BEWARE THE TERMINATOR
Texans ground game gets reinforcements, as rookie QB presents defense with new test
Oct 11, 2024, 12:15 pm
Can Will Anderson and the Texans defense force Drake Maye into rookie mistakes? Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images.
The New England Patriots are turning things over to Drake Maye, and his first shot will come against the AFC South-leading Houston Texans.
The first-round draft pick is replacing Jacoby Brissett as the starter in the hopes that he can snap the Patriots’ four-game losing streak. But he’ll have to do it against one of the NFL's toughest defenses.
“There’s never a perfect time to make a change,” Patriots coach Jerod Mayo said this week after announcing the swap. “Every defense that we play ... they all have the ability to rush and get after the quarterback. So, I don’t think there’s ever a perfect time.”
But the Texans (4-1) will pose an especially difficult challenge for Maye and the makeshift New England (1-4) offensive line that has started five different combinations in five games. Houston pressures the quarterback more than any other team in the league – 42% of dropbacks, according to NFL NextGen stats.
“It’s probably going to be a little nervous at the beginning,” Maye said this week. “I think once we settle down, we have a chance to move the football and just have fun out there. ... That’s what this game is about: Don’t make it too big or the spotlight too big. Just go out there with those guys that we’ve been battling for three months since training camp, go out there and try to make some plays.”
After winning the opener and going to overtime in Week 2, the Patriots were blown out by the Jets and 49ers and lost 15-10 to Miami, another of the NFL’s worst teams. In all, Brissett has completed 79 of 135 passes for 696 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said there’s a challenge in facing an unknown such as Maye, who was 4 of 8 for 22 yards in mopup duty against the New York Jets in Week 3.
“What I’ve seen is a young, athletic quarterback who has a live arm, can move around really well in the pocket, can escape the pressures,” Ryans said. “Them, making that move, (they’re) looking for a spark for their offense, and he can provide it.”
Running game help
Houston’s running game could get a boost with the return of Dameon Pierce.
The third-year pro hasn’t played since injuring his hamstring in the season opener. But he has been practicing this week and Ryans said he expects him to play Sunday.
Pierce, who ran for 939 yards as a rookie in 2022, should improve a rushing attack which ranks 23rd in the NFL by averaging just 104.2 yards a game.
Stroud is excited to have Pierce back on the field.
“It is really big, I am very happy for DP,” he said. “He has worked really hard to come back.”
KPRC2's Aaron Wilson is reporting that Joe Mixon could return this week as well, he practiced on Thursday and Friday.
#Texans running back Joe Mixon practicing again Friday and is trending toward being available Sunday against Patriots. pic.twitter.com/dUsmfsamq0
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) October 11, 2024
Mixon has been out since injuring his ankle against the Bears in Week 2.
Special teams star
Houston kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn earned AFC special teams player of the week honors for the second time this season on Wednesday.
Fairbairn’s 59-yard field goal as time expired lifted the Texans to the victory over the Bills.
It was his eighth field goal this season of at least 50 yards, which is the most in NFL history through the first five games of a season. It’s also the most 50-yarders made in a season in franchise history.
“It’s comforting for everyone to know wherever we are, (Ka’imi) can make a play,” Ryans said.
Fairbairn loves being in those high-pressure situations.
“Whatever yardage it is, I really don’t care. I want that shot,” he said. “I think part of being good at this job is ... wanting that opportunity.”
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C.J. Stroud just about had to be scraped off the field inside Arrowhead Stadium by the time the Kansas City Chiefs had sacked him for the eighth time Saturday, the Houston quarterback's jersey stretched and torn and covered in grass and mud.
It pretty much summed up another trip to the divisional round of the playoffs for the Texans.
They rode a roller-coaster of brilliant performances and bitter flops into the postseason, but seemed to be gathering some momentum in the wild-card round, when they soundly beat the Chargers in a game many expected them to lose.
But that performance last weekend merely set up a showdown with the Chiefs, the two-time defending Super Bowl champions, who had beaten Houston just last month and never seems to lose at this point in the season.
And with Patrick Mahomes finding Travis Kelce wide open all day and Kansas City's pass rush making life miserable for Stroud, the Chiefs methodically pieced together a 23-14 victory to deny the Texans a spot in the AFC championship game yet again.
They've had six tries to get through the divisional round. They have failed all six times.
Two of them have been in Kansas City.
Be sure to watch the video above as the crew from Texans on Tap reacts live to the game on YouTube.
And this one might have been every bit as bitter as the last, when the Texans blew a 24-0 lead in a 51-31 loss in January 2020 that would ultimately catapult Mahomes, Kelce and Chiefs coach Andy Reid to the first of their three Super Bowl titles.
Houston's Ka'imi Fairbairn missed a 55-yard field goal attempt that would have tied it at 6 late in the first half, but instead gave the Chiefs a short field. Five plays later, Kareem Hunt powered into the end zone for a touchdown.
In the second half, after the Texans spent more than 10 minutes driving 81 yards for a touchdown that should have tied it, Fairbairn missed the PAT in the cold, swirling winds. It not only left the Chiefs clinging to a 13-12 lead but also seemed to sap all the energy and excitement that Stroud, running back Joe Mixon and the rest of the offense had built up.
Kansas City proceeded to drive 81 yards for a touchdown of its own to take a 20-12 lead early in the fourth quarter.
The Texans still had chances to drive for a tying TD. But the first opportunity ended with three straight incompletions by Stroud and one of George Karlaftis' three sacks on fourth down, and the second with back-to-back incompletions and a punt.
By the time the Chiefs added a late field goal, and conceded a safety in the closing seconds, the game was over.
The Texans can still look back on a second consecutive AFC South title and that win over the Chargers. But they still have never won consecutive playoff games in the same season, something that is sure to fester within coach DeMeco Ryans, who was part of the first team to win a playoff game for the franchise when it beat Cincinnati in January 2012.
It also won't sit well with Stroud, who has done just about everything except make it to the AFC championship game.
The 23-year-old starting quarterback — the youngest to face a defending Super Bowl champ in the playoffs — is only the sixth QB to win a playoff game in each of his first two seasons. And he's the first Texans quarterback to win two playoff games.
Yet there was nothing he could do against Kansas City and its ferocious pass rush Saturday.
There wasn't much the rest of the Texans could do against the Chiefs, either.