What an emotional roller coaster THAT was. That said, no matter which emotion, or emotions, hit you at the end of this one, the overriding one for me was "That W Feeling!" It doesn't matter how it looks, how pretty, how gritty, how sloppy, how seemingly disastrous at times, in the end, it's a win.
Let's dive into my Harris Hits from this game.
1) Our quarterback is C.J. Stroud. For any of you that are still struggling with the win not being pretty enough or sexy enough, just repeat those five words over and over and over. Trust me, you'll feel that much better. In the postgame, there was so much focus on the fourth down stop, penalties (again), Dare's great game and Nico, that many glossed over the efforts of Stroud. The last thing I'll ever do is NOT thank my football gods that he wears #7 for this organization.
2) He was brilliant on Sunday. Well, he'll tell you that he'd like one throw back at the end of the first half, but that's nitpicking, really. The throws on the run. The one throw he made with a Jacksonville Jaguar defender HANGING on his legs for a completion in the first half. The DOT to Cade Stover to kick start a second quarter TD drive. The DIME to Nico for the touchdown at the end of that drive. The many, MANY key throws to Nico. But that 69-yard drive? Nails. Clutch. So calm and poised. He was under control, conducting the orchestra like a maestro. Just a brilliant performance for C.J, yet again.
3) It was a little less than a year ago when the legend of Dare Ogunbowale grew. Against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 9 of 2023, K Kaimi Fairbairn left the game with an injury and Ogunbowale had to step in as the backup kicker. He nailed a go-ahead field goal in the fourth quarter and the fans went nuts, recognizing what a HUGE play that was. Well, on Sunday, the Texans don't win this game without the MASSIVE contributions from Ogunbowale. Yes, he had the game-winning TD but it was his work before that score, once again, which showed his impact.
4) First drive in the second quarter, 3rd-and-8, Stroud threw to Dare for nine yards and a key first down. That first down led to a Collins TD to take a 14-10 lead.
5) Early in the fourth quarter, 3rd-and-18, Stroud threw a checkdown to Ogunbowale WELL SHORT of the first down stick. No worries, Dare took off like a little kid who had taken the last piece of pie from the family picnic. 31 yards later, his catch-and-run put the Texans in field goal range. They would find their way out of field goal range, but Dare had put them there with that catch.
6) Then, on the final 9-play drive, he had a catch for six yards on first down, two carries for seven yards to set up Dalton Schultz's key third down catch and the game-winning TD catch. I've said often that Dare is one of my favorite players to have ever played in this organization. He started here in 2017 but wasn't given a shot to show what value he could bring. Eventually, after finding a special teams role in a few different locations, he came back to Houston and carved out one heck of a role. On a team with so many stars, Dare has been the reliable veteran who can do anything and everything that he's asked…especially in crunch time.
7) Prior to the 2023 season as I perused the radio dial throughout the city…and trust me, I kept receipts…I kept hearing how Nico Collins was nothing but a #2 receiver in this league. Those radio hosts will certainly not admit it now, but there was even one that thought he was just a good #3. Well, yeah, how about now?
8) After a stellar 2023 that led to a contract extension, Collins has taken his game to a new level. He finished with 12 catches for 151 yards and a touchdown, complete and utter domination. Plus, he's doing it in so many different ways. Catch-and-run plays. Downfield shots. Screens. Short, intermediate and long catches. The story for Nico wasn't fully written after 2022, it was certainly not completed after 2023 and it's not done now. I hope all have learned to not underrate, or understate, his impact for this team.
9) But one other thing about Nico is that his physical presence fires up his teammates…and his coaches too. On the Texans first drive of the game, Nico caught a pass and headed up the Texans sideline. He full-on ran through a Jacksonville defender on the sideline. When the play was over, he was standing right in front of Coach DeMeco Ryans. That hit on the Jaguars defender just got DeMeco COMPLETELY pumped up.
10) There are a ton of plays in this game that will fly under the radar, but when I mentioned Schultz above, it made me think about his third down catch that got a first down on the Texans final drive. That catch was PERFECT because it came after the Jaguars had exhausted all of their time outs. They couldn't stop the clock and DeMeco then became the controller of the clock for the rest of the game. To see MY coach win the clock management game…oh, it gives me chills.
11) How is it that in nine years in the league that Stefon Diggs' rushing TD against the Jaguars was the FIRST in his career? Crazy. That was supposed to be a throwback to Stroud but the Jags sniffed it out. However, two defenders went toward Stroud and a MASSIVE hole opened for Diggs. He got a great block from TE Cade Stover and Diggs went into the end zone untouched. Diggs was just as valuable in the passing game, finishing with five catches for 69 yards and that rushing touchdown.
12) For a long while in this game, the Jaguars offense did just enough to give the Texans defense issues throughout the game. But after Texans rookie safety Calen Bullock ran down Jags RB Tank Bigsby at the Texans 4-yard line, the Jaguars ran 15 plays, including the lateral-palooza and generated 11 total yards. There are many underrated aspects to this game and that's one of them - the Texans defense decided that it was shut down time for the Jaguars and followed through on it.
16) The biggest play of those 15 plays, though, was the stop on the Trevor Lawrence QB Draw on 4th-and-Goal from the one on the first play of the quarter. My gosh, what a play! I wrote about it in Big Play Breakdown…
Talking to DeMeco Ryans after the game, he noted to me how valuable it was to have the end of the quarter break right before this play. On the sideline, the defensive staff discussed with the players a potential QB sneak, something six foot six inch Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence executes well. But, the Jaguars then came out in shotgun/empty - all receivers and running backs out away from the backfield. Immediately, Andre Ware and I thought the exact same - QB Draw. DeMeco thought the same thing. Nearly every defensive Texan knew that QB Draw was coming. And, so did Foley Fatukasi and Mario Edwards Jr. The former Jaguar was locked up with current Jaguars right guard Brandon Scherff and instantly saw Lawrence start forward for the end zone. Fatukasi shed Scherff away from the lane Lawrence found. Mario Edwards Jr was doing the same on the other side. They essentially pinched Lawrence into a small space and then brought him to the ground 36-inches short of the end zone for what would've been a two score lead. What a play for Foley, Mario and the defense!!
Alright, that's a good place to stop for now and start getting ready for the 3-1 Buffalo Bills. It's going to be a wild weekend and one we're all ready for here in H-Town!
