Houston Texans: Turnovers were key in loss to Ravens

The Houston Texans were improved, but work is still needed after Week 2 loss vs. the Ravens.

The Houston Texans improved their play compared to last week, but the result was still the same with the Texans suffering a 33-16 loss in Week 2 to the Baltimore Ravens.

The first half really put the Houston Texans in a bind because even though they only trailed by a 17-10 score at halftime, they made too many mistakes with turnovers that helped the Ravens get into the leader spot on the scoreboard.

The bottom line was the Ravens were too strong for the home team. For the game itself, the Texans had a fumble loss by Keke Coutee in his first game action of the season, and Deshaun Watson had an interception. Both turnovers resulted in points for the Ravens in the first half, and Houston never recovered in the scoring column.

Teams who have turnovers that result in points against the Ravens just aren’t going to win that much, as Baltimore is one of the best teams in the entire league for a reason.

Another aspect of the Houston Texans offense that isn’t working quite so well is their rushing attack with the team totaling 17 carries for 51 yards, averaging 3.0 yards per carry against Baltimore. David Johnson had only 34 yards on 11 carries (3.1 YPC) and Watson had five rushes for 17 yards (3.4 YPC).

Those aren’t the numbers that are going to win games in the NFL. It is simple as that, and yes, the offensive line of the Houston Texans isn’t great at the moment, but when the leading rusher Johnson has only 11 carries for an entire game, something isn’t working.

Houston Texans news: A couple positives for the game

Also for the Texans, a positive for the Texans was the play of Jordan Akins, with the tight end being targeted seven times for seven receptions and 55 yards. Akins did well in the loss, but a perfect 7-of-7 is nice to see in Week 2.

The Houston Texans also had Brandin Cooks catch five of his eight targets to lead the team in receiving yards with 95, including a top reception of 38 yards. Cooks averaged 19 yards per reception on Sunday, but others for the Texans are going to need to step up on offense for things to really get going.

On defense, a positive was Zach Cunningham finishing with 10 solo tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss, and one QB hit against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, plus it was good to see J.J. Watt collect two sacks and Charles Omenihu have a sack too.

Though it was a loss, the Houston Texans showed signs of life and played better than they did in Week 1. Things might be turning around for the team, but there is still much work to be done.