Well, on a night of Trick or Treat, Jets WR Garrett Wilson pulled off a major trick, and treated all in attendance to one of the best performances I've seen a receiver have in a game.
The Texans took one on the chin Thursday night in East Rutherford, NJ, unfortunately, and there weren't a ton of Big Plays to breakdown, but we'll get a couple in right here.
1st Quarter
9:06 remaining - Texans ball
No score
3rd and inches
+39-yard line
The Texans ran what looked like Duo. Essentially it's an inside run with double teams but the RB has the option to "ride the wave"to the outside if all the defenders crash inside. That's exactly what Joe Mixon did on this play. Well, he had to because DE Michael Clemons immediately got penetration after a missed block. Mixon jump cut to the outside, in large part because LT Laremy Tunsil turned rookie DE Eric Watts back inside and he had all kinds of room off the left side. Then, Mixon started pinballing off defenders who made feeble attempts at tackles. He spun through another attempt and ran all the way to the 11-yard line. 28 HUGE yards on 3rd-and-inches.
2nd Quarter
3:22 remaining - Texans ball
No score…for a few more seconds
1st and goal
+3-yard line
Mixon time again! The Texans put 12 personnel (1 RB, 2 TE) on the field and ran one of their pet plays in a key situation: split zone. The line zone-blocked to the right and TE Dalton Schultz split the zone to the left side. But Joe saw how much the black shirted Jets defense dove to the middle of the field. So he actually cut OUTSIDE Schultz's block, bouncing to the outside, making the defender Schultz was blocking miss the tackle. Then, WR Xavier Hutchinson got just enough of the Jets safety, pinning him to the inside, and Mixon sauntered into the end zone for the only Texans touchdown of the night.
4th Quarter
8:00 remaining - Texans ball
Jets ahead 14-10
1st and ten
-26 yard line
The Texans had to relieve the pressure on C.J. Stroud, so they ran him on a boot to the left side away from all the inside action. He sold the heck out of it and TE Dalton Schultz pinned the DE back to the inside, so C.J. had a ton of room to his left side. He could've run the ball but he saw Tank Dell run out and then up when C.J. started to scramble. Stroud put a beautiful ball on Tank way down the field for a 50-yard gain when the Texans offense needed one the most. It really was a two man route off bootleg action, that's all it was and Stroud and Tank made it work wonderfully. Unfortunately, the Texans would not score on that drive.
I didn't have the after game clips to show some really big sacks and plays on defense, but I'll save some of that for Harris Hits tomorrow. Those won't be pretty, I can promise you that, not after this loss. But, time to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and compete again soon.
