FALCON POINTS
Texans offense is out of this world in 53-32 romp over Atlanta
Oct 6, 2019, 3:15 pm
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Sunday's 53-32 win over the Falcons was impressive, but it was also one that should have Texans fans scratching their heads. Where was this offense last week? In what has been a season of inconsistency, good Deshaun Watson and the offense showed up big time. Watson was 28 of 33 for a career high 426 yards and five TDs and also rushed four times for another 47 yards. Let's take a look at how it played out.
Offense
The positives: Watson got rid of the ball quickly and had the best game of his career. He did not turn it over and threw as many touchdowns as he had incompletions. The offensive line played very well, allowing zero sacks. They averaged 4.9 per carry on the ground and rushed for 166 yards. Will Fuller had a career day with 14 catches for 217 yards and three touchdowns. As a team, the Texans put up 592 yards on offense. This is why the Texans are so frustrating; they show us this brilliant offense every now and then, but then throw in some donkeys like they did last week. The tight ends returned including three catches, two by Darren Fells for touchdowns. He spoke with SBNation about it.
Yes, the Falcons defense is not good, but the Texans took advantage. Impressive effort.
The negatives: Not much, actually. Max Scharping had two false start penalties on one series in the second half, and the team had too many penalties in general. But otherwise, this was a stellar performance. Ka'imi Fairbairn missed two more extra points.
Defense
The positives: While they did not get a ton of pressure on Matt Ryan, they did enough to disrupt him at times. The Falcons put up 17 first half points, but none in the third quarter thanks to some great adjustments. Tashaun Gipson had a pick six late in the game to rub it in a little.
The negatives: They did get pushed around in the first half, but the Falcons have some serious weapons on offense. Jonathan Joseph continued to get beat on a regular basis. J.J. Watt had a pair of roughing the passer penalties and could have had a third.
The bottom line
This was a dominant performance, a fun game to watch, and a hint of what the Texans can be if they just find more consistency. They will need a similar performance next week, as they take on the juggernaut that is Kansas City. But this was one of their best efforts in a long time.
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!