How Nico Collins' breakout season is lifting the Texans' offense
Sep 30, 2024, 5:45 pm
Nico Collins has been spectacular this season. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.
Through the ups and downs of the first four games, the stellar play of Nico Collins has been the one constant for the Houston Texans.
Collins had a career-high 12 catches for 151 yards and a touchdown Sunday to help the Texans (3-1) rally for a 24-20 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
He leads the NFL by a wide margin with 489 yards receiving and is the first player in franchise history with more than 450 yards receiving though the first four games. New York Giants rookie Malik Nabers was second entering Monday night’s games with 386 yards.
Sunday was the eighth career 100-yard game for Collins and his third this season.
The great start by Collins, who is in his fourth season, comes after his breakout 2023 where he had a career-high 1,297 yards receiving.
After his big game Sunday, quarterback C.J. Stroud recalled the first time he worked out with the receiver after being drafted second overall by the Texans last year.
“I told him: ‘You’re a superstar, and I’m going to make sure people know that,’” Stroud said. “I feel like ever since then, he’s had a swagger and a confidence … and it’s just rolling now. He’s been big for us. He’s always somebody that I lean on.”
Collins has remained Stroud’s favorite option this season despite the blockbuster offseason trade for four-time Pro Bowl receiver Stefon Diggs.
Coach DeMeco Ryans couldn’t say enough good things about the performance of Collins.
“He’s deserving of all the praise and all the credit that he’s getting,” Ryans said. “He’s one of the top receivers in the league, and he’s showing it. He doesn’t have to talk it; he’s showing it by what he does on a game-to-game basis. He’s proving that he’s one of the best.”
Collins was asked what it’s like to hear so many people praising his play.
“It doesn’t feel real,” he said. “Those are the type of achievements you want to have. It’s early, but it’s a great position to be in right now. I feel like, for me, just continue to be myself, don’t get comfortable and continue to build, find that 1 percent.”
What’s working
Houston’s passing game, led by Stroud and Collins continues to be the team’s strength. Stroud had a season-high 345 yards passing with two touchdowns Sunday to become the seventh quarterback in NFL history to throw for at least 300 yards seven times through their first 19 games.
Sunday was Stroud’s eighth game with multiple passing touchdowns and no interceptions, tying Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson for the most by a player age 22 or younger in NFL history.
What needs help
The Texans had 12 penalties for 93 yards Sunday to give them 35 penalties combined in their past three games. They have 40 overall this season, which is the most in the NFL through Sunday’s games.
Ryans is tired of talking about these mistakes week after week.
“A lot of them are just bonehead penalties that are uncalled for,” he said. “You don’t need those. They’re not helping us at all. We still have positive things that happen to us, and we’re going backward … it seems like I’m a broken record every time I step up here (but) the Texans have to get out of the Texans’ way for us to be a good team.”
Stock up
RB Dare Ogunbowale’s 1-yard touchdown reception with 18 seconds left Sunday lifted Houston to the victory. It was the first TD since 2022 for Ogunbowale, whom the Texans relied on Sunday with running backs Joe Mixon and Dameon Pierce out with injuries.
Ogunbowale had an important guest at Sunday’s game in sister Arike Ogunbowale, who plays for the WNBA’s Dallas Wings.
“It was special,” he said. “Anytime I get to see her up there is fun. I get to go to her games; she gets to go to my games. We’re just living our childhood dreams and for her to be up there while I was able to make some plays was fun.”
Stock down
LT Laremy Tunsil had two holding penalties, both in the fourth quarter, on Sunday. Those penalties come after the veteran was flagged six times in last week’s loss to the Vikings. Tunsil has 12 penalties this season, including seven false starts.
Injuries
Mixon missed a second game Sunday and Pierce was out for a third straight week. Mixon returned to practice in a limited capacity Friday and could be available this week. … WR Tank Dell missed Sunday’s game with chest and hand injuries.
Key number
8 — Although Collins is Stroud’s top option, Stroud has done a good job of spreading the ball around and eight different players had at least one reception Sunday.
Next steps
The Texans host the Bills on Sunday where Diggs will face his former team for the first time since the trade. Diggs spent the past four seasons in Buffalo where he had more than 1,100 yards receiving each year, highlighted by an NFL-leading and career-high 1,535 yards in 2020.
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So it’s A.J. Hinch managing the team that will try to eliminate the Astros in the best-of-three Wild Card Series that opens Tuesday at Minute Maid Park. That’s certainly a notable storyline as Hinch battles tactically with his former bench coach Joe Espada, in facing the franchise he managed to the 2017 World Series Championship, and the franchise that fired him 26 months later after Hinch’s complicity in the Astros’ cheating scandal came to light.
