Pro Football Focus Grades The Texans In Victory Over Colts

Pro Football Focus has their grades out for various Texans from yesterday's first-ever win against the Colts in Indianapolis. As always, you may find that you disagree with their assessment, but PFF may also point out a thing or two you had not considered when you watched the game live. Enjoy.

Offense:

• T.J. Yates posted a -0.9 overall grade on his 33 snaps before injury, going 6-for-10 for 68 yards with one interception and two sacks. Brandon Weeden came on in relief, posting a +1.2 overall grade after completing 11-of-18 passes for 120 yards and the game-winning touchdown.

• Right guard Brandon Brooks bounced back after a tough week, posting his best overall grade of the season at +5.5. He was dominant in the run game, posting a +4.7 run blocking grade.

• Left guard Xavier Su’a-Filo posted the worst grade on the Houston offense with a -3.0 overall grade, including a -2.3 pass blocking grade. He allowed one sack and two hurries, and the team rushed three times for only one yard when rushing behind him.

• DeAndre Hopkins led the Texans wide receiver core with a +2.1 overall grade, hauling in 8-of-11 targets for 94 yards with one interception. However, Jaelen Strong (+1.3 overall) saw the most action of his career with 44 snaps, hauling in both of his targets for 23 yards and one touchdown.

Jaelen Strong owns the Colts.  Jim Irsay should probably just sign over the team and make it official.

Defense:

• J.J. Watt posted a +1.6 overall grade, offset by a -0.8 penalty grade, after recording one sack, one hit, two QB hurries and a team-high four stops.

• In a supporting role, outside linebacker John Simon (20 snaps) performed well with a +1.2 overall rating with one sack, one hit, one hurry and two stops.

• Kareem Jackson led the way in the secondary with a +2.3 overall rating with four tackles and three stops. He posted a +1.5 pass coverage rating, allowing three receptions for 24 yards and just one yard after the catch.

• Brian Cushing recorded his fourth straight negative game as he graded out at -3.1 overall, including a -1.3 run defense rating and a -1.4 pass rush rating.

I've never seen John Simon play as well as he did yesterday. I probably will never seen him play anywhere near as well as he did yesterday. And that's fine with me, because John Simon came up big in a game the Texans absolutely had to have.

Special Teams:

• Shane Lechler posted a -1.2 overall grade on his punts, while Charles James recorded a +1.0 overall grade for his punt coverage.

• On the flip side, Nick Novak posted a +0.8 overall rating on kickoffs and field goals.

Very quietly, Shane Lechler has not played up to his usual Hall of Fame standard; it doesn't seem like he's getting the distance or hang-time to which Raiders and now Texans fans have grown so accustomed. It'll be interesting to see if the team opts to re-sign Lechler after the season ends.

Signature Stats:

• The Houston Texans offensive line have a Top-10 pass blocking efficiency rating, ranking ninth in the league at 79.5 on 594 passing plays.

Perhaps that goes a long way toward explaining on the Texans have a winning record sole possession of first place in the AFC South despite playing four (4) different quarterbacks named Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett, T.J. Yates, and Brandon Weeden thus far in 2015.

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