Battle Red Blog
The final score will say the Houston Texans won a close game over the Tennessee Titans 16-13. If you watched nothing but the last two minutes you will be forgiven if you wanted to canonize Davis Mills. After all, Mills led another go ahead scoring drive late in the game. It would seem like all is good in Houston as they finally get back to the .500 mark following an 0-3 start.
Sure, there were lots of things to like about this performance. The defense showed up for a majority of the game and dominated the Titans offense. Much like 2024, there was one broken play for 50 yards that changed the entire complexion of the game. It came on a third and 16 when the Texans defense would normally get off the field with ease.
Focusing on the defensive failures would be burying the lede. Nick Caley’s offense had several opportunities late to put this game out of reach and failed to do so at each and every instance. A sack fumble turned into just three points. Two additional punts turned into zero points on the ensuing end. The Texans demonstrated one truism in the NFL. It doesn’t matter how great your defense is. If you are asking your defense to completely shut down the other offense you are asking for too much.
We will have time for all of the negative later in the week. Game balls go to one player on defense this week and one player on offense. Nico Collins disappeared for several weeks this year, but he has showed up in force the last three weeks. He has 23 catches for 303 yards and a touchdown in those three games. That’s 49 catches and 642 yards on the season. That’s through nine games played. It might not seem like much, but that is on pace to get to 87 catches and well over 1000 yards again for the third straight season.
Will Anderson added another sack to his season total, but it was a strip sack where he recovered the fumble as well. It was the eighth consecutive game the Texans defense has generated a turnover and had a sack in the game game. They managed three sacks on the afternoon and in spite of the broken play, they maintain their stranglehold on the lead for least points allowed.
Stay tuned to a short week of coverage as the Texans try to keep their slim playoff hopes alive against the surging Buffalo Bills. The Bills find themselves in unfamiliar territory of chasing the New England Patriots for the division lead. In addition to wins, the Texans will need to leapfrog some other contenders. Thursday night gives them the opportunity to do both.
