Houston Texans: 5 Takeaways from loss vs. New Orleans Saints
The Houston Texans had positives and negatives and nearly gained a comeback win over the New Orleans Saints, showing the Texans are a few improvements away from being a dangerous team in the AFC.
One final late drive by the New Orleans Saints ended up being the difference from the Houston Texans being a winner in Week 1 rather than having a season-opening loss for the third consecutive season. In ’18, the Texans lost to the New England Patriots (27-20), and in ’17 they lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars (29-7), so this loss isn’t make or break for the Texans’ ’19 season.
Though Houston last won a season opener in ’16 against the Chicago Bears (23-14), the performance during Monday night’s 30-28 loss to the Saints — which came on a field goal by Wil Lutz as time expired — wasn’t all that bad, as it had many positives and some negatives too.
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The play of the offensive line was better than last season, but it still needs much work as quarterback Deshaun Watson was sacked six times, and yes, not all of those sacks were on the offensive line. The defense of the Texans had very little pass rush, except from Whitney Mercilus.
Mercilus totaled five tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss, plus an interception in the season opener, with the interception being the first of his career. Last season, Mercilus had just four sacks, and in ’17 he totaled just one sack, so seeing him in a more aggressive role in Week 1 was a sight to behold, but more on him later.
The play Watson was outstanding, and he proved to anyone watching the game he’s not just well on his way to being one of the best quarterbacks in the league, but he’s about to kick down the door and lead the Texans to many more wins.
There was a lot to take away from this game, and going forward — even in a loss — the Texans now know they can stay toe-to-toe with the best teams in the league, and they proved that against the Saints.
Next are 5 takeaways from the Week 1 game.