Battle Red Blog
The day started with a division title within sight. The Tennessee Titans even opened up a 7-0 lead on the Jacksonville Jaguars, so the Texans played most of their starters in the first half. Nico Collins and Kamari Lassiter were healthy scratches and they could have used both players in the first half. However, the Texans still built a 20-10 lead in the first half in spite of some lackluster play on defense and their customary foot shooting on offense.
The Jaguars quickly began to pull away from the Titans and the Texans will to win seemingly slipped away with every score update. The Jaguars would go on to win 41-7, so the Texans sat nearly everyone in the second half. They were up 23-17 at half time, but the defense had little resistance once all of the key guys were out. However, some big plays were made in the second half by players few have heard of. Alijah Huzzie picked off Riley Leonard to lead to one of Ka’imi Fairbairn’s franchise record six field goals.
On offense, the MVPs were British Brooks and Xavier Hutchinson. Hutchinson had five catches for 84 yards to finish off his best season as a Texan. Brooks spent most of the season on the bench as a backup fullback and third string running back. He had 63 yards on 13 carries primarily in the second half. Davis Mills did not do much in relief of C.J. Stroud, but he did enough to get the finishing points to put the Texans up 32-30. Tommy Togai got the touchdown he was robbed of (by his quarterback) earlier in the game on the last play of the game to make it a 38-30 win for the Houston Texans.
The victory was a bonus for a team that clearly wasn’t trying its best to win the game. The main objective was to go into the playoffs as healthy as possible and they definitely achieved that. The victory cements the Texans as the fifth seed and they are waiting for the results of the Sunday night game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens. The Texans will face the winner of that game on the road. If history is any indication, that game will likely be at 3:30 CST on Saturday afternoon. How do you feel about the Texans nine game winning streak? How long will their season continue?
