When you lose one of the most talented wide receivers in the NFL, you need to bring out the shovels, brushes, buckets and sieves to dig deep enough to find a silver lining. This is the predicament the Houston Texans find themselves in now, with Nico Collins' status for a Divisional Round matchup with the New England Patriots in doubt after suffering his second concussion of the season in Monday night's win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
But if there were one silver lining that emerged throughout the game last night, it was that after a 17-game regular season in which Christian Kirk was a total non-factor in Houston's offensive attack, the veteran offseason acquisition finally was able to make a tangible impact, and to Kirk's credit, it came when the Texans needed it most.
For most of the evening, CJ Stroud and Houston's offense was actively hindering its own chances of earning a hard-fought road win over the Steelers, turning the ball over three times and coming damn close to losing another two fumbles, taking just a 1-point lead into the 4th quarter of a game that the Texans defense had been dominating.
The defense certainly did their part, limiting the Steelers to just 6 points, 2-for-14 on 3rd down, and 175 yards of total offense all while treating Aaron Rodgers like a cheap pinata, even overachieving by putting two touchdowns on the board of their own.
But on the opposite side of the ball, if there were any sort of spark that the Houston Texans offense provided in this win, Christian Kirk was the catalyst.
In 109 career regular season and postseason games prior to Monday night, Christian Kirk's career high in receiving yards was 138 yards, put forth as a member of the Arizona Cardinals in a 2019 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But in game 110, Kirk surpassed that total, catching 8 balls for 144 yards and a touchdown, which was Houston's lone bright spot offensively in an otherwise inept 1st half.
Although Nico Collins didn't exit the game until the 2nd half, it was Kirk who provided a struggling CJ Stroud with a reliable target in a passing attack that has gone through spurts of incompetency all season long. This must've come as a surprise to every Texans fan out there who had been waiting for Kirk to have his moment. In 13 games during the regular season, Kirk contributed just 239 receiving yards. The fact that he put forth over half of that total in the biggest game of Houston's season is a testament to the readiness of a group that lacks established star power beyond Nico Collins.
“Obviously, Nico is a big part of what we do, and it’s a big loss with him going down, but we’re a senior group,” Kirk said after the game, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston. “We’re one unit, and any of us at any moment can step up and be able to fill the void and make plays when they’re needed to happen My number was called, and glad that I was able to step up in those moments.”
Although no official decision has been made regarding Collins' status for next Sunday's game against the New England Patriots, one would have to assume that the Pro Bowl wideout won't be able to go with less than a full week to recover from a head injury that was so severe that it required Collins to be carted to the locker room. When Collins stuffered a concussion earlier in the season, he was forced to miss a Week 8 win over the San Francisco before returning the following week.
Assuming things follow the same trajectory, at least Texans fans could hold out hope that the 1,000 yard wideout could make a return for the AFC Championship Game... that is assuming they could get by the Patriots without CJ Stroud's favorite target.