Deshaun Watson started his 9th game with the Texans and the team is 3-6 in those games. Watson has had a quarterback rating of over 90.0 in eight of those games and over a 100.0 in five. Against the Giants, Watson produced his 7th multi-touchdown pass game and is doing enough on his part to breathe some life into the Texans offense. Watson is doing his part as a quarterback, although it might be too much if we are being honest. The Texans defense has let him down more times than not and that was the case against the Giants. Add in the fact that the offense had no running game, Watson was a one-man show, allowing the opposing defense the chance to pin their ears back and go get the quarterback. The Texans have to find ways to take pressure off of Watson, who is carrying the complete load of the team. In the NFL, if that is the case, there will be not many wins until both defense and special teams hold up their end of the bargain.
The recipe for disaster started early for the Texans in pregame when Senio Kelemete was injured, resulting in Greg Mancz starting at left guard. The Texans faced their first true 4-3 defense and the presence of Dalvin Tomlinson and Snacks Harrison upfront for the Giants created a poor effort on the ground for the Texans. Alfred Blue averaged 3.3 yards a rush while Lamar Miller averaged 1 yard per carry. The lack of running game got the Texans into issues when they really needed to run the ball and help Watson when needed. The Texans cannot produce that type of effort again on offense.
It took Eli Manning slicing the Texans up in the first half to force the Texans to up their defensive looks in the second quarter but he still did what he wanted through the air. The Giants attacked linebacker Zach Cunningham who gave up 4 receptions on 5 targets for 54 yards, 5 first downs, 1 pass interference call, and a touchdown. Cunningham started strongly this season but teams have opted to spread him out, either covering in the slot or wide. It is hard to see any linebacker succeeding in those spots especially someone as talented as Cunningham. If he wants to stay on the field, Cunningham is going to have to show that he can start covering at a high level.
Starting right tackle Julién Davenport had his worst game as a professional and the mental mistakes were the biggest issue for him. He is currently responsible for 25% of the Texans penalties on the season with 5 false starts and 3 holding calls. This past weekend, he had a holding call that negated a DeAndre Hopkins touchdown reception, which is part of the red zone issue for the Texans. Head coach Bill O’Brien even acknowledged that the young right tackle is struggling and that there is ongoing evaluation happening with that spot.
Texans need to find a way to get Whitney Mercilus going for the defense and in a hurry. There have always been issues for the Texans getting Watt, Mercilus, and Jadeveon Clowney all running optimally on the field together. Watt and Clowney have done enough in their appearances on the field to feel good about where they currently are as players. Mercilus has had little impact for the defense but he did have a nice pass rush for which Angelo Blackson racked up the sack, however that has been about it. He is known as the technician off the edges but he has been anything but that for the defense. The team has to find a way to break him out of his funk.
It is appropriate to say that Will Fuller is turning into a prime-time player with Deshaun Watson as his quarterbacks. Now in six games together, the duo has combined for 9 touchdowns through the air and Fuller’s second consecutive 100-yard game this season while averaging 16.5 yards a reception. Fuller also showed his catch and run ability but additionally displayed the new strength he added by trucking over two defensive backs on different play, one of which resulted in a touchdown. That ups his totals with Watson to 26 receptions for 492 yards, averaging 18.9 yards per reception with 9 touchdowns.
