There were many things to takeaway from the Houston Texans’ loss to the Ravens.
One of the more shocking revelations from the Houston Texans vs. Baltimore Ravens box score is seeing exactly how disastrously the run defense unraveled as the game progressed. No Baltimore Ravens rusher topped 75 yards on the ground, yet Gus Edwards finished with 73 total yards, while Mark Ingram reached 55 yards on just nine carries. There was also Lamar Jackson rushing for 54, yards, and rookie J.K. Dobbins needed only two carries for 48 yards.
Even worse, look at the gradual wearing down of the defense from the first half to the second (per Jayson Braddock):
• Baltimore running backs first half totals: 5 carries for 16 yards (3.2 YPC)
• Third quarter totals: 5 carries for 27 yards (5.4 YPC)
• Fourth quarter totals: 11 carries for 133 yards (12.1 YPC)
The Houston Texans defense was obviously exhausted, and the ejection of Ross Blacklock was both inexcusable and detrimental to the team’s success.
J.J. Watt called the rookie’s move “stupid and selfish”, and ultimately this is one area the team needs to focus on before they can become a legitimate contender, if at all this season.
Next are three takeaways from the Houston Texans loss against the Baltimore Ravens, as the Texans now have to not only learn from this loss, but also get prepared to face the Pittsburgh Steelers this upcoming Sunday.
3. Houston Texans Takeaways: Cooks, Cobb, and Akins shine, but where was Will Fuller?
The Houston Texans game plan for this season sans-Hopkins was to spread the ball around to one of the fastest receiving corps in the NFL, and so far we have seen a mixed bag of results through two weeks.
Brandin Cooks has looked to establish himself as the lead dog on offense, reeling in five of his eight targets for 95 yards and making numerous contested catches for 19 yards per grab. Despite his lack of involvement in Week 1, Randall Cobb found multiple holes in the secondary for 59 yards on five catches, giving the team a reliable slot option for once.
Additionally, emerging tight end Jordan Akins hauled in each of his seven targets for 55 yards, but the numbers for the rest of the team were disconcerting.
After an incredible effort against the Kansas City Chiefs and more than 110 yards in Week 1, Will Fuller received no targets and recorded one rush for no gain against Baltimore. Surprising absolutely no one, Fuller is once again dealing with an ailment to his hamstring which limited him but did not take him off the field entirely.
Fuller’s status as a decoy fooled no one, but considering Keke Coutee’s poor play it was probably best to leave Fuller in the lineup. The only Houston Texans player to score this week was Darren Fells, who is now the first player since 2017 to haul in 14 touchdowns on less than 100 targets (per Texans Wire).
Moving forward, Fuller is a necessity for this offense to function properly and Kenny Stills needs to be utilized more efficiently. His two catches for 16 yards barely helped, and a team with this many weapons shouldn’t be struggling to incorporate quality receivers into the mix.
2. Houston Texans Takeaways: Defensive pass rush had big moment vs. Ravens
J.J. Watt’s two sacks on Lamar Jackson proved to be his biggest moments since the playoff-altering sack against Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card round, and the pass rush altogether stepped up in a big way.
Watt was accompanied on the stat sheet by fellow Houston Texans lineman Charles Omenihu and linebacker Zach Cunningham, with the group totaling four sacks, five QB hits, and five TFLs. Also worth mentioning is Watt’s pass deflection, Cunningham’s 15 combined tackles, and Justin Reid’s eight solo tackles. Despite this effort, Jackson finished with 258 yards and a touchdown.
J.J. Watt is now 36th in the NFL’s all-time sack list with 98 and is tied for most seasons in Texans’ history with at least one pass breakup (nine). His return from injury last season has been inspiring for the defense as a whole, though the unit has allowed 60 points through two weeks.
The most telling part of this unit is the sudden disappearance of Whitney Mercilus, who has been significantly outplayed by rotational pass rusher Jacob Martin. Mercilus is paid too heavily ($54 million extension running through 2023) to not make plays or any kind of significant impact on the field.
1. Houston Texans Takeaways: Deshaun Watson has played well, but not like the MVP candidate we expected
Deshaun Watson is the best player on the Houston Texans’ roster without any shadow of a doubt, but he needs to play better than his already superhuman-like effort for the team to have any kind of success in 2020.
Through two weeks, Deshaun Watson has totaled 66.2 percent accuracy, 528 yards passing, 44 rushing, three total touchdowns, and two interceptions. Watson’s failed attempt on fourth-and-1 in the first half against Baltimore changed the landscape of the game and the diving Marcus Peters interception isn’t 100 percent on him but could have been avoided.
Watson has seen a startling 57 pressures through two weeks, and part of that is because of the poor play of second-year guard Max Scharping, who was benched in favor of Senio Kelemente. As if things couldn’t get any worse, the Texans now travel to Pittsburgh for a matchup with the two younger Watt brothers and one of the most intimidating defenses in the league.
An 0-3 hole is entirely possible, but to come out victorious would require Watson’s best game of the season.
Will Fuller’s health plays a huge factor, Duke Johnson’s availability will alleviate some of the pressure off of David Johnson (YPC decreased from 7.0 to 3.1 in his absence), and making smarter reads across the field is a must.
It’s hard to fault a team that lost to the Top 2 seeds in the AFC from a year ago, but this is obviously not the start that Texans’ fans hoped to see this year.