Tyrod Taylor started his Texans career with a bang.
Taylor helped lead Houston to a 37-21 Sunday shellacking of the Jaguars at NRG Stadium, tossing a pair of scores, and guiding the offense to another two touchdowns on the ground. The quarterback completed 21-of-33 passes for 291 yards and a 112.1 rating. Taylor also ran four times for 40 yards, including a 29-yarder in the fourth quarter. He and the Texans didn't turn the ball over either, and Houston ran away from Jacksonville in the victory.
According to RB Mark Ingram II, Taylor's leadership was a driving force in the win.
"He's a smooth operator," Ingram said. "He's confident. He has the ability. Great leader in the huddle. Commands the huddle."
Houston received the opening kickoff, and then proceeded to go three-and-out, but after the Texans defense did the same to the Jaguars on the ensuing drive, Taylor and the offense were set up with a 1st-and-10 at their own 16-yard line. From there, he went to work. The Texans went 84 yards in 14 plays, and burned 7:02 off the game clock. Ingram got in for a 1-yard touchdown, and the Texans led the rest of the game.
WR Brandin Cooks caught a 40-yard pass from Taylor on the possession, and it gave the Texans a 1st-and-Goal at the Jacksonville 2-yard line. Cooks, who caught five passes for 132 yards from Taylor, praised his quarterback's ability to adjust after a tough opening drive.
"It was awesome," Cooks said. "Just the way that he came out leading. First drive didn't go how we wanted, but we re-calculated and went out there and started moving the ball. He's a great leader. He makes plays and he's a playmaker at the end of the day."
Ingram agreed, and explained how Taylor operated in the huddle.
"Gets us out of bad plays and into good plays," Ingram said. "High tempo with guys in and out the huddle. Play comes in the wrong way, he fixes it, he adjusts it. Gets us out there in the right alignment. Communicating great in the huddle. He just did a great job today. I'm happy for him."
Taylor was happy with the win as well, but like his head coach David Culley and the rest of his teammates, also looking for improvement, too.
"It was big to start the season off with a win against a divisional opponent," Taylor said. "Proud of the guys for the way they came out and worked. It wasn't a perfect game by any means. But the effort, the focus and the execution was there in all three phases, so it's something to build off of, and we'll continue to keep working to get better."
Culley liked the execution on the part of his veteran quarterback, who's now in his 11th NFL season.
"He's a guy that's not going to make mistakes," Culley said. "He's going to take care of the football. That's part of who we are. As long as he's doing that, and running the offense, and us being able to run the ball the way we were able to run the ball, we'll have a chance to do what we need to do."
Taylor and the Texans are now 1-0, and will face the Browns in Cleveland next Sunday at Noon CT.
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