2.0 yards a carry and allowing the quarterback to be sacked six times is unacceptable. Coming into the game, this offensive line has 192 combined starts in the NFL. It did not look like it on Sunday.

Josh Jones, who the Texans acquired in a trade with Arizona right before the season, had a very rough day after being kicked out to left tackle this week. He was beaten multiple times and had two very costly penalties. First, an illegal formation that took away a 28-yard completion to Nico Collins that would have put them on the two-yard line. The drive ended with a field goal. Then, next was a touchdown pass to Tank Dell that Jones was called for holding. Also, the drive ended with a field goal. That is two plays that could be an eight-point difference. It is the little things.

The Houston Texans spend the most money out of any team in the NFL on the offensive line. To have 41.5 million of the team’s cap unavailable, all across the O-line, due to injury is very tough to overcome. Hopefully, Tunsil will be able to come back next week and move Jones back into guard, where he looked better. The road for this unit gets tougher over the next few weeks and they will need to step up. Stroud has almost passed the number of times he was sacked either of his two years at Ohio State and is on pace to shatter David Carr’s record for times sacked. That is not sustainable for anyone.

The game wasn’t all bad, but it leaves a bad taste in the mouth of the coaches, players, and fans to get dominated on your home field. It will be a few more weeks before the Texans are close to being fully healthy again. Getting some key starters over the upcoming weeks could help with these issues. Get the run game going, and get Jalen Pitre and Jimmie Ward on the back end of the defense to give this defensive line some help in the run and the pass game. A big takeaway should be that this team didn’t quit. That is saying a lot about their character, and the belief they have in this team and DeMeco Ryans.

See Also: Week 2 Texans vs. Colts Matchup Mock-Up