17 observations from Texans vs. 49ers (Harris):
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It wasn’t pretty, to say the least, but a win is still good to get, especially in front of the NRG Stadium crowd.
Here are my observations from a wild, relatively speaking, 16-13 win over the San Francisco 49ers.
1. The Texans first offensive drive with Deshaun Watson at the helm couldn’t have gone much better. Watson was 5-for-8 on the drive and as Coach Bill O’Brien pointed out to me at halftime, he should’ve been 8-for-8 with perhaps a few drops. As such, a few of those plays stand out.
2. The first was Bruce Ellington’s 37-yard catch and run. On that play, the 49ers ran a little game up front and linebacker Brock Coyle came free in the middle. But, with Coyle bearing down on him, Watson threw an absolute dart before Coyle could sack him. That ball had some juice on it too. Consequently, Watson’s quick release helped him avoid a sure sack.
3.Later in the drive, Watson targeted Ellington on an out to the sideline. It wasn’t Watson’s best throw as it was behind Ellington a bit, but not entirely off target. So, when Ellington was unable to hang on, Watson started tapping his chest as players came back to the huddle, claiming it was his fault, not Bruce’s.
4. The last play of the drive was really interesting. It was fourth and one and Ellington was aligned in the slot on the right side. He didn’t even run a route. He just eyed the coverage and safety Jaquiski Tartt widened out to split the difference between Ellington and the outside receiver. As such, Ellington just turned around at the goal line and hoped that Watson would see him. He did and threw a seed right between the 1 and the 2 on Ellington’s jersey for a touchdown.
5.I don’t know if we would’ve seen more of Watson had the Texans not started with an 11-play touchdown drive, but it was enough. Number 4 showed a bit of everything on the drive too. Toughness in the pocket on the rush. Quick release. Zip on his throws, especially to the deeper intermediate areas on the field. Touch, especially on the throw to tight end Ryan Griffin on the sail route to get the ball inside the ten yard line. Leadership as he delivered a little bit of, uh, aggressive counseling on the third down play inside the five yard line. It was a good night, to say the least.
6. Here’s one other promising note as it pertains to the offense: zero sacks. The Texans offensive line protected the quarterback fairly well, yielding no sacks for the second consecutive week. Sure, it’s preseason and all, yet it’s a promising start for a unit that has been a focal point for most fans/analysts for a while.
7. Cornerback Kevin Johnson left the game with a concussion after taking a nasty fall while covering 49ers receiver Marquise Goodwin. Obviously, we all want Kevin to bounce back and get well as soon as possible, but it’s tough because he’s had such an excellent training camp. He’s one of the most important players on this defense in 2018, even among the stars on that side of the ball.
8. Rookie outside linebacker Duke Ejiofor didn’t have as much of a havoc wreaking night on the pass rush like in Kansas City, but he made three tackles on special teams (two on kickoff and one on punt). I’ve said this countless times over the years; the special teams aspect is always important when it comes to determining the 53 man/46 gameday rosters. But, this year it feels more important than ever and Ejiofor took that to heart with his play on coverage teams on Saturday night.
9. Like Kevin Johnson, receiver Sammie Coates left the game with a concussion after a strong start. Quarterback Brandon Weeden targeted Coates seven times in one quarter, connecting on three of them for 32 yards. Coates made his first catch with some fine toe drag swag on the 49ers sideline. He skied to get the rock as well, snatching it with his hands. I bring that up because Coates’ challenge in camp was to catch the ball consistently. He has done exactly that from day one of camp.
10. The penalties...oh my gosh, the penalties. 23 on the night. I watched the Vikings-Jaguars game earlier in the day and at some point Paul Allen, the Voice of the Vikings, said that he couldn’t believe that there had been 20 penalties in that game. Yes, it’s preseason, but it got to a point where we were looking for a flag on nearly every play in the second half.
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In addition to Kevin Johnson, Sammie Coates, Jr. was also concussed in the game.
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