The Houston Texans defense gave it everything it had against the Oakland Raiders in the team’s 27-24 victory Sunday afternoon at NRG Stadium. The unit was battling significant injuries that it brought into the contest and later sustained throughout the game. It also seems inequitable to hand out anything other than an A for effort, but nevertheless, here are the grades from Week 8.
defensive line
Defensive end J.J. Watt tore his pectoral in the penultimate Raiders drive of the first half, but not before he finished the game with three tackles along with a tackle for loss and a pass breakup. Defensive tackle D.J. Reader produced just one combined tackle on the afternoon. Nose tackle Brandon Dunn had four combined tackles, and Carlos Watkins produced two with Angelo Blackson adding a tackle for loss. Clearly, the unit would have performed better if Watt could have finished the last half of the game.
Grade: B
linebackers
Raiders running back Josh Jacobs managed to gain 66 yards on 15 carries, and Oakland overall had 93 yards on 23 carries. The Texans linebacking corps found a way to limit the Raiders’ run game. Brennan Scarlett added seven combined tackles, inside linebacker Zach Cunningham had eight combined tackles, a tackle for loss, and a pass deflection, and outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus had six combined tackles with two of them for losses. Dylan Cole had a pass breakup near the end of the game that should have been a game-sealing interception. The linebackers were reacting to the game and not necessarily imposing their will on the offense. Nonetheless, they did all they could to protect the lead late.
Grade: B-
secondary
It was already bad coming into the game when starting cornerbacks Johnathan Joseph and Bradley Roby were out with hamstring injuries. Throw in safety Tashaun Gipson, the number one tight end deleter for the Texans defense, among the inactives and the secondary was looking more like a sieve. It especially did when rookie Lonnie Johnson left the game in the second quarter with a concussion. The secondary did give up a 65-yard touchdown to rookie receiver Hunter Renfrow on a slant, and tight end Darren Waller had two catches for 11 yards and a touchdown. However, when the Texans got the lead late, they protected it. Safety Justin Reid collected five combined tackles and a pass breakup. Safety Jahleel Addae had a tackle, newcomer Gareon Conley produced four combined tackles and led the team with two pass breakups.
Grade: C+
special teams
Kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn was brought on to hit field goals off 33 and 40 yards, and he connected on all two of them. Furthermore, he hit all three of his extra points. He was not a liability at all for the Texans, and it was greatly appreciated as they were in such a tight contest with the Raiders.
Bryan Anger was brought out to punt four times for the Texans, and he averaged 51.8 yards per punt with just one touchback on the afternoon.
Returner DeAndre Carter had four punts for 32 yards and just one fair catch. On kickoffs, he returned one of the five for 22 yards as the remaining four were touchbacks.
