(SportsRadio 610) - The Texans molly whopped the Steelers 30-6 Sunday afternoon in front of an NRG Stadium crowd that was half-occupied with traveling Steeler fans.
With the terrible towels in full force, C.J. Stroud and the Texans tallied 451 yards in total offense, the most by the organization since a week five victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars during the 2020 season.
Houston, you have an offensive coordinator, too!
Bobby Slowik, working with a patchwork offensive line, continues to dial up game plans that allow his rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud the ability to find receivers quickly.
Stroud finished the game 16-of-30 for 306 yards, including two touchdowns.
He continues to impress with his decision making, ball placement and overall accuracy. His mental and physical toughness has been challenged during his first month and he's passed with flying colors.
After incurring 19 quarterback hits and 11 sacks through the first two games, the Texans offensive line kept Stroud clean again, allowing no sacks for the second straight game.
The Steelers pass rush hit Stroud six times, including three from edge rusher Alex Highsmith. But right tackle George Fant and company were able to neutralize the most disruptive defensive player in football through the first month of the season in T.J. Watt.
He had just two tackles and one quarterback hit.
The Texans started second-year pro Austin Deculus at left tackle and rotated him with newly signed back up Geron Christian. They were more than serviceable.
The route concepts and game plan that Slowik put together for Stroud allowed him to connect on 12 plays that went for more than 10 yards, including six that went for at least 22 yards.
Nico Collins came up huge once more for the Texans. He finished with seven catches and a career high 168 yards, including two touchdowns.
He is one of the best receivers in football through the first month of the season and what's more, he's doing it from all over the field. Whether it be in the slot, on the boundary or gaining important yardage after contract, Collins is one of the top-three most valuable weapons on this team.
The explosive play potential for the Texans offense is there and they even got their run game going a little bit on Sunday afternoon.
Dameon Pierce finished with 81 yards on 24 carries, including three runs that went for at least 10 yards.
As an offense, the Texans rushed for 139 yards on 38 attempts.
The Texans could be getting healthier heading into their week-five tilt against the Atlanta Falcons.
Laremy Tunsil (knee) is expected to be back at left tackle and Tytus Howard (hand) is expected to return to the lineup after spending four weeks on injured reserve.
Rookie center Juice Scruggs (hamstring) could return from IR as well, but it remains unclear if he'll be ready.
John Metchie is coming along. He had one catch for 22 yards.
He can block, too!
Metchie executed a perfect block on T.J. Watt during an outside zone run by Dameon Pierce that went for 13 yards on the Texans first offensive possession.
Dalton Schultz needs to be more physical. He wasn't brought in to be a blocking tight end, but that was an area of his game that showed potential. He wasn't good Sunday and the Texans got away with it, however he did catch all three of his targets for 42 yards, including a touchdown.
The offensive line was terrific at the end of the day, keeping Stroud clean for the second straight game and allowing no sacks. But the penalties are becoming a bit much.
Shaq Mason, the only starting offensive linemen in 100 percent of the snaps this season, has to be better.
He had penalties (false start/ineligible man downfield) in the red zone on the Texans first drive of the game.
Typically, the Texans and a lot of teams would've been dead in the water after penalties like that, particularly in those moments, which can be suffocating to an offense.
But great job by Slowik, Stroud and the offense in general to overcome them to eventually find the end zone on the opening drive, which set the tone.
The Texans defensive front overwhelmed the Steelers offensive line much of the day.
They muddled up the line of scrimmage, attacking gaps, hitting their run fits and dialing up a pass rush that tallied six quarterback hits, including three sacks.
Jonathan Greenard was a baller. He had two sacks for the game and three tackles-for-loss to go along with five tackles in the Texans win.
Greenard is showing that when healthy he can be a consistent disruptor in a DeMeco Ryans defense.
Second-year linebacker Christian Harris looked as comfortable as ever on an NFL football field Sunday afternoon. The former Alabama standout finished with a team-high 13 tackles, which is more proof that he's not thinking as much, rather reacting to what he's seeing.
Jerry Hughes got to Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett on the first defensive series for the Texans for his first sack of the season. Hughes, 35, led the team in sacks last year with nine.
That set up Steven Nelson's interception on the very next snap. Nelson, who continues to ball out in this defense, grabbed his second pick of the year on a ball intended for Steelers receiver Calvin Austin. They didn't throw his way too much more the rest of the day.
Shaq Griffin was picked on quite a bit, as he was covering George Pickens much of the time and did a nice job in his second straight start for the injured Derek Stingley Jr.
Pickens only caught three of his seven targets for 25 yards.
On the Texans' last defensive possession of the game, Will Anderson Jr. came up with the ball following a Jaylen Warren fumble and scored a touchdown.
The referees called Warren down, but replay showed the ball moving in his arms before his elbow hit the ground.
Ryans and the Texans elected not to challenge the play. But it was still a great play that definitely won't show up in the box score and could've been looked upon as a "passing of the torch" type play on the day J.J. Watt was inducted into the Texans Ring of Honor.
Rookie linebacker Henry To'oTo'o continues to show signs of progress.
Playing his natural position at middle linebacker, he's been better in coverage, hit his run-fits more consistently the last two weeks and came up with an impressive tackle-for-loss on the Texans' second defensive possession. It set up a Greenard QB hit and eventual punt.
To'oTo'o finished with seven tackles, one TFL and one pass deflection.
Texans rookie defensive end Dylan Horton, a fourth-round pick in this year's draft, saw some action Sunday and came up with a six-yard tackle-for-loss on the third defensive series which eventually led to a Steelers punt.
