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The Texans and Jags faced off in what was a battle for the bottom of the AFC South. The Jaguars may have some added motivation to lose (read: win?) as they still currently have their first round pick. The Miami Dolphins are the sole beneficiaries of the Texans’ down year, so we’re playing for the rookies at this point.
In what was an immediate blow for blow to start the game between Jake Luton and Deshaun Watson, the game slowly started to resemble what these two teams are really capable of. Both teams struggled defensively, with the Texans letting more than a few turnovers slip through their fingers. The Texans had a nice 4th down stop in the fourth quarter and managed to pressure Luton a few times. The game wrapped up with a two-point conversion stop after Luton stiff-armed Jonathan Greenard and juked out Keion Crossen for a touchdown. We did also manage to see much more playing time for Ross Blacklock, Jonathan Greenard, and other young guys. So that’s a plus.
Offensively, Deshaun Watson did some Deshaun Watson things today, Will Fuller had a touchdown 10 seconds after the play clock ended, and Duke Johnson took a larger role in the offense after David Johnson was concussed. Brandin Cooks had a nice TD off a screen pass early in the game.
Houston’s offensive line didn’t hold up their end of the bargain today. Deshaun was under tons of pressure and was forced to pull off a few Houdini moves in the second half. Ka’imi Fairbairn lived up to his Top 3 kicker salary this week, so we can’t be too mad at him.
That leads us to the biggest takeaway from this game, which is the injuries. The Texans got smacked with injuries to David Johnson, Senio Kelemete, Charles Omenihu, Brennan Scarlett, and there were a few others that were slow to get up over the course of the game. Heading into a matchup with the Browns next week, it’d be nice to have some of those guys back.
Mentioning next week’s matchup, your Houston Texans will visit the Cleveland Browns and hope to keep their playoff hopes alive. Who are we kidding? We let it come this close against the Jaguars. We’ll still be here to enjoy the ride, so strap in and grab the strongest drink that you can.