Texans @ Jacksonville: Week 3 Post game analysis

By PlayActionReal

What up football fans your boy is on cloud 9 after a solid win in Jacksonville. I should say I’m on cloud 7 because C.J. Stroud hit his stride at the end of the Indi game and came out firing today. C.J. ended up 20/30 with 280 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Texans QB came into today’s game with 626 total passing yards. Honorable mention to the special teams. They were special today.

On their second drive C.J. threw a strike to Tank Dell. That play set up Dameon Pierce for his first touchdown this year. I know as a Texans fan not to get overly confident as we have blown leads before. I saw my suspicions come true with Jacksonville and their running backs. The Jaguars have their own tank. His name is Tank Bigsby. Not to mention Travis Ettienne Jr who had a solid game. Calvin Ridley also looked good today. He looks even faster this year somehow. 

By the end of the first quarter Dameon Pierce started to look normal. The Texans defense was showing signs of improvement. Remember, there’s been a lot of injuries on both sides of the ball for the Texans. Soon after the second quarter started, the Texans almost had a scoop and score with a blocked field goal attempt from rookie Will Anderson. C.J. gets the ball back and finds Robert Woods who takes it close to the goal line. It was nice to see C.J. spread the ball around as he found tight end Brevin Jordan with a goaline touchdown. Now, I’m starting to feel it. We go into the half with a 17-0 lead.

 

Start of the third quarter and Mr. Lawrence started heating up a little bit. He had a big pass to Engram his tight end, resulting in a field goal. Next thing you know on the ensuing kickoff the Texans fullback Andrew Beck (who?) took it to the house for a 90-yard touchdown. Fun fact, the last time the Texans ran a kickoff return for a touchdown was in December of 2021 in Jacksonville! Now I’m pumped but cautious. 

This whole year the Texans defense can’t get sacks or quarterback pressure, and up to that point it was no different today with Lawrence. What helped the Texans defense was the Jaguars did stay in penalty trouble. I’m sure it was a coincidence, but just as I was thinking about my team needing a turnover. With 2 minutes and 20 seconds left in the third quarter the Texans picked off Lawrence. 
 
Fourth quarter time yo. With the ball back from turnover, the Texans first drive in the fourth quarter, Stroud drove the team down and settled for a field goal. It’s 27-10 so far. Now you start seeing the desperation with Jacksonville. But I know not to count out Trevor Lawrence. The Jags next drive Lawrence connected with Christian Kirk for a wide open 26 yard touchdown. 

But I wasn’t too worried because the Texans C.J. Stroud strike right back with a 68 touchdown. Another one to Tank Dell and now we’re looking at a commanding 34-17 lead. Our Defense held off the Jags and we punched in a field goal for a 37-17 first win of the year. 
 
Today was a good first win for Demeco Ryans as a head coach. Even with a mostly depleted offensive line, they never let up a sack and only allowed 4 QB hits. For a defensive minded head coach, I’m sure it was good for Coach Ryans to see his defense finally getting a little pressure on the quarterback, even though it took till mid 4th quarter week 3. Next week the Texans look forward to build on their momentum from today as they head back home to Houston to host the Pittsburgh Steelers at NRG stadium. Enjoy those games everyone.