–The Texans offense played their fifth different offensive line combination in as many weeks but it appears they are set to use their same group from their Sunday night win. Right tackle Kendall Lamm has put together two strong games and held his own despite not being pegged as a starter when the season started. Lamm has risen through the depth chart to a week by week situation at right tackle.
“I thought that Kendall played well, yeah,” head coach Bill O’Brien said of Lamm. “Kendall’s a solid guy. He takes a good approach every day to what we’re trying to do and I thought he played a very solid game.”
–The Texans opted to move Julien Davenport back to left tackle, the position he played at Bucknell and the position he played for a season as a rookie. Davenport looked much more comfortable than he did in previous weeks at right tackle. With the shifting of the tackle position, according to NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Watson was pressured on only 20.7 percent of his drop-backs. That number was the lowest of his career.
“It’s the same guy. Really just his confidence is back up,” Watson said of Davenport. “He has a lot of confidence in himself. We keep encouraging him each and every week, each and every practice to continue to work on his craft and get better.”
–Rookie wide receiver Keke Coutee has been raking in praise from coaches and teammates and for good reason. In just two games in the NFL, he has the most receptions through two games in franchise history with 17. This comes off the heels of setting a NFL record since the AFL/NFL merger for most receptions in a game for a rookie in his first start with 11.
–The Texans offense ranks first in the AFC and fourth in the NFL with 423.4 yards per game. Their biggest issue has been the red zone where they rank 31st in the NFL converting only 36.4 percent of their opportunities. O’Brien has made it clear that the only thing that matters are touchdowns and not yards since the red zone woes started. The Texans rank tied for 18th in the NFL in points per game with 23.0.
–Defensive end J.J. Watt and his brother, Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt, are tied atop the NFL with 6.0 sacks this season along with Bengals defensive tackle Geno Atkins. Watt is supportive of his brother and the work he is putting in with the Steelers. “It’s pretty wild when you go and you look at the sack sheet and you see our names next to each other,” Watt said. “We used to beat up on each other in the backyard and now we get to see our names at the top of the NFL sack charts. So, it’s incredible and I’m lucky. I have two incredible brother and I’m very fortunate.”
–With Lamar Miller missing the last game, the Texans turned to veteran Alfred Blue who had 119 total yards including eight receptions for 73 yards. Blue provided some much needed vision at the position and helped Watson have a checkdown he could trust in the passing game.
“Blue did a nice job,” O’Brien said of Blue. “He’s always come through for us in those type of games and played well. He did a real good job in the passing game. So, it’s really good to have him.”
–Rookie safety Justin Reid notched his first career interception last week against the Cowboys. For the season, Reid has 20 total tackles, three passes defensed and a quarterback hit in five games this season as the third safety.
“Another guy in that same category of a young player that really takes his job very seriously, approaches his daily routine in a very business-like manner and he’s really improved a lot,” O’Brien said. “He does a lot for us. He’s involved heavily in special teams and obviously, on defense – made a big play in the game the other night. So, really doing a good job.”
BY THE NUMBERS: 375-40-1 — Deshaun Watson needs 375 passing yards and 40 rushing yards to pass Steve Young for the most career games (three) of at least 375 yards passing and 40 yards rushing in NFL history. Also, Watson needs one touchdown pass to pass Dan Marino (27) for the second most touchdown passes in a player’s first 13 career games in NFL history.
