HOUSTON – The Houston Texans are back in the win column, beating the Jacksonville Jaguars, the only team Houston hasn’t lost to this season.
Deshaun Watson put up another huge game and the Texans defense did just enough against a rookie quarterback in his first start.
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Here are three takeaways from the win:
Watson shows he still run it
Watson hasn’t scrambled nearly as much this season.
Coming into Sunday, his season-high for carries was seven, which came in the previous game against Green Bay. But this Sunday, Watson decided to put the game in his feet, rushing for 50 yards on 10 carries, all of them scrambles.
Watson again broke tackles in the pocket, escaping for first downs.
“He’s a magician,” said interim head coach Romeo Crennel.
Watson had 331 total yards and two touchdowns. Watson has now gone three consecutive games without throwing an interception after starting the season with five interceptions in the first five games.
Watson is also on his sixth consecutive multi-touchdown game.
No Roby, big problem
The Texans missed Bradley Roby in a big way Sunday, giving up 304 yards to quarterback Jake Luton.
Roby was held out of the game, reportedly due to a disciplinary issue, and in the third play of the game, his absence loomed. Luton hit D.J. Chark for 73 yards, cooking Vernon Hargreaves.
Roby typically covers the opponent’s best wide receiver. When he’s out, the Texans give up massive numbers to No. 1 receivers. Clark and Green Bay’s Davante Adams collected over 100 yards in the past two games without Roby, who left with an injury early vs. Green Bay.
Football is obviously the next man up sport, but the Texans haven’t shown they have a next man who can hold any team’s top wide receiver under 100 yards.
Injuries pile up
The Texans came into the game missing three outside linebackers, who were on the COVID-19/Reserve list.
Brennan Scarlett added a lower arm injury during the game, leaving Houston without *FOUR* outside linebackers during a portion of the game.
Starting left guard Senio Kelemete went down during the game. While his backup Max Scharping is currently fighting off COVID-19.
Starting running back David Johnson left the game early after taking a hard shot on a short pass. Johnson went into concussion protocol and missed the rest of the game.
Defensive end Charles Omenihu also left the game with a leg injury.
The Texans are just coming off a bye week, but lost four players alone Sunday, along with the four main defensive players they missed due to COVID-19 and contact tracing.
