Grading the Houston Texans’ Defense against Indianapolis Colts in Week 2

The Houston Texans dropped their first divisional contest against the Indianapolis Colts at home, with their defense being a huge reason why. After a strong start to the season last week against Baltimore, the same cannot be said about this week. 

On the day, Houston allowed 31 points to their AFC South rivals, along with 353 total yards on offense. While the unit did not allow any fourth-quarter scoring, they failed to set the tone early and paid the price for it. 

A major reason for this was the lack of production in the pass rush. After a prolific showing against Baltimore a week prior, the Texans' edge rush had little to show on Sunday. The unit failed to rack up a sack and applied little pressure to the opposing quarterback, allowing Indianapolis to have their way through the air. 

Fellow rookie signal caller Anthony Richardson paced the Colts early, racking up a pair of rushing touchdowns and completing 6 of his 10 passes for 56 yards before injuries knocked him out of the contest early. Backup quarterback Gardner Minshew did not miss a beat, completing 19 of his 23 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown. 

The Colts rushing attack found similar success, with three touchdowns scored on the day. Simply put, the Texans' defense could not put together any momentum in what was a critical contest. 

Looking over their performance as a whole, improvement is a huge point of emphasis and there wasn’t a whole lot that the team was able to get right in their first contest at NRG Stadium. For this, their overall grade suffered tremendously. 

Grade: F

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