On an afternoon where veteran running back Nick Chubb made headlines for joining Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley, Joe Mixon, Josh Jacobs, Aaron Jones and Alvin Kamara as the only active backs with at least 7,000 career rushing yards, it was Houston Texans rookie Woody Marks who is earning the highest 'marks' for his performance in a 26-0 win over the Tennessee Titans.
After seeing his usage gradually increase over the first three weeks of the season, Marks had a full-fledged breakout against Houston's AFC South rival, finding the end zone twice in the 4th quarter and finishing with 119 total yards on 21 touches.
It's can't be overstated how crucial it would be for the Texans offense if this standout performance was a sign of things to come for the 4th round pick. Aside from Pro Bowl receiver Nico Collins, the Texans' offensive personnel lacks a true game-breaker, but in Marks, there is at least the makings of a guy who could develop into that role.
"You see Woody [Marks], young player, rookie, steps in, and ran the ball really well for us," Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said during his postgame press conference. "Caught it well, made plays; productive. Got in the endzone a couple of times. So, really proud of the way that he played as well. Just overall, collectively, it was a really good job."
After failing to accumulate 300 total yards in each of the first three losses of the season, the Texans offensive finally topped that mark versus the Titans, finishing with 353 total yards on the game, with 129 of those coming on the ground. In DeMeco Ryans' mind, this was what propelled the Texans offense as a whole to begin to round into shape.
"We ran the ball well, and that allowed us to continue to sustain drives," Ryans added. "We haven't sustained drives in our previous games. We're able to win the time of possession battle, and that starts with the running game. When you're able to be productive in the run game, backs making some nice plays, Chubb and Woody, both guys had really nice runs, o-line did a really nice job... that allowed us to just stay on the field and stay after it."
It also allowed CJ Stroud to have his best game of the 2025 campaign thus far. After struggling each of the first three weeks of the season, Stroud played clean and efficient football on Sunday afternoon, completing 22 of 28 passes for 233 yards and 2 touchdowns while finishing with a 125.1 passer rating. It was only the third game in the last 15 in which Stroud finished with a passer rating over 100.
Texans have golden opportunity for sustained success versus banged-up Baltimore Ravens
It's funny how quickly things can change in the NFL. What once looked like one of the most difficult games on the Houston Texans schedule now suddenly appears to be a game which Houston can steal on the road.
After suffering a hamstring injury during Sunday's loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Lamar Jackson's status for next Sunday's game in Baltimore is questionable. But even more questionable the health of the two-time MVP quarterback is the competency of the Baltimore Ravens defense.
In addition to Lamar, key Ravens defenders Roquan Smith, Marlon Humphrey and Nate Wiggins all exited Sunday's loss with injuries as well. To make matters worse, the Ravens had already seen Kyle Van Noy and Nnamdi Madubuike go down with injuries as well.
As a result, Baltimore's defense has been lit up like the sky on a 4th of July this year. In just four games, the Ravens have surrendered 133 points, the most of any four game stretch in the 18-year coaching career of John Harbaugh.
Now it's important to note, the 1-3 Ravens have had to deal with the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions, and the suddenly rejuvenated Kansas City Chiefs. It's not as if the NFL's cellar dwellars have been the ones making Baltimore's defense look so bad. But still, this will be an interesting test, and a borderline must-win game for the Texans this Sunday.
Last week, when I broke down the remainder of the Texans schedule, I had marked this game in Baltimore as a loss, and yet I still found a way to get Houston to 9-8 at season's end. Now with Lamar Jackson hampered and the Ravens defense definitively in shambles, the calculus is starting to look more favorable.