The Houston Texans lost to the New Orleans Saints 30-28 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome as kicker Wil Lutz booted a 58-yard field goal as time expired.
Part of their loss came to the hands of the offensive line, as the Saints were able to create consistent pressure on quarterback Deshaun Watson. For the game, New Orleans recorded six sacks.
The Texans’ newest addition, left tackle Laremy Tunsil, impressed in his debut, but he gave up two sacks to New Orleans defensive end Trey Hendrickson in the fourth quarter. Albeit Watson was able to negate them by virtue of his near comeback, the fact is on third-and-long, Hendrickson was able to line up in wide-9 and beat Tunsil off the edge. If a 2017 third-round pick from Florida Atlantic is figuring this out, just wait until the real edge rushers come barreling off the line.
However, other than his sack allowed, Tunsil played a clean game that resembled the best left tackle play since Duane Brown was traded to Seattle.
The real issue with the offensive line came by way of right tackle Seantrel Henderson and left guard Senio Kelemete. Henderson struggled to combat any sort of edge rush, while Kelemete was beaten multiple times off of stunt blitzes. Of course, Kelemete shouldn’t have even been starting at left guard in a perfect world because first-round pick Tytus Howard, who was listed as questionable and had limited participation throughout the week, would have been out there.
The Texans should have Howard back. Part of the problem for the Texans offensive line is due to the mission cohesion that didn’t develop due to the myriad of injuries that struck the offensive line throughout preseason. For the first time in a couple seasons, there are legitimately good players at spots on the offensive line, like Tunsil. The problem is they haven’t had time yet to form the bond to truly open up running lanes and protect Watson.
Houston’s offensive line will have to bond quickly. The Jacksonville Jaguars come to NRG Stadium Sunday and will be equally as desperate as Houston to avoid an 0-2 start.
