AFC South First Quarter Season Review
By Luke Sims
Sep 28, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt (99) celebrates after the victory over the Buffalo Bills at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Houston Texans
Quarter Record: 3-1
Player to Highlight: J.J. Watt, two sacks, one interception (returned for TD), three passes batted, a near infinite amount of QB pressures.
The Texans are returning back to form after ousting former head coach Gary Kubiak last year. Bill O’Brien is allowing the team to fulfill its potential and it’s encouraging to see the Texans roar back to life this season. Ryan Fitzpatrick has been quite good under center, replacing Matt Schaub after a rough 2013 season for the now-Oakland Raider. While Fitzpatrick can be a liability (five touchdowns to five interceptions) he is doing what he must to keep the Texans competitive in games on offense. He’s completing 65% of his passes and he’s spreading the ball around to the multitude of options on offense. Arian Foster has managed 82 yards per game in his three games, which has helped the team a lot on offense. The offense has only scored 87 points which is just 22nd in the league. They’ll need to improve that if they hope to compete against some of the elite teams in the NFL.
The defense in the real highlight of the Texans, though. The defense is allowing just under 17 points per game (sixth in the league) while allowing the opposition to accumulate plenty of yards. The bend-but-don’t-break defense is working so far and they have the talent to turn games around with the unit. J.J. Watt in particular has helped to change games on his own, especially their week four contest against the Buffalo Bills.