CODY STOOTS/PFF
Pro Football Focus grades: Brock Osweiler playing well; two Texans bounce back
Oct 23, 2018, 2:50 pm
Pro Football Focus grades each individual player's performance and assigns them a grade. All 32 teams use Pro Football Focus.
Each week we will take a look at some of the good and bad from the Texans and a look at the upcoming opponent as well. They also do great fantasy analysis and draft coverage as well. Stats are for the previous game unless otherwise noted. You can join Pro Football Focus here.
Greg Mancz rattled off a grade higher than any in this category by injured starting right guard Zach Fulton. Mancz was also a part of the standout dominant rushing play where he and center Nick Martin and right tackle Kendall Lamm combined to blow the Jaguars defense off the line of scrimmage and open a huge hole for Lamar Miller. It was much better than Mancz's other starting appearance which was at left guard against the Giants earlier this season. With the short week, he may get to ply his trade against the Dolphins if Fulton hasn't fully recovered.
He's back! He had his highest grade in almost every defensive graded category. Mercilus forced a fumble on Blake Bortles and racked up his first sack of the season as well. He was very active rushing the passer with plenty of opportunities. The previous weeks he had seen fewer chances to get after the quarterback. He seems to finally be rounding into form after his preseason was non-existent thanks to injury.
His second worst game via grades and statistics but a big tick up from the previous week when he was first dealing with his injury. Watson was protected by a rushing attack that broke out but did more than enough to make plays for the team to win. He got back to scrambling after sticking around in the pocket mostly the previous week. With a vicious pass rush and talented secondary, it made sense for Watson to have a down statistical game.
Brock Osweiler makes his return to NRG Stadium for the first time since he was the team's quarterback. He comes in playing decent and grading out well. Osweiler completed 72 percent of his passes against the Lions and his yards per attempt check in the highest ever in his career. His passer rating on the season is 107 which would be good for seventh best in the league ahead of Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, and Ben Roethlisberger, for whatever passer rating is worth. He isn't playing bad coming into Thursday Night Football.
As always, you can join Pro Football Focus here.
The Houston Texans have a big challenge in store as they look to start the season with a win against the Colts this Sunday. When these two teams met in Week 2 last year, the Colts dominated the Texans, despite losing their QB Anthony Richardson to a concussion after the first quarter.
Keeping Richardson contained on Sunday will go a long way in increasing the Texans' chances of coming home with a win. The Texans defense will have their hands full containing the Colts backs and tight ends in the passing game.
Scoring touchdowns with their wide receivers could prove difficult, as the Texans allowed the second-fewest TDs (10) to the receiver position in 2023.
Limiting running back Jonathan Taylor will also be a top priority. While the Texans had an elite defense against the run last season, they struggled with Taylor in Week 18 as he almost rushed for 200 yards.
Houston's D allowed only four carries to running backs in 2023 that went for 20 or more yards. Two of which were to Taylor in the final game of the regular season.
Finally, DeMeco Ryans and company have to find a way to get pressure on the QB. They only had one QB hit and zero sacks on Richardson and Garner Minshew the first time they faced off last year.
On offense, the Texans have two big x-factors to watch for on Sunday. The offensive line that suited up to play the Colts in Week 2 last season is completely different from this year.
The o-line was ravaged with injuries to start the 2023 campaign, so we expect a big jump in productivity in the trenches this year.
Another big addition in 2024 is the presence of running back Joe Mixon. The running game only produced 2 yards per rush in Week 2 against Indy last year, so there's clearly room for improvement.
Be sure to watch the video above for our in-depth preview of Texans-Colts!
And catch Texans on Tap (a Texans podcast) live on our SportsMapTexans YouTube channel following every game this season!