The Comeback Win Earns High Marks in This Week's Grades for the Texans
There's still some room for improvement
Landry Locker will post his grades for the Texans each week. Here are the grades for week ten. Follow Landry on YouTube.
The Houston Texans saved their season with the win against the Jacksonville Jaguars and did so in one of the wildest manners imaginable.
It was at times frustrating, exciting, and with a little bit of bizarre mixed in.
Here are this week’s Land Lock grades.
Quarterback: A+
C.J. Stroud is the best Texans quarterback on the roster, but Davis Mills put on the best performance by a Texans quarterback this season.
Mills displayed toughness, overcame the shuffling and often struggling offensive line, and targeted Nico Collins a season-high 15 times. He led three third-down touchdowns in the fourth quarter for a team that has been the worst in the league near the end zone.
It didn’t start great with an interception on the first offensive possession. Still, after the Texans fell behind 17-0, Mills led the offense to points on every possession except one, which included a third-down drop by Dalton Schultz that would have put the Texans in scoring territory.
Mills did everything and more that one could expect from him and led one of the biggest comebacks in team history.
Running Backs: A
This was the best performance by the duo of Nick Chubb and Woody Marks.
Marks carried the load, which he should do every week. Chubb ran strongly and was used the right amount. The way these guys ran the ball on the game-winning drive was an elite performance.
Wide Receivers: A
Collins had a season-high 15 targets and had a one-handed grab on a two-point conversion that may have been the best snag of his career.
Jayden Higgins had a touchdown and moved the chains three times. Jaylin Noel had a clutch fourth-down reception that came on a play actually designed for him.
Christian Kirk was alright and drew a massive pass interference penalty that led to the game-winning touchdown.
Xavier Hutchinson and Braxton Berrios were utilized as they should be.
It was a solid effort.
Dalton & Guys: B+
Schultz had one big drop on a third-down pass from Mills, which was the only time he didn’t make a play when given the opportunity. Schultz has been damn good this season, and the fact that the position is as thin as it is makes his week-to-week contributions that much more impressive.
Offensive Line: C-
Sidy Sow being elevated from the practice squad and starting this game at guard was by far the goofiest decision from an offensive staff that has made many goofy decisions this season. It may have lasted only nine plays, but that was nine plays too many.
Trent Brown left it all on the field and did a solid job. He left it all on the field, and I wonder how much ball he has left. Regardless, it was a resilient effort. Jarrett Patterson did an admirable job at left guard.
The pressure was as high, if not higher, than Stroud has faced this season, but they seemed to be in the right spots and not caught by surprise.
The one much better thing was the run blocking.
Defensive Line: A
Danielle Hunter was the best player on the football field. Will Anderson was solid and added a sack, making the Texans 6-2 when both Hunter and Anderson sack the QB.
Sheldon Rankins added a touchdown at the end of the game. Tommy Togiai is an absolute force in the trenches.
Linebackers: C+
Henry To’oTo’o and Azeez Al-Shaair were both exposed in coverage, but had some solid moments, including a huge pass deflection by Al-Shaair to get the ball back to the offense before the game-winning drive.
The linebacking group is solid and does what they need to do weekly, but there feels like there are opportunities for opposing offenses to expose them in coverage. The upside of the position feels low, especially with Christian Harris being virtually a non-factor at this point in the season.
Cornerbacks: A-
This would have been an A+ if not for the penalty on Kamari Lassiter.
Derek Stingley Jr.’s one-handed interception stole three points from the Jags before the half.
This duo is elite, and it feels like they can be even better than they have, which is saying a helluva lot.
Safeties: C
Calen Bullock missed a tackle on third and 17 that led to a first down, and MJ Stewart got turned around on a Parker Washington touchdown.
Other than that, there weren’t any massive mistakes, but not a lot of plays were made either.
Myles Bryant, who filled in for Stewart after he was carted off the field with a season-ending quad injury, would have allowed a touchdown on an ill-advised Trevor Lawrence throw on a screen, but a Jaguars offensive lineman tackled him as he was in position to make the play.
It will be interesting to see how they handle Stewart’s season coming to an end.
Special Teams: F-, Expelled From School
The comeback likely wouldn’t have been needed if it hadn’t been for the awful effort from the special teams. It was beyond pathetic.
Denico Autry had a personal foul that forced the defense to hold the Jags to a field goal twice, which was immediately followed by a kick return fumble by Tremon Smith, which was followed by a Washington punt return touchdown. The special teams had the biggest hand in the Jags getting off to a 17-0 lead, and the return coverage wasn’t great afterwards.
Frank Ross’s special teams used to be a consistent strength, but that’s not the case anymore.
DeMeco Ryans acknowledged how poor they have been during his media availability earlier this week.
Coaching: C
Offensive Coordinator Nick Caley called his best game of the season. Ryans’s defense was ready to perform as usual and in the right places. As bad as special teams were, there weren’t any clear coaching blunders that drastically affected the Texans.
The mind-boggling, bizarre decision to start Sow lowers the grade. There was also an unnecessary challenge by Ryans. The clock management decisions that were bailed out by the offense on the final drive should be noted.
I honestly considered giving the coaching staff an “F” for allowing the Sow experiment in a must-win game.