The Houston Texans had some excellent performances in Week 1, but which players stock improved the most entering Week 2?
When the Houston Texans defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars this past Sunday, they proved to many they were not the worst football team entering the season, and they were not going to finish the season winless.
The Texans played well with a new head coach, new defensive coordinator, a new starting quarterback, and a defense that is new to the team that calls NRG Stadium home. There were players who in the Texans debut showed they are better players than they are given credit for, and players who have been on the team in past seasons showcased their skills at a high level, too.
Moving forward the games will be tougher for the Houston Texans as their schedule isn’t easy, but for at least one week the Texans sit in first place in the AFC South, and they are one of 16 teams in the league that can say they are 1-0 overall.
Getting the big win gives the franchise momentum entering their Week 2 game against the Cleveland Browns, and it will be needed because the Browns are one of the best teams in the AFC. Cleveland made the playoffs last season, and though they started the ’21 season with a 33-29 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Browns aren’t a team to sleep on.
Now for which players for the Houston Texans improved their stock in Week 1 going into this game, let’s start with the special teams.
Houston Texans: The kicker was a big part of the scoring for the season opener
4. Joey Slye, Kicker
When the Houston Texans had to make Joey Slye their starting kicker for the first few games for this season when Ka’imi Fairbairn went down with the leg injury and is scheduled to miss the next few games, it was an unsure feeling had with the new kicker Slye.
All of those worries went away after Week 1, or at least for that first game, depending on how optimistic one feels. In the win over Jacksonville, Slye – who is in his third NFL season – was 4-for-4 in extra point attempts and 3-for-3 in field goal tries from distances of 40 yards, 26 yards and 25 yards.
It was an excellent day for the new Houston Texans kicker as he helped the special teams excel, and while doing so was responsible for 13 of the 37 points scored by the Texans last Sunday.