After putting just 44 points on the board over the course of their first 15 quarters of action during the 2025 NFL season, the Houston Texans offense has answered the call over its last 75 minutes of play.
Since the beginning of the 4th quarter in their Week 4 win over the Tennessee Titans, the Houston Texans have scored 64 points, including 44 against the banged-up and badly overmatched Baltimore Ravens on Sunday afternoon, cruising to a 34-point victory and improving to 2-3 heading into their Week 6 bye.
There are plenty of positive takeaways from this game if you're a fan of the Houston Texans, including what was certainly the most impressive outing of the season from quarterback CJ Stroud.
For the game, Stroud completed 23 of 27 passes for 244 yards and 4 touchdowns, and he barely saw the field in the 4th quarter. He also scrambled for a 30 yard gain in the 2nd quarter, which was enough for Stroud to be able to say he nearly out-rushed future Hall of Fame running back Derrick Henry on the afternoon.
But what may end up being even more consequential than Stroud's bounceback performance on Sunday afternoon is the number of pass-catchers who were involved in the aerial attack. Ten players received at least one target in the passing game, and eight players hauled in at least one reception. Specifically, the Iowa State Cyclones were well-represented in the box score.
Jayden Higgins, Jaylin Noel and Xavier Hutchinson All Eat Against Ravens
It's become something of a running joke that three players in the Houston Texans wide receivers room played their college football at Iowa State. Houston snagged Xavier Hutchinson in the 6th Round of the 2023 NFL Draft, and then during the 2025 NFL Draft, the Texans opted to triple-up on former Cyclones.
The Texans selected Jayden Higgins with the 34th overall pick this past April, and then went back to that same well and added Jaylin Noel just one round later. And on Sunday, this trio had their most productive outing of the season, providing support for CJ Stroud and taking some of the burden off of Pro Bowl receiver Nico Collins.
Hutchinson had 3 receptions for 18 yards and a pair of touchdowns, giving the third-year wideout his first multi-touchdown game since the first game of his final season at Iowa State. Jaylin Noel, who had yet to find the endzone in his young NFL career, scored his first touchdown of the season too, and he nearly caused an on-field skirmish after he celebrated the score with a Ray Lewis-esque dance in the end zone.
Jaylin Noel hits the Ray Lewis squirrel dance and the Ravens do NOT appear to be amused pic.twitter.com/ySDRGAguaD
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) October 5, 2025
Unlike his fellow Cycolones, Jayden Higgins didn't find the end zone, but he did catch four balls for 32 yards, his most productive outing so far this season.
It's unclear just how much we should take away from this game. The Ravens were missing multiple starters on both sides of the ball, and from the opening kickoff, it never felt like Baltimore had a chance.
But props to the Texans for not playing with their food, so to speak. Following a solid all-around performance like this one, the Texans will head into their bye week with real momentum and a renewed sense of optimism following a horrendous 0-3 start.