Houston Texans: Week 3 grades following loss to Panthers
By Mitch Hill
DEFENSE (C)
The Texans defense did well enough overall to give them a chance to win this game. Where the defense was at fault was after the Christian McCaffrey injury. They did not capitalize on the absence of the Pro Bowl running back and allowed the Panthers to continue running the ball late in the fourth quarter.
The secondary unit for the Houston Texans defense was exploited throughout the game, allowing Sam Darnold to throw for 304 total yards. For the first time this season, the Houston Texans defense was unable to produce a turnover.
Once the injury to the Panthers running back happened, it looked as if the defense had some swagger. After some key stops in the third quarter, it seemed that the defense ran out of gas and was unable to make the timely stops the Texans needed to make a comeback in the primetime matchup this past Thursday.
SPECIAL TEAMS (D)
Once again the special teams unit for Houston Texans let them down. It starts with the kicking game. Obviously, Joey Slye is not the answer, and Texans fans can only hope that Kai’imi Fairbairn heals quicker than expected.
He missed an extra point in the second quarter which kept the game at an eight-point deficit for the Texans throughout much of the contest.
On the one punt return for Andre Roberts, the Texans were unable to gain positive yards from the opportunity and failed to capitalize on the return that presented itself.
If the Texans are to gain any consistent momentum in their games, their special teams unit will have to perform better throughout their matchups. It is disappointing to see the lack of production from the special teams unit be a deciding factor in their contests.