The Day After the Day After: Reviewing the Houston Texans’ last second win

Jacksonville Jaguars v Houston Texans — Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images

So dramatic, but yet, so familiar. Let’s review, but with lower blood pressure and lower risk of cardiac arrest.

The Day After the Day After…when the raw, immediate emotions from the aftermath of a game diminish into the realm of clarity and the proverbial (or literal) hangover no longer haunts the mind. With that, a review of Week 4:

Nico Collins and Home Cooking: You’d be hard pressed to find a WR that likes playing at home more than Nico Collins. Look at what the man’s done since 2023 at NRG. Over 10 home regular season games and one playoff tilt, he has 81 receptions for 1,290 yards and 10 touchdowns. The dude just loves the adulation of the NRG crowd. On a team with Tank Dell and Stefon Diggs, Collins somehow manages to rise to the be the top target for C.J. Stroud. If this continues, Caserio might have gotten the best bargain for a leading NFL receiver.

Stefon Diggs, the Playmaker: Maybe Diggs won’t match Collins’ numbers. Yet, he manages to make plays. He only has two receiving touchdowns, but those came in a critical Week 1 win. Last week, he showcased some offensive versatility by uncorking a WR option pass for a first down. Against Jacksonville, on a third and two inside the Jags’ six, Diggs took a jet sweep-style handoff to set up for another WR option pass. Jacksonville read the play right, but Diggs showcased some high on-field IQ, pulling the ball and cutting through the middle of the Jags defense, got his 1st rushing touchdown to tie the game 7-7. That offensive versatility bodes well for his pending free agency.

C.J. Stroud and the Fourth Quarter: This season, Stroud’s play rated solid, but not spectacular. However, in the fourth quarter, Stroud showcased the reason for all the hype. Going 10 of 14 for 113 yards and the game-winning touchdown will does excite people. With great players, they don’t play great all the time, just when they have to. For Stroud, that time came this past Sunday. Does it mean he will average 300+ yards and multiple touchdowns in every single game from here on out? Maybe not, but this should table some of the sophomore slump talk for now. That, and taking only two sacks helps.

Penalties: This team is way, way too penalty prone. Double-digit penalties the past three games. You don’t get bonus points from the NFL for degree of difficulty in wins. That the Houston Texans seems to want to play against themselves as much as their opponents adds way too much drama to the game. Maybe there weren’t as many false starts, but still too many pre-snap penalties, from encroachment on the defense to illegal formations on the offense. With the difficulty of the schedule soon to ramp up, discipline play must improve. Otherwise, the dreams and ambitions of this team will drown in a sea of yellow flags.

Calen Bullock’s Biggest Play to Date: For a rookie who logged an interception in his first real NFL action, Bullock one-upped it on a mere shoe-string tackle. Deep into the third quarter, Jaguars’ RB Tank Bigsby took a third down draw play and burst into the open field. The endzone beckoned for the second year player. However, as Bigsby rumbled inside the 10, Bullock, in a last-gasp effort, dove at Bigsby’s feet. The brief contact did just enough to force Bigsby out of bounds inside the Texans’ 4. Instead of a two score lead entering the 4th, the tackle forced Jacksonville to run one more play. Actually, four more plays, as the Most Interesting Defense in the World blanked them on a goal-line stand.

Dare Ogunbowale, Texans Legend: He’ll never rate more than a third string/special teams player. Arguably, Dare is not even the best pro athlete in his family. Yet, this back from Wisconsin somehow finds a way to make big plays for the Texans. Recall his placement in Texans’ lore with his 29-yard field goal against Tampa Bay. This game, he did his work as a receiving running-back. Converted a third and 18 with a nifty bit of catch-and-run prowess. While that didn’t led to a Texans score, it did help in the field position game. Then, with 18 seconds left, with Houston on the Jacksonville 1 and needing just a field goal to tie, Houston went for the knockout blow. On the goal-line rollout, Stroud had all the options on the table, but he went with the short touchdown pass to Ogunbowale. Thus, another chapter in the Book of Texans, Ogubowale Chapter.

The Hour is Late in Jacksonville: Jacksonville needed this one. Houston fans may lament the closeness of this game, but Jacksonville approached this with playoff intensity. 1-3 isn’t great, but 0-4 is worse. Only one team started 0-4 and made it to the playoffs (1992 San Diego Chargers). Jacksonville, only two seasons removed from a Divisional Playoff appearance and less than a year removed from being in the discussion for best record in the AFC, is on an 1-9 streak. Trevor Lawrence, the can’t miss QB prospect, is 0-9 in his last nine starts. A close loss to a contending team in their house is usually nothing to lament, but coupled with the blown double-digit lead in Miami, their derptastic performance at home against Deshaun Watson and whatever that was in Buffalo, and a team set to contend for the AFC South might be looking at what to do with a top pick in the 2025 draft. Maybe Jacksonville turns it around, but if the minimum win total to get to the playoffs is around 10, can you see that team going 10-3 to end the season? Next week, they face the Colts at home. Lose that one, and many Jaguars’ employees will frantically update their LinkedIn profiles. Actually, they should probably do that anyway.

FUN WITH NUMBERS:

3: Number of times Houston started a season 3-1. The 2010, 2011 and 2016 seasons all saw the squad get out to a nice 3-1 start. Only the 2012 teams, who kicked of the year 5-0, got off to a better opening.

0: Wins in the next game after starting 3-1 by Houston. All three of those teams went from 3-1 to 3-2. For the 2024 variant, they get a dangerous Buffalo Bills team, who also sits at 3-1.

1: Losing streak(s) under the Ryans regime. The Texans started out Ryans’ coaching tenure 0-2. That still remains the last time the team suffered a losing streak. C.J. Stroud’s last second touchdown pass made sure that trend continued.

GAME BALLS:

WR Nico Collins: 12 receptions, 151 yards, one touchdown. Yet, as impressive as the fantasy numbers are, consider that many of his receptions yielded third down conversions, especially as Houston faced multiple third and long situations. That Jacksonville let him get open on those plays…well, exhibit #12 on why they sit 0-4.

S Eric Murray: Usually, he would be in the not-game-ball category, but not today. Murray didn’t post a lot of big defensive stats, but came up huge on two second half third downs. One came on a blitz yielding Houston’s only sack forcing a Jags punt. The other came on Jacksonville’s final effective offensive position, when Houston needed the ball back, Murray broke up a third down Lawrence pass. Without that stop at that time, perhaps the touchdown pass with 18 seconds doesn’t happen.

SHOULD BE FORCED TO WATCH RECENT AEW HIGHLIGHTS WITH TONY KHAN WHILE HE IS IN KAYFABE WITH THE BAD NECK BRACE:

WR/PR Steven Sims: After Houston forced Jacksonville to punt on its first offensive position, Sims badly misjudged the course of the punt, muffing the catch inside the Houston 10. His poor positioning and communication was such that he blocked Xavier Hutchinson from attempting to recover. One play later, and Jacksonville took the early 7-0 lead. Sims followed up that error by somehow getting flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct on a punt that went out of bounds in the second half. While Sims’ bump of the Jags player rated as weak sauce, he did that in front of the refs.

All in all, not a quality win, but a win nevertheless. Houston now girds itself to host the AFC East-leading Buffalo Bills in a noon CDT matchup back at NRG this coming Sunday.