(SportsRadio 610) - On a short week, reeling from an embarrassing 17-10 loss to the Titans in which Derrick Henry ran amuck on Houston's defense to the tune of 219 yards, the Texans were also deflecting questions left and right about the Brandin Cooks trade rumors.
Following Thursday night's 29-17 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, the Texans (1-6-1) run defense is still porous and the status of their unsettled wide receiver is still, in large part, unanswered.
With not much time to make drastic changes, Texans offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton had to find a way to get something out of almost nothing left in the receiving corps.
With leading receiver Brandin Cooks made inactive for the game after missing practice all week and second-year pro Nico Collins still dealing with a groin injury, the Texans had only two receivers active Thursday that had caught passes this season in Phillip Dorsett and Chris Moore.
Both veteran receivers caught passes on the Texans' first drive of the game, which ended in a touchdown for the first time all season.
That first drive, Hamilton used a healthy combo of run and pass as the Texans remained adamant all week long, that establishing the run game was the only way to get their offense clicking.
Rookie tight end Teagan Quitoriano, who made his NFL debut Thursday night, caught a two-yard touchdown reception capping a nine-play, 75-yard drive that took 5:23 off the clock.
Hanging with the Eagles in the first half, thanks to a fumble recovery and a missed field goal, the Texans were tied at 14-14 going into the break.
It was clear to the Texans they could have some success against an Eagles defensive front close to what they’d seen before already this season.
Texans center Scott Quessenberry said they faced a similar front against both the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Chargers.
In those games, Pierce combined for 211 yards on 34 attempts, including two touchdowns.
On Thursday night, Pierce rushed for a career-high 139 yards on 27 carries after a humbling experience against a Titans defense last weekend, that held him to just 35 yards on 15 carries.
The youth movement is real. Unfortunately for the Texans, the Eagles proved to be very real also.
There have been plenty of positives, but also steep learning curves. The Texans remain vulnerable at many positions, forced to throw guys into the fire so quickly given injuries and the early stages of the rebuild.
Better teams will take advantage. That’s what the Eagles did Thursday night.
For the second straight game, the Texans relied on a heavy dose of inexperienced young players. They started eight rookies last Sunday against the Titans, and Thursday night was no different.
Going up against the only remaining undefeated team in the NFL, and arguably the most dynamic team in the league at this point, left the Texans ripe for disappointment.
Veteran defensive end Jerry Hughes, who recorded his third multi-sack game of the season, said now is the time they need to pull together.
“I’m feeding off the young energy, their feeding off me, we just gotta keep learning and growing right now,” Hughes said. “Right now this is a little bit of a growing pain so right now we’re just trying to search for any kind of momentum so we can just get a W and hopefully ride that out for this next month.”
The Texans are in the midst of a gauntlet of facing some of the toughest running backs in the league.
Raiders running back Josh Jacobs, the Titans Derrick Henry and the Eagles Miles Sanders have had their turn, with Giants veteran back Saquon Barkley around the corner week 10.
Sanders, in the Eagles' heavy run-pass option offense, rolled the Texans for 93 yards on 17 carries, including a two-yard touchdown run on their first series.
The Eagles used chunk yardage, recording 15 plays that went for at least 10 yards, including five plays that went for 21 yards or more.
First-year Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni won the time of possession battle by staying out of third-down situations for much of the time, though still converted at a 50% rate (5-10) Thursday night.
Regardless of the opponent, this Texans team has to play mistake-free football. Given the circumstances concerning the rebuild, a disgruntled receiver and injuries, the two interceptions thrown by Davis Mills proved to be costly.
The Eagles capitalized on the first one, scoring just two plays later after Mills misread a Chris Moore route in the third quarter.
The final Mills miscue allowed the Eagles to takeover and kill the remainder of the clock, preventing any chance for late game heroics by the Texans.
Shaun Bijani has spent the last 16 years covering the Houston sports scene for SportsRadio 610. Follow him on Twitter @ShaunBijani.
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