The Day After the Day After…when the raw, immediate emotions from the aftermath of a game diminish into the realm of clarity and the proverbial (or literal) hangover no longer haunts the mind. With that, a review of Week 6
Love Defense? This was not your game: Neither Matt Burke nor Anthony Campanile had a great flight back after this game. Consider: 65 combined points, 618 combined yards passing, 220 combined yards rushing, 8 total touchdowns (7 passing), 52% 3rd Down conversion rate, only 2 INTs
(both in the end zone) and ZERO, yes, ZERO sacks! Granted, few quarterbacks are playing as well as Trevor Lawrence and CJ Stroud, but with the respective defensive talent on the field, especially with pass rushers like Danielle Hunter, Will Anderson Jr., Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen, you figured someone would’ve gotten one sack.
Houston’s Rushing Attack: Jacksonville came into this game with a historically good run defense. They had yet to allow a single rusher to gain more than 40 yards in five game. They had the #1 rushing defense in the league. So of course, the Houston Texans and their 31st ranked rushing offense, which had only broken 80 combined rushing yards in a game once all season, managed to outgain the Jags on the ground with 114 combined yards. Houston’s top RBs went for over 40 yards each (Marks 56 on 15 carries, Jordan 43 on 6 carries). You could argue that Marks has been the more explosive back for the Texans’ attack vs. Montgomery, who seemed a bit more tentative before his injury in Week 5. Jordan offered just as much explosiveness as a rusher, especially on his 25-yard TD rush in the 3rd Quarter. Houston must really hope this is a trend and not a fluke.
The Kicks for the Kickoffs were good. The coverage, uh, well…it was: On a day with so much scoring, the kick coverage units got a lot of work. For the Texans, it seems that Fairbairn has been working on landing his kicks short of the end zone to force a return. Only one of his six kickoffs was a touchback, and that was the kick at the end of the 1st half. That was the good news. The bad news was that of five Jacksonville kick returns, three started past the JAX 35, including one in Houston territory. All three of those drives got to the Houston red zone, with 2 TDS and one end zone INT. Yes, Ameer Abdullah is a quality kick returner, but that is not exactly the standard Houston fans have come to expect from a Frank Ross unit.
THE CRITICAL PLAY:
4th Quarter (2:24), JAX Ball @ HOU 48, 1st and 10; Trevor Lawrence pass for TE Brenton Strange incomplete. S Calen Bullock on the pass defense
In this game, most of the big plays came on offense, from Jaylen Noel’s 50-yard reception inside of a minute left in the 1st half that secured Houston a TD to the Woody Marks’ catch-and-run setting up Fairbairn’s walk-off FG. However, we will consider a defensive play. After the Stroud INT, the Jags had moved the ball 32 yards to Houston’s side of the field on three straight Lawrence completions. On this play, Lawrence was looking to TE Strange, who had a solid game to this point, down the intermediate middle of the Houston defense. However, the pass was nearly picked off by Calen Bullock, who couldn’t quite wrap up the ball. Yet, it stemmed Lawrence’s momentum. An incompletion and short pass later, the Jags settled for a tying FG. This gave Houston the ball back with plenty of time to win it, which they managed to do. Given how Houston has lost three games with a lead inside of the final two minutes with teams and given how neither defense was making all that much an impact, Bullock’s near INT was enough to hold Jacksonville and set up the Texans for the win.
FUN WITH NUMBERS:
8: Number of 4th Quarter/OT game-winning drives led by Stroud for Houston: That number could and should be higher this season. Stroud has done this twice against Jacksonville, the other happening in 2024, when he led Houston to a win via a last-second TD pass to RB Dare Ogunbowale.
1388: Days between a CJ Stroud/Marvin Harrison, Jr. reception: Prior to the second quarter of the London Game, the last time that Marvin Harrison Jr caught a pass from CJ Stroud, it was in the first half of the 2022 Peach Bowl/CFB semi-final between Ohio State and Georgia. Georgia would win that game 42-41, but a “what if?” that haunts Ohio State fans is what if Harrison hadn’t left the game after a concussion. Harrison and Stroud were slicing up the Georgia defense (Harrison: 5 receptions/106 yards/2 TDs), but when Harrison went out of the game, Georgia was able to get back into contention and eventually took the lead for good.
60: Distance of Longest FG ever made against the Texans: When Cam Little got all of that kick to tie the game at 31, he set a record against Houston. The previous long, 59, happened in 2020, when the-then Jags kicker, Josh Lambo, made his kick to end the 1st half of a game in Jacksonville (also against Houston).
GAME BALLS:
QB CJ Stroud: Great numbers (24-of-34 for 312 yards, 3 TDS, 1 INT, 0 sacks) and rebounded from a bad INT to lead a game-winning drive.
WR Jaylin Noel: Noel continues a breakout run with this day at the office: 4 receptions/107 yards/1 TD; 2 kickoff returns/74 yards.; 1 punt return/2 yards
LT Aireontae Ersery/LG Keylan Rutledge: In a game where Houston rushed for over 100 yards against the top rushing defense in the league, as well as not surrendering a single sack, a lot of credit must go to the Texans offensive line. In particular, Houston had most of their success running along the left side of the offensive formations (70 of their 114 rushing yards). These two youngsters did much of the heavy lifting to make this game work.
OC Nick Caley: If you are going to slam him for the bad, gotta give credit for the good. The critical 3rd down conversion for the Texans on the final drive when Stroud hit Marks for a catch-and-run was one of his best calls.
SHOULD BE FORCED TO EAT NOTHING BUT BRITISH COOKING FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK WHILE LISTENING TO DUUUVAAALLLL CHANTS IN A BAD BRITISH ACCENT ON REPEAT
S Reed Blankenship: The rough start for the once-lauded free agent signing continues. Jags TE Brenton Strange was feasting on Blankenship’s coverage in the 1st half, and Blankenship missed a key tackle on a Jags TD. To top off the bad trip, he left the game due to a concussion. MJ Stewart replaced him in the lineup, and while the defense still had a tough day, Stewart seemed to play a bit better.
TE Brevin Jordan: Not entirely fair, but if you sat through the entire Texans game Sunday and just stayed seated, you had more receiving yards than Brevin Jordan. He had more receptions (1 to 0), but you had more yards (-1 to 0).
Wembley Groundskeepers: Few stadiums are as venerated as Wembley. The host of the 1966 World Cup Final, the 2012 Olympics and tons of other massive events, you would think that the groundskeepers would be among the best in the world. Uh, about that. The field seemed unnecessarily slick, which cost the game its umpire early in the 1st quarter due to slippage/leg injury. Additionally, Dalton Schlutz could not maintain his footing on a key 1st half reception on a third down, forcing Houston to punt. A key talking point throughout the game as it impacted both teams.
With that win, Houston moves to 2-4, two games back of Jacksonville for the AFC South. They return home to face the New York Giants of New Jersey. Kickoff is this Sunday at noon CDT at Reliant Stadium.
