This has not been an easy season for Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans. Unlike last season, where the whole thing was really a 17 game honeymoon with some bonus gravy in the form of an unexpected trip to the playoffs, expectations amped up the pressure on the Texans their head coach.
Some of it this season been really good, and some of it has been incredibly frustrating. It hasn’t helped that the frustrations involve the face of the franchise, QB C.J. Stroud, and exactly how he is being coached and developed (and walloped on a fairly frequent basis by opposing pass rushes). Ryans has been a little more guarded and subdued in press conferences.
Again, it hasn’t been terrible or anything. It’s just not been Super Bowl quality work. However, allow me to remind all of you that two years ago, 15 weeks into the season, the Texans had won two games. This season, 15 weeks into the season, they clinched their second straight AFC South title, with three more games to go in the season.
As anxious as we all are about the Texans’ offense, a warranted anxiety, let’s appreciate the renewed relevance, the swarming defense, and the accomplishments of DeMeco Ryans in his first two seasons as the head coach of this franchise. They may not win a Super Bowl this season, but it’s all gonna be all right.
Indeed, the Texans defeated the Miami Dolphins Sunday, taming a once hot offense to the tune of just 12 points allowed, and doing just enough on offense and special teams to complement an elite defensive performance and walk away with a 20-12 win. Let’s get to winners and losers, from a huge win on Sunday:
WINNERS
4. Calen Bullock
There were plenty of big plays in this Texans win, but two massive plays stood above the rest. The first was Calen Bullock’s interception and 68-yard return deep into Dolphins territory at the end of the first half. The Texans, up 10-6, had fumbled the ball away to the Dolphins, in Dolphins territory with just two minutes left in the half, seemingly squandering a chance to go up at least 13-6 with a field goal. The Dolphins quickly moved into Texans territory, looking at a 10-9 deficit or even a 13-10 lead at the half if they could cash in. Instead, Bullock had a fantastic pick and return, and the Texans were able to get the 13-6 lead they seemed to be angling for before all the wildness described above.
3. Frank Ross
The second biggest play in Sunday’s game was a fake punt, on 4th and 2 at the Miami 44 yard line on the first possession of the second half. On the previous play, John Metchie dropped what could have been a long touchdown pass, and momentum seemed to be shifting. However, Ross’ punt unit executed the fake perfectly and Dare Ogunbowale carried the ball down inside the Miami five yard line. Two plays later, C.J. Stroud hit Nico Collins for a touchdown to go up 20-6. In addition to this game changing play, the Texans’ special teams got two field goals from Ka’imi Fairbairn, three solid punt returns from Tank Dell, and a decent game from punter Tommy Townsend.
2. Christian Harris
Harris has missed the entire season prior to Sunday with a mysterious calf injury. It was clearly an injury that was frustrating to the Texans’ staff and front office, as anytime they were asked about, you could tell there had been fits and starts in Harris’ recovery. Harris, though, returned in style on Sunday, with eight big tackles. Harris is returning at the perfect time, with Azeez Al-Shaair serving his three game suspension.
1. Derek Stingley, Jr.
Earlier, I listed the Bullock pick and the Ogunbowale run off a fake punt as the two biggest plays of the game, but both of Stingley’s interceptions on Sunday were right there for consideration. His second pick, in particular, short circuited any last minute comeback attempt by the Dolphins. Take a look:
Stingley is living up to every ounce of promise he showed on the night he was drafted by the Texans in 2022. He’s overcome the injury issues that plagued him his first two seasons in the league, and he is making a run at first team All Pro honors. Stingley is eligible for an extension next offseason, and he will be so rich someday.
LOSERS
4. Joe Mixon
It feels unfair to put Mixon individually in a “loser’ category, because he’s been so good this season, and any inability for him to run the ball in a game, feels like it’s way more about the offensive line, than Mixon solo. So go ahead and take this bullet point as an acknowledgement that the Texans, once again, ran the ball at a very poor level on Sunday. Mixon has been feast or famine this season. He is either running for 100 yards (seven times this season), or running for barely over a yard per carry. Sunday’s game was the latter.
3. Jonathan Taylor
However, as bad as Mixon’s day was individually, at least his team won, and at least he wasn’t a key culprit in his team’s playoff hopes dying a gruesome death. Enter Jonathan Taylor of the Colts. If you’ve been following things, you know that a Texans win and a Colts loss clinch the division for the Texans. The Colts played Denver in Denver on Sunday, and up 13-7 early in the third quarter, this happened:
So the Colts went from a scenario where they re up 20-7 in the third quarter to staying at 13-7, turning the ball over, and revitalizing the Denver crowd. The Broncos would score the game’s remaining 24 points. Season over, Colts. Too bad, so sad.
2. Bobby Slowik
If you subtract the 35 yards on Ogunbowale’s fake punt rush, the Texans gained 146 total yards on offense. That’s horrific. They couldn’t run the football (as mentioned above), averaged five yards per pass attempt, and had a long play from scrimmage of 15 yards. The only good things I can say is that Stroud threw no picks, and they were opportunistic when the defense and special teams gave the offense short fields. However, overall, it doesn’t look like Bobby Slowik learned anything from the bye week “self scout” session. It looked more likely that he was playing video games or something all week. This is not remotely close to an offense that can go win on the road in the playoffs.
1. Tua Tagovailoa
Before the game, many box score watchers were pointing out how, since returning from a concussion six games ago, Tua’s completion percentage was living well above 70 percent. His worst game, from a completion percentage standpoint in that timeframe, was 70.2 percent. Well, this game showed how empty completion percentage is as a statistic. Tagovailoa was 29 of 40 on the day. 73 percent! WOW, right? Wrong. The completions were all for a total 196 yards, under five yards per attempt. Tua’s three picks were all back breakers at the worst possible times, and he was catching all sorts of online heat for throwing wide receiver Grant Dubose into a “stretcher job” hit by Bullock in the third quarter. Not a great game for Tua.
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
