Houston Texans: Good and bad news after Week 2

The Houston Texans find themselves in an early September rut after slipping to 0-2 to start the new 2018 season, but there’s some good news with the bad.

Sunday’s 20-17 loss to the Tennessee Titans was riddled with sloppy errors and further reminders of glaring weaknesses on the Houston Texans roster.

Tennessee managed to run out victors at the Nissan Stadium, even with Blaine Gabbert stepping in for Marcus Mariota at quarterback, tight end Delanie Walker missing on the back of his season-ending injury and starting offensive tackles Jack Conklin and Taylor Lewan both inactive.

There’s a number of possible starting points when considering where it went wrong for the Texans. Why not begin with where games are so often defined? The trenches.

The bad news…

The Texans’ offensive line can’t find a way to protect the supremely gifted Deshaun Watson and it will be a crying shame if that remains to be the case. Houston were devoted to bolstering the quarterback’s security on the back of his ACL surgery last season. This meant replacing four starters by signing tackle Seantrel Henderson and guards Zach Fulton and Senio Kelemete in the offseason and using a third-round draft pick on left tackle Martinas Rankin.

Between Henderson’s season-ending ankle injury and poor execution from the rest of the offensive line, the Texans are still facing the same questions.

Watson, who was exposed to heavy pressure throughout, was eventually sacked four times on the day to make it seven from the opening two games. This only reignited concerns from 2017 when the Texans gave up 19 sacks in seven games. Head coach Bill O’Brien told Texans Insider Deepi Sidhu (via HoustonTexans.com):

"“I think that there’s somethings we can do schematically to help the pass blocking, but we have to improve in the pass blocking area, not just one-on-one, but some of the different things teams are doing against us.”"

The offensive line’s frailties when anticipating and reacting to the blitz doesn’t bode entirely well ahead of a Week 3 contest against James Bettcher’s blitz-friendly New York Giants defense. Weak pass protection was burdened further by frustrating penalties and poor play in the secondary.

11 penalties cost the Texans 88 yards across all three phases of the game, including a second quarter clipping penalty against Kelemete that struck off a 25-yard pass to DeAndre Hopkins. Inactive defensive end Jadeveon Clowney somehow managed to get tangled up in the flags when he was penalized for taunting Titans tight end Luke Stocker after he was pushed into the Texans’ sideline.

The result was a loss of 15 yards, moving the Titans beyond the 50 and setting them on their way towards Ryan Succop’s game-tying 42-yard field goal six plays later. Whilst holding penalties reflected inadequate offensive line play, amateurish false starts and Clowney’s nonsense marked the Texans beating themselves.

Besides the offensive line, there was a notable focus on the Texans’ secondary heading into the new season. It was a shame to see Kareem Jackson shifted back to cornerback on Sunday having looked so comfortable at safety against the New England Patriots the week before. He looked at home in his new role, becoming the first Texan to record eight tackles and two forced fumbles and seemingly enjoying the challenge against Rob Gronkowski.

Jackson endured a tough return to corner when he was floored by a bullish stiff arm from wide receiver Corey Davis on a third-and-four conversion. He didn’t have a bad game by any stretch, but it’s hard to bury the impression he made alongside Tyrann Matthieu in Week 1.

The main problems came elsewhere in the Texans’ secondary, with cornerback Jonathan Joseph and Matthieu missing open field tackles on Taywan Taylor as the wide receiver ran for six in the final minute of the first quarter. A costly 14-0 deficit heading into the second could have been avoided.

The good news…

The Texans surely boast too much talent across their roster to let the defeats continue. This starts with their signal-caller, who yet again proved what an asset he can be on the run with 44 yards from five carries. In fact, the Texans’ running game displayed more signs of improvement as Lamar Miller and Alfred Blue complimented Watson’s figures with 104 rushing yards combined.

This built on Miller’s 98 yards from 20 carries, Watson’s 40 from eight and Blue’s 36 from five to put the Texans at the top of NFL rushing yards after two games. O’Brien added this to his comments via HoustonTexans.com:

"“Lamar and Blue are really doing a good job and our line is run-blocking well, as well as the tight ends. There was some good execution going on there and we really need to try and keep it going.”"

Hopkins also remains an ever-present threat, evidenced by his efforts to adjust his run and get open for a scrambling Watson on his touchdown catch and run.

The return of Will Fuller V was meanwhile a monumental boost to the Texan’s offense as the receiver led the game with eight catches for 113 yards and a spectacular 39-yard fourth quarter touchdown. Fuller did excellently to shrug off Malcolm Butler before diving to meet Watson’s perfectly-weighted pass. He again showcased his value to the Texans with a versatility as both a deep threat and a reliable weapon in short pass situations.

On defense, rookie safety Justin Reid enjoyed another encouraging game to follow up his bright debut against the Patriots. The third-round pick played every defensive snap at the weekend and made four solo tackles. His most notable moment arrived in the second quarter when he blitzed Gabbert, who was flagged for an intentional grounding on a third down.

Perhaps the best news for the Texans is that they are hosting the Giants at the NRG Stadium next.

Both enter the contest winless and with their quarterback’s suffering abuse behind their respective offensive lines. What will give Houston added confidence is the fact Watson looks far better equipped to prevail above his poor protection than Eli Manning does.