Texans Fight Hard, But Fall to Eagles on Thursday Night Football

The Houston Texans are heading back to the drawing board after a 29-17 loss to the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday Night Football.

The Texans were outmatched on paper against the league’s best team, but despite the mismatch, Houston put up a valiant effort in front of its fans.

The Texans started off strong with an opening-drive touchdown to rookie tight end Teagan Quitoranio. The fifth-round rookie from Oregon State was on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) List for the first eight weeks of the season, but made his debut tonight and stood out in a big way.

The Eagles stormed back on their next drive to score on a rushing touchdown from Miles Sanders to tie the game.

In the second quarter, the two teams traded scores again, with backup running back Kenneth Gainwell scoring from four yards out for the Eagles and Davis Mills finding wide receiver Chris Moore for a 13-yard touchdown pass to tie the game with 43 seconds to go until halftime.

In the second half, the Texans offense was nowhere near as potent. Mills threw an interception in Houston’s own red zone, allowing the Eagles to retake the lead on an A.J. Brown touchdown pass from Jalen Hurts to make it a 21-14 game. Hurts threw another touchdown early in the fourth quarter to tight end Dallas Goedert to put the game out of reach.

The Texans proved today that they have fight, but they are lacking on a talent level to compete with the league’s best. That’s fine considering the team is rebuilding, but it’s clear that the roster needs some kind of turnover if Houston wants to be on the same level as the other team in town playing a Philadelphia opponent tonight.

The Texans are back in action next Sunday on the road against the New York Giants. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 noon at MetLife Stadium.