As covered in the most recent column, momentum means nothing heading into this series. That’s a good thing because the Tigers stormed down the stretch with a 31-11 record before pretty much no-showing their last two games against the laughingstock White Sox after Friday night celebrating securing their first playoff spot since 2014. Had the Tigers won one of them the Astros would be playing the Kansas City Royals. Oh well. It’s not like the Royals would have been a significantly easier opponent, if easier at all.
Tarik Skubal vs. Framber Valdez
Apart from Yordan Alvarez’s sprained knee rendering dubious his ability to perform entering the postseason, the biggest “uh oh” for the Astros going into the shortest of playoff series is facing Tigers’ ace Tarik Skubal in game one. With due credit to the brilliant season of Guardians’ closer Emmanuel Clase, any American League Cy Young vote for any one other than Skubal is stupid. He went 18-4, leading the AL in earned run average at 2.39, and in strikeouts with 228 in 192 innings pitched. MLB hit just .201 with a puny OPS of .558 vs. Skubal this season. Among other things, 18-4 means he’s beatable. The Astros gave Skubal one of his four losses, putting up four earned runs in six and one-third innings. The Astros won that game 4-0, with Hunter Brown throwing seven shutout innings in his hometown. Which raises another point. Skubal could be outstanding Tuesday yet have Framber Valdez outpitch him.
It will feel like if the Astros beat Skubal in game one the series is over. That is a foolhardy concept. Of course the Tigers could win games two and three.
Brown will go for the Astros in game two, and if there is a decisive game three Thursday the ball goes to Yusei Kikuchi. Ronel Blanco looms as a multi-inning bullpen threat in one game of the series. If a reliever is needed before getting to the back end of Bryan Abreu, Ryan Pressly, and Josh Hader, Blanco is the best pitcher available and a better option than Hector Neris or anyone else.
The Tigers' game two starter would have been Jack Flaherty, except they dealt him to the Dodgers at the trade deadline. That’s another fact that makes the Tigers’ surge amazing. Second season man Reese Olson probably goes for the Tigers in game two. Brown rates a huge edge over him though in one game, as ever, you never know. If a game three, Hinch likely starts John Brieske, but with a short leash. An X-factor at Hinch’s disposal at least once in the series is Jackson Jobe, considered by many the best starting pitching prospect yet to start in the Majors. The Tigers called up Jobe for his big league debut the final week of the regular season. The 22-year-old righthander with a 101 miles-per-hour fastball pitched in four innings over two games. He gave up one hit and no runs.
Not so fast!
Reading much into Tigers’ season-long statistics is done at one’s own risk. The Tigers awoke August 11 at 55-63. They have since played as if a mostly different team. A handful of points…
Shortstop Javier Baez’s season-ending back injury was a Tiger blessing because Hinch couldn’t play him anymore. Baez has been sub-pathetic since the Tigers moronically gave him a six year 140 million dollar contract after Carlos Correa said “no thanks” to Detroit’s 10 year 275 million dollar offer after the 2021 season. It’s not as if anyone is confusing replacement Trey Sweeney with Alan Trammell, but his play has been much better than the rotting corpse production Baez was giving. The Tigers got Sweeney in the Flaherty deal with the Dodgers and called him August 16.
Oh, Sweeney is cousins with actress Sydney Sweeney. Think anyone will have eyes out for her Tuesday?
The Tigers’ other middle infielder is also a rookie. They gave the second base job to Colt Keith out of spring training and he looked utterly overmatched the first month-plus of the season. Over his first 30 games Keith hit .152 with an impossibly feeble .399 OPS. Well, he figured out stuff. From May 6 forward Keith has been a better player than Jose Altuve.
The Astros start lefty Valdez in game one and if a game three fellow lefty Kikuchi. The Tigers' two best offensive players bat left-handed…and poorly vs. southpaws. 24-year-old Tiger All-Star Riley Greene is a stud. But vs. lefties he hit just .213 with a .693 OPS. Kerry Carpenter has by far the Tigers’ best batting rate stats. Thing is, he hardly even plays against lefties. Carpenter has a .930 OPS overall. Against lefties: three for 28 (.107 average) with 10 strikeouts. Does Hinch try him against Valdez and/or Kikuchi?
No big upset is possible in a best-of-three. Of course the Astros are favored. Rightfully so given their pedigree coupled with the Tigers’ inexperience, and the Astros are the home team in every game. But the Tigers won 86 games to the Astros’ 88, and the AL Central was a better division than the West. The Cleveland Guardians await the winner for the start of a best-of-five American League Division Series Saturday.
Be sure to watch the video above for our full breakdown of Astros vs.Tigers!
*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday). There will be extra editions during the postseason. Find all via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.