3 ups and 2 downs in the Houston Texans pre-season opener

The Texans running game never got on track

I’ve been saying for a few months now that I think the Texans will be at the very least a top-ten rushing team.  Well, despite a poor performance in this game, I will stand by that but they better get it going.  The one caveat here is the Texans did not play some of their starting offensive linemen and it showed.

It showed not only throughout the game and their inability to open any rush lanes but also early on with the pass protection.  Stroud was running around a little more than you want your quarterback to have to do.

That said, the backs only managed 89 yards on 30 carries, that’s less than three yards per carry.  They did have the one touchdown run from Dalton Keene from one yard out.  The team’s leading rusher was Mike Boone with 25 yards on four carries.

The Texans' free-agent acquisition Devin Singletary had five carries but for only 14 yards.  Dameon Pierce did not play in this one and I would expect to see him next week and possibly the team’s expected starting five offensive line.  If so, that could be a solid test and if we’re lucky, the Dolphins will roll out their starting defense to begin the game.

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