MCCLAIN ON RESCUING OFFENSE.
Defense and special teams snatch a victory from jaws of defeat with several clutch plays
Let’s analyze the good, the bad and the ugly to come out of the Texans’ 20-13 victory over Buffalo on Sunday at NRG Stadium.
The defense and special teams were good. They ignited a third consecutive victory that evened the Texans’ record at 3-3 and put them in a three-way tie for first in the AFC South going into the next game at Jacksonville.
The offense was bad, including another miserable red-zone performance. The offense was 1-of-4 in the red zone and failed to score a touchdown after having first-and-goal at the Bills’ 1. Sound familiar? In their last two victories, the Texans are 2-of-10 (20 percent) scoring red-zone touchdowns. They entered the game 31st and stand a good chance of being last this week.
The offensive line was ugly. Coming off their best game in the victory over Dallas and starting the same five two games in a row for the first time this season, the linemen contributed to seven sacks and Deshaun Watson’s getting knocked down 12 more times. Tackles Julién Davenport and Kendall Lamm couldn’t handle the Bills’ edge rushers, especially end Jerry Hughes in his Houston homecoming, and outside linebacker Lorenzo Alexander. Tackle Kyle Williams abused them inside. The best thing the Texans’ linemen did was to help Watson get up.
But, as Bum Phillips used to say, old ugly is better than old nothing. The Texans won another close one when Johnathan Joseph intercepted backup quarterback Nathan Peterman and returned it 28 yards for what proved to be the decisive touchdown.
“Three games in a row,” DeAndre Hopkins said afterward. “It’s a momentum league, so we’ve got to keep it going.”
O’Brien likes the math
Defense and special teams kept the Texans from losing to the lowest-scoring team in the NFL.
“They had a big day,” coach Bill O’Brien said. “You’re trying to win all three phases, and if you can win two out of three, you have a good chance of winning the game.”
The Texans needed their defense and special teams to come up big in the worst way because the offense gained 216 yards. A running game that generated 74 yards wasn’t a factor. Again.
The Texans entered the game ranked fourth in offense (424.4 yards). As the Bills showed, they have an excellent defense. They were ranked sixth (330.8) in defense, and that’s a huge reason they beat Minnesota and Tennessee, despite starting rookie quarterback Josh Allen, who left Sunday’s game with an arm injury.
The Texans played their worst offensive game of the season for a couple of reasons. Watson played with a bruised lung, rib and sternum, and even though he said his health wasn’t an excuse for his performance, nobody believed it.
Watson played hurt and threw for 177 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown pass to Hopkins. He was intercepted two times, including another one in the end zone on a pass he shouldn’t have thrown.
The pass protectors, including the tight ends and backs, couldn’t keep the Bills away from Watson on a consistent basis. Unlike against Dallas when he ran 10 times and got obliterated near the goal line, Watson took off only twice. He ran for a 3-yard first down and finished with 2 yards on two carries.
“He would not have played unless he was cleared to play,” O’Brien said.
Watson’s playing wasn’t the issue. Watson’s survival was.
“He’s a fighter,” O’Brien said. “We’ve got to figure a lot of things out. In the end, we won the game, which is the most important thing.”
Buffalo’s pass rushers dominated the offensive line. As always, Watson defended his guys.
“The other team is getting paid just like we do, and they watch film just like we do, so it’s a challenge,” Watson said. “We’ve got to figure out those challenges on the fly and go on our instincts. This is only the 12th game of my career. I’m always experiencing and learning. I’m going to learn from it and move on.”
The offense continues to struggle to run the ball, protect Watson and score touchdowns in the red zone; the defense put together another superb performance. And it should have considering the Bills were 31st in offense, including 32nd passing.
They knocked Allen out of the game, but Peterman threw a touchdown pass to Zay Jones to give the Bills a 13-10 lead in the fourth quarter.
The Texans led 10-0 because of special teams. Brennan Scarlett recovered a muffed punt at the Buffalo 29 to set up Hopkins’ touchdown reception.
Tyrell Adams blocked a punt Scarlett picked up and returned 14 yards to the Bills’ 21. They had to settle for Ka’imi Fairbairn’s 33-yard field goal.
“Special teams did a great job,” Hopkins said. “They made big plays for us and (gave us) field position.”
The Texans wasted a chance to win the game with a touchdown when they failed to score on first-and-goal at the 1. They actually went backward. On that drive, Watson was strip-sacked. Three Bills could have covered the fumble, but Alfred Blue secured it to keep the drive alive.
Fairbairn’s 27-yard field goal made it 13-13 with 1:34 left.
On the next Buffalo series, Joseph stepped in front of receiver Kelvin Benjamin and scored easily.
“However we can win, we’ll take it,” J.J. Watt said. “Obviously, a gigantic play by J-Jo. It’s a lot of fun when the defense scores touchdowns.
“Special teams played great, defense played great. It’s very hard to win in this league, so we’ll take it (however) we can get it.”
Clowney’s crucial taunt
Special teams and defense produced two more important plays. Jadeveon Clowney, who earlier had pulled down running back Chris Ivory by his hair on a 3-yard loss, was penalized 15 yards for taunting on Joseph’s touchdown. That meant Fairbairn would kick off from his 20 rather than the 35.
Fairbairn uncorked a kickoff Jones tried to field at his 7. He bobbled the ball, picked it up and was drilled by linebacker Peter Kalambayi at the Bills’ 13.
Buffalo could have gotten good field position because of Clowney’s penalty, but Fairbairn and Kalambayi ruined any chance the Bills had of making a comeback.
O’Brien called it an “important win” but pointed out the problems on offense that must be solved.
“I feel good for the guys in there,” O’Brien said about the locker room. “I also know we’re not going to be able to be where we want to be unless we figure this thing out on offense — figure out what we have to do to run the ball (and) throw the ball consistently. At times, we look like a good offense (but) not today.
“But this is a very, very tough, competitive, resilient team that will do anything to win.”
And they have for three Sundays in a row.