It could be a long season for the Houston Texans if the ship isn't turned around toward domination within the coming weeks.
After going up by one with just over two minutes left on the road, the Indianapolis Colts marched back to set up a game-winning field goal in a 19-17 victory for Week 3. For the second straight season, the Texans will begin the year at 0-3.
Injuries have piled up for the Texans at multiple positions, most notably at wide receiver and offensive line. For the second straight week, DeMeco Ryans was forced to rotate in receivers in place of the ailing Nico Collins.
As a result, the snap counts look quite different from what they did in Week 1 when the team was at full strength. Midway through the second quarter, linebacker Azeez
Al-Shaair had to leave the game, and then later left a second time with another injury.
So, who played and how much time were they on the field?
Below is a breakdown of the playing time from Sunday's loss, including some separation at wide receiver, running back, tight end and a deeper rotation at linebacker.
Offense
With Collins sidelined, Houston mostly turned to a combination of 12 personnel or Xavier Hutchinson, Jared Wayne and Kayshon Boutte at wide receiver. Jaylin Noel and rookie Lewis Bond mixed in reps, but one only saw 14 snaps, which is just over 24%, while the other was in for nine, which evens out to about 17%
Boutte led the wideouts with a 69% snap share, followed by Wayne at 61% or 33 snaps. Hutchinson, who finished with the team lead in receptions, only played in 29 snaps, while second-round pick at tight end Marlin Klein played in just 7% of snaps.
As for the offensive line, no changes whatsoever, though Blake Fisher was called upon as an extra lineman six times, which rounds out to 11%. Veteran tight end Foster Moreau, who caught a touchdown pass in the second quarter, saw more reps than anyone else at the position, with 34.
Defense
There's really not much to report on defense. The main thing is Wade Woodaz replacing Azeez Al-Shaair. Despite playing in 76 % of snaps, Woodaz still filled in for 17 or 24%. As for the depth, Sabastian Harsh ended up playing the fewest snaps, yet looked the most confident of names outside of Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter.
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Texans Week 3 snap counts: Who stepped up most in place of Nico Collins against Colts?
