Texans enjoy staying grounded
HOUSTON — The Houston Texans set a team record by running for 281 yards in beating Tennessee on Monday.
They will try to keep their running game going and extend their franchise-record winning streak to nine games Sunday against the Cleveland Browns.
Houston’s big rushing performance was due in large part to the performance of Lamar Miller, who ran for a season-high 162 yards. His night was highlighted by a franchise-long 97-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
Coach Bill O’Brien always has talked glowingly about Miller’s work and enjoyed watching him break away for that run.
“Lamar turned it on,” he said. “He got out in the open, did a great job. Lamar has been a great pro for us since the day he walked in here. So it was nice to see him be able to get that type of run.”
Though the Texans have a talented passing game led by quarterback Deshaun Watson and receiver DeAndre Hopkins, O’Brien believes the key to success is running the ball effectively.
“In the end, we’ve got to — our football team, based on what we preach and the type of guys we try to bring in here — we want to be a physically tough, smart football team,” he said. “We feel like we have to be able to stop the run, and we feel like we have to be able to run the ball.”
The Texans have run the ball well all year and rank fourth in the NFL by averaging 136.5 yards rushing.
The 27-year-old Miller, who is in his third season with the Texans, has three 100-yard rushing games this season after not running for more than 75 yards in a game last year. He ranks eighth in the NFL with 773 yards rushing and is averaging 4.9 yards a carry. His long touchdown on Monday made him the only player in NFL history to have two TD runs of 95 yards or longer after he also had a 97-yard touchdown run in 2014 while with the Dolphins.
Houston hasn’t had a rushing performance like his in several years. It was the first time a Texans’ running back had rushed for 150 yards or more with a touchdown since franchise-leading rusher Arian Foster did it in 2014.
Watson said when Miller is rolling, it makes everything easier.
“It just opens up the whole offense,” Watson said. “The safeties get aggressive. The defense has to show what their hand is … our offensive line and the running backs set [up] the run game and open up the pass game.”
Houston’s running game was also helped by Watson’s scrambling. The speedy quarterback ran for a career-high 70 yards with a 15-yard touchdown after not running for more than 35 yards in the first 10 games.
The Texans stayed away from designed running plays for Watson over the past few weeks as he recovered from lung and rib injuries.
Though Watson denied that his health had anything to do with limiting such plays in past weeks, it was clear by the way he moved Monday night that he was far healthier than he had been earlier this season.
Watson, who ran for 1,934 yards and 26 touchdowns in three seasons at Clemson, delighted in his rushing performance Monday night and said fans could expect more such outings in the future.
“The opportunity came and I took advantage of it,” he said. “I just got to go out there and continue to try to pick our spots in those situations. But, you never know when I’m going to keep the ball.”