Osweiler hands Lions a letdown
Texans stay unbeaten at home as QB makes up for poor ‘ MNF’ showing
HOUSTON — Despite mounting criticism in recent weeks, Brock Osweiler continues to look pretty comfortable in Houston.
Osweiler bounced back from an ugly performance by throwing for 186 yards and a touchdown to help the Texans remain perfect at home this season with a 20- 13 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
The Texans ( 5- 3) have lost all of their road games, including a 27- 9 loss to the Denver Broncos last Monday night.
“He had a good day,” coach Bill O’Brien said. “You’re judged as a quarterback by helping your team win, and I thought he did a nice job of helping us win.”
Osweiler has struggled in his first season with the Texans since leaving the Broncos, but has been better at home, where he has thrown eight of his nine touchdown passes.
“I’m not concerned about the criticism,” he said. “Getting a win at home going into the bye to really put an exclamation mark on the first half of the season means so much to me.”
On Sunday, he gave the Texans a 7- 0 lead on a six- yard pass to C. J. Fiedorowicz in the second quarter. The Texans made it 14- 0 when Lamar Miller bulled his way into the end zone from a yard out later in the quarter. DeAndre Hopkins set up that score by using one hand to make a 12- yard reception.
Hopkins finished with four receptions for 44 yards.
The Lions ( 4- 4) cut the lead to seven when Theo Riddick connected with Matthew Stafford on a oneyard touchdown reception early in the fourth quarter.
The Texans added a field goal after that before Matt Prater’s 34yard field goal got the Lions back within a score. But the Texans recovered an onside kick and ran out the clock to secure the victory.
“We couldn’t put enough points on the board, offensively, in the first half. We were just stagnant,” Lions coach Jim Caldwell said. “Defensively, we stopped the run until midway through the third quarter, and they really took control on the ground.”
Stafford threw for 240 yards and a touchdown for the Lions, whose three- game winning streak was snapped after a string of lategame comebacks.
Injury report
Texans receiver Jaelen Strong injured his ankle in the second quarter and didn’t return. Texans nose tackle Vince Wilfork didn’t return after injuring his groin in the third quarter, and receiver Will Fuller left the game in the fourth quarter with a leg injury.
O’Brien’s outburst: Who, me?
O’Brien was seen yelling at special- teams coach Larry Izzo after the Texans had just 10 men on the field for the opening kickoff of the second half. O’Brien got in Izzo’s face and yelled before being pushed away by another member of the staff. He then whipped back around and screamed at Izzo for several more seconds. But O’Brien denied the incident. “I don’t know what you guys are talking about,” he said. “No idea.”
Then he was asked about being pushed away by a staff member.
“No, I don’t think so,” he said. “I don’t remember that one bit.” Reporters asked about it again. “There’s conversations that happen on the sideline,” he said. “That’s just kind of the nature of the game.”