The Houston Texans may have notched their inaugural victory of the season in Week 2, beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 13-12, but it wasn’t pretty. The Texans defense bailed a lackluster Deshaun Watson led offense out of jail on multiple occasions, led by a seemingly rejuvenated Whitney Mercilus.
Regardless of how they came by the victory, here are five of the craziest stats to have come out of Sunday’s game at NRG Stadium.
1. O’Brien winning the turnover battle
Coach Bill O’Brien has always been one to emphasize the importance of winning the turnover battle every single game, even going as far as saying back in 2017; “You’re not going to win any games when you turn it over and you don’t get any takeaways. You’re not going to win any games.”
This message has clearly sunk in with his players as the team recorded their 15th straight game with a forced turnover. This marks the longest active streak in the NFL.
2. Cunningham leading the line
Linebacker Zach Cunningham has been a bright young star in this Texans defense since he first stepped in for Brian Cushing back in 2017. The former second-round pick showed on Sunday that his role in this defense is continuing to grow, and rightfully so, as he led the team in total tackles with nine.
The former Vanderbilt player also recorded his first sack since of this campaign meaning he now has two and a half on his career. The 24-year-old also had a tackle for loss, a quarterback hit, and a special teams tackle to round off an extremely impressive performance at the heart of this defense.
3. What weak hands?
When the Texans selected Will Fuller back in 2016, the overriding concern at the time was his hands. The widespread belief was that he would struggle to catch the ball consistently, and yet. he has now caught at least one pass in every single NFL game he has participated in.
With 33 appearances under his belt, this streak of consecutive games with at least one reception is the third-longest streak in team history to start a career. And while he may have only recorded 40 receiving yards on Sunday, and missed one or two catchable passes, the Texans will still be very pleased with his progress coming back from another season-ending injury in 2018.
4. Hall of Famer?
There can be no denying the mark cornerback Johnathan Joseph is leaving on the NFL. The 35-year-old and two times Pro Bowler may not have had the most decorated of careers to date, but if it consistent production and reliability you are after then look no further.
On Sunday, he finished with seven total tackles and two defended passes, marking his 47th career game with multiple passes defended. This now puts him tied third in NFL history for most in the category alongside Hall of Famer Champ Bailey, and top of the NFL since he entered the league in 2006 (183).
Joseph, who also holds the Texans franchise record for passes defended with 107, surely deserves at least an honorable mention when it comes to his Hall of Fame eligibility?
5. Guess who’s back
As soon as Jadeveon Clowney’s trade to the Seattle Seahawks was announced, the question of his replacement in Houston immediately arose. As it turns out, he was there all along.
Whitney Mercilus, a former second-team All-Pro outside linebacker is back to his former self. When Clowney was in the building, Romeo Crennel struggled to use all three of his defensive stars (including J.J. Watt) to the best of their ability, with Mercilus usually the one to pay for their abundance of talent by lining up outside of his most dominant pass-rushing position.
However, in two games back in a predominantly pass-rushing role Mercilus has now recorded three sacks, three quarterback hits, seven tackles, an interception, and two forced fumbles.
With his two sacks against the Jaguars, Mercilus now has 11 career games with two or more sacks which rank as third-most in Texans history behind only Watt (24) and Mario Williams (12). This was, in fact, his first game with multiple sacks since the 2016 Wildcard game against the Oakland Raiders.
His 45.5 career sacks now rank third in team history behind, again, Watt (92.0) and Williams (53.0).
