4 winners & 2 losers Week 15: Texans still have work to do on offense

The Houston Texans are now 9-5 and locked up the AFC South after the Denver Broncos defeated the Indianapolis Colts. That's two years in a row they've won the division.

Last year, they moved to the second round of the playoffs and are hoping to do more this time around. Their defense gives them a reason to believe, especially after slowing down Tyreek Hill and the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

On offense, however, there are still some concerns. They stalled late in the game, allowing Miami to hang around longer than they should have. Let's look at that game with this week's winners and losers.

Winner: Tank Dell, WR

On the opening drive, Tank Dell turned a bad play into a big gain. The second-year wideout took a reverse and there was no room to run. He shook off a tackle from Jevon Holland and took off for a 15-yard gain.

Houston scored a field goal on that drive and then Dell set them up again on their second drive. This time, he went 23 yards on a punt return, moving the ball to the 38-yard line. The Texans did nothing with that one but Dell gave them a shot.

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Dell had 15 yards rushing, 26 receiving, and 45 on returns. He didn't get enough touches but he made the most of each.

Winner: Nico Collins, WR

Nico Collins had even fewer touches than Tank Dell but he made the most of them. The team's No. 1 wideout had four receptions, scoring two touchdowns.

Both touchdowns were from six yards out and he had just 17 yards overall. Still, he made the plays that counted, scoring the only TDs of the game for his team.

Loser: Jarrett Patterson, C

With a 10-6 lead, the Texans moved to midfield near the end of the second quarter. They weren't able to extend the lead though due to a high snap from Jarrett Patterson.

His snap resulted in a fumble and was recovered by Jordyn Brooks, who ran it back to the Houston 38. Patterson was bailed out by Calen Bullock, who picked off Tua Tagovailoa, but they had to settle for three points at that point.

Winner: Danielle Hunter, DE

Adding Danielle Hunter was a genius move for Houston. He had another fantastic game with 1.5 sacks. He now has 12 sacks on the season, threatening to become the NFL sack leader before the year ends.

Loser: Joe Mixon, RB

Joe Mixon has had an up-and-down stretch over the past five games. He's been putting up one poor outing followed by a 100-yard outing since their loss to the Lions when he had 46 yards. He followed that up with 109 against the Dallas Cowboys, then had 22 against the Tennessee Titans.

Mixon seemed to be back on track with 101 yards in Week 13 against Jacksonville but that wasn't the case. This weekend, he had 12 carries for 23 yards. The offensive line was an issue, which didn't help, but Mixon needs to be better to keep this offense from falling flat.

Winner: Derek Stingley, Jr., CB

Derek Stingley, Jr. has been on fire this season. He once again stood out in Week 15, picking off Tua Tagovailoa twice in the fourth quarter. Those interceptions were on two of the Dolphins' final three possessions. His last sealed the win as Houston just knelt the ball to run out the clock afterward.

The third-year cornerback now has five picks on the season, tying his total from 2023.

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