Can CJ Stroud and the Texans get their 1st win
Photo Credit: Carmen Mandato
Week 2 vs Colts
CJ Stroud and the Houston Texans will be back on the road as they head to Jacksonville to take on Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars. The Texans are coming off a 31-20 Loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2 where Stroud played a decent game. He completed 30 of his 47 pass attempts for 384 yards and threw for two touchdowns, but did lose one of his two fumbles on the day.
Texans wide receiver Nico Collins lead the way for the Texans in the passing game with seven receptions for 146 yards and added a 8 yard touchdown early in the first half and later CJ Stroud found rookie wide receiver Tank Bell for 28 yards to find the endzone late in the fourth quarter. the Texans offense is ranked last in points scored this year with just 29 points through the first two weeks.
The main concern once again was the protection of the young Houston QB, as he was sacked six times and injured his shoulder in the process. The first-round pick has been sacked a league high eleven times in the first two weeks of the new season. With the Texans losing almost all of their offensive line due to injuries during the summer and their star offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil who missed the week 2 matchup due to injury, the run game could not get going at all as running back Damien Pierce had just 31 yards on fifteen carries.
Protecting Stroud
Photo Credit: Bob Levy
Heading into a tough Week 3 matchups the Jaguars. The Texans are looking to shock the world and get their first win of the season on the road. The main key for the offense to be able to win the game has to be protecting CJ Stroud, he has taken too many hits in his early career. The more hits he takes the chance of injury rises. With offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil is still questionable to play and will likely be a game time decision. The Texans are going into Jacksonville banged up and will look to improving their protection of their quarterback and give him more time in the pocket to get into a steady rhythm. Without protection the Houston Texans might be in for a long afternoon in Jacksonville.
The run game
Photo Credit: Carmen Mandato
The running game for the Texans has been anything but good. Although the struggles of the offensive line does not help, both running back Damien Pierce and Devin Singletary both are avergring less than 3.5 yards per carry (YPG). That is certainly not going to get the job done especially against a Jaguars defense who has improved a lot since last year. Last season running back Damien Pierce averaged 4.7 yards a carry (YPG) in the one game he played against the Jaguars in one of there four wins in the 2022 season.
creating pressure
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a huge task for a struggling Houston Texans defense who had a really productive week 1 as they sacked Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson four times. This was not the same in week 2 as they came out of the game with the Colts without recording a single sack. Getting a victory in Jacksonville is going to depend on if the Texans edge rushers can get pressure on Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence who was under a lot of pressure in Week 2 against the Kansas City Chiefs and struggled to get the offense going. If the Texans get to the quarterback winning the game is a major possibility.