Making an impact

Texans finally find a quarterback — and a play caller — in 57-14 rout of Titans

Texans finally find a quarterback — and a play caller — in 57-14 rout of Titans
Deshaun Watson celebrates a big day against the Tennessee Titans with teammates Bruce Ellington (12) and Lamar Miller (26). Bob Levey/Getty Images

The Texans won a big game on Sunday, and in the process found a quarterback.

And a play caller.

For the second week in a row, the Texans were explosive and creative on offense in a 57-14 rout of the Tennessee Titans. The win helped them improve to 2-2 and set them up for a big showdown with Kansas City next week.

The Titans also fell to 2-2, and star quarterback Marcus Mariota was injured and missed the second half.

The defense forced five turnovers, but the other side of the ball was the story. How good was the offense? The Texans did not punt until late in the third quarter. They scored on six of their first seven possessions. They outgained Tennessee 446-192. They dominated time of possession, 39:41to 20:19.

And they scored the most points in a game in the history of the franchise.

Deshaun Watson continues to improve week to week. And he continues to impress. He was almost perfect in this one. Watson was 25 of 34 for 283 yards and four touchdowns before turning it over to Tom Savage late. Watson also rushed for 24 yards and a touchdown. The five TDs tied an NFL rookie record for a quarterback, and he was the first to throw for four and rush for one since Fran Tarkenton in 1961.

Watson’s only hiccup was a bad interception near the end of the half that cost them points. But he did what good players do — bounced back by leading a 14-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a TD pass to Will Fuller, who caught his second TD of the game in his season debut. Watson was sacked just once.

Watson is not just emerging as a solid starting quarterback in the NFL and the future of the franchise, but as a star right now. He is smart. Accurate. Creative. Elusive. He is everything you could want in a quarterback.

He should only get better. As he does, it will only help DeAndre Hopkins, who had a big day himself with 10 catches for 102 yards and a touchdown. He consistently got open, and Watson found him.

But the person who might be benefitting the most from Watson’s emergence is Bill O’Brien.

O’Brien’s offense has been stagnant for his three-plus years here. His play-calling was predictable and boring. It worked to an extent — in that it got them to the playoffs two years in a row. But it was not enough when they got to the postseason. He fired offensive coordinator George Godsey last season, and took over play calling himself. The first two weeks, nothing looked any different than the Godsey era.

But the past two weeks, the offense has been fantastic. O’Brien has made the right play call more often than not. He has taken advantage of Watson’s mobility and creativity.

And the whole group looks different. The Texans had not scored 30 points in a game since the last game of 2015. They have topped that number twice in two weeks. They also went over 400 yards of offense for the second time in two weeks. After years of trotting out Hoyers, Fitzpatricks, Keenums, Savages and Ostrichs, the Texans have a real, bonafide answer at quarterback. They finally got it right at the position.

And O’Brien has not held him back. He has opened up the offense, using misdirection, option plays, bootlegs, throwing on the run, called quarterback draws…and it has worked.

There will be bad games ahead. Setbacks. But there will also be a lot more excitement and improvement. Suddenly, things look so much brighter in Houston.

Yes, the Texans have a real quarterback. And a play-caller who knows how to use him.

Finally.

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CJ Stroud has to be excited about this signing! Composite Getty Image.

According to multiple reports, the Houston Texans are signing offensive tackle Cam Robinson to a 1-year contract.

KPRC2's Aaron Wilson is reporting that the 1-year deal has a max value of $14.5 million.

With Laremy Tunsil now a member of the Commanders, clearly the Texans wanted to add some more talent at the tackle position.

Rookie right tackle Blake Fisher showed some promise last season, but he also had his share of struggles, as one would expect from a first-year player.

This move provides the Texans with flexibility if they choose to play Tytus Howard at guard again, while also giving GM Nick Caserio additional options in the draft.

Many believed the Texans would be locked in on drafting an offensive lineman with their first pick, which they may still do. But now, they can focus on taking the best player available, which could very well be a receiver at No. 25 overall.

Plus, this addition will make the Texans less predictable on draft day when rival teams are trying to predict who Caserio will draft based on Houston's needs.

Robinson started all 17 games last season, splitting time between the Jaguars and the Vikings. The Vikings traded for Robinson after their starting tackle Christian Darrisaw was lost for the season to injury. With Robinson in the last year of his deal and the Jags' season setting up to be another failure, Jacksonville decided to trade their left tackle away. Robinson (age 29) was drafted by the Jaguars in the 2nd round out of Alabama in 2017.

Make no mistake about it, this is a solid pickup by the Texans!

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