Texans Recap: Week Eight
The Texans played on a beautiful day in Charlotte, NC Sunday. It was the first time in NFL history that the first 3 draft picks were playing on the same field. In addition the 2 quarterbacks in this game are childhood friends. The Texans were favorites coming off of a bye week. Carolina had its struggles so far this year, so I was confident CJ would lead this team on a few long drives. I was disappointed.
The first 2 drives for both teams resulted in punts. The Texans defense started off well. They sacked the QB and had a nice tackle for a loss from rookie Will Anderson Jr. The Texans ended up with six sacks on the day. Not so fast, the Carolina defense played swat the ball. They kept frustrating CJ all day with pass blocks. Both of these defenses had good days overall.
It was late in the first quarter that the Texans had a good drive, making it their longest drive of the year. A nine minute 92 yard drive starts with a deep slant to CJ’s #1 receiver Nico Collins for 15 yards. The Texans relied on a decent running game during this drive and Tank Dell’s speed with an end around. Nico had a great toe tapping catch on the sideline to keep the drive alive. Finally after a few rush attempts on the goal line, CJ gave the ball to his fullback Andrew Beck to punch it into the end zone. With 13:21 in the the second quarter 7-0 Texans.
Carolina gets the ball back and moves the ball easily down the field. Next thing you know the Panthers have the ball on the goal line and the Texans stopped them on 4th down for a turnover on downs.
The Texans couldn’t do anything on their next drive. Credit to the Panthers defense for pressuring Stroud resulting in a sack.
Carolina put together another long drive with the help of some Texans penalties. Bryce Young hits his tight end Tommy Tremble for a goal line touchdown pass. Carolina missed the extra point to make it 7-6 with 1:35 left in the second quarter. Both CJ Stroud and Bryce Young fell victim to the sack on their last drives of the second quarter.
The Carolina Panthers came out the second half and scored 2 field goals to take the lead 7-12. The Texans finally showed some life with a drive that got them into the endzone. CJ went for it on 4th and goal with a QB sneak. They failed on their 2 point conversion to make it 13-12 late in the third quarter.
The ending was filled with drama with the Panthers lining up for three different field-goal attempts.
On a 38-yarder, Tavierre Thomas ran into the backfield early in an attempt to block the kick and ran into holder Johnny Hekker. That moved the Panthers 10 yards closer. Then Thomas was flagged again for unsportsmanlike conduct for trying to stop the clock by jumping offsides again, moving the ball another 5 yards closer.
Pineiro made his third attempt, even as another flag for offsides was thrown on the Texans.
Young overcame six sacks and three drops by his wide receivers to record his first win since coming into the NFL out of Alabama. 13-15 Carolina wins their first game of the season.
Next week the Texans take on Baker Mayfield and the Bucs in Houston. Enjoy the games.
