Houston defeats Jacksonville 30-6; wins AFC South

Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2016 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (January 3, 2016) The Houston Texans punched their ticket to the NFL Playoffs on Sunday, January 3, 2016 with a 30-6 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. With the victory, the Texans win the AFC South; their first division title since 2012. Houston head coach Bill O’Brien discussed the Texans’ playoffs with the media in the post-game press conference.

“We got to really take advantage of the momentum that we have.  We got to put extra time in because there’s more to it than this hat. Congratulations on this hat but let’s keep getting some hats.”

The Texans drew blood first on a 29-yard field goal by Nick Novak. The drive lasted 3:30 and cover 47 yards in eight plays. Novak is now 16-of-18 in field goals this season. They added to their lead 46 seconds into the second quarter when quarterback Brian Hoyer connected with running back Jonathan Grimes on a 12-yard pass for the touchdown. The drive covered 79 yards in 10 plays; lasting 4:33. Novak split the uprights for the extra points, his 27^th in 28 attempts this season.

The Jaguars answered at the 10:13 mark in the second quarter with a 43-yard field goal by Jason Myers to make the score 10-3 in favor of the Texans. Houston added 10 points in the final 5:37 of the first half. Grimes again got the call and romped the final three yards of a 42-yard, six play drive for his second touchdown of the game. Novak added the extra point to give the Texans a 17-3 lead. With three seconds remaining in the first half, Novak booted a 51-yard field goal to give Houston a 20-3 advantage with 30 minutes to play.

Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved

After a bit of give and take during the third quarter, Myers added three points to the Jacksonville total as result of a 34-yard field goal with 43 seconds remaining in the third quarter. The Texans added an insurance field goal with 3:24 remaining in the game when Novak connected from 51 yards out for the score. They added another touchdown when Kareem Jackson picked off a Blake Bortles pass intended for Allen Robinson with 3:09 remaining in the game. He returned the interception 27 yards for the score. Novak added the extra point to take the score to 30-6.

Hoyer was in good form, coming back from concussion protocol, completing 25-of-40 passes for 249 yards and one touchdown. He discussed the season after the game in the press conference.

“It’s been a crazy year, but we’ve stayed the course. When we could have split apart, we really came together. I was just always staying ready. I never knew when that opportunity would come. It came a few weeks later and eventually, after the Colts game, I was back. It was just one of those things that for me, dealing with that adversity, coming in every day and staying ready, and then having to come in and deal with the injuries and stuff like that, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Billy (O’Brian).”

Alfred Blue carried the ball 21 times for 102 yards while DeAndre Hopkins caught seven passes for 89 yards. Grimes, with his two touchdown passes, caught four passes for 27 yards. Defensively, J.J. Watt accounted for eight tackles, three sacks and one forced fumble.  Brian Cushing tallied six tackles and one forced fumble. Bortles completed 17-of-32 passes for 239 yards and one interception for Jacksonville. Robinson caught five passes for 108 yards while Jonas Gray carried the ball nine times for 23 yards for the Jaguars.

Houston Texans remain at top of AFC South despite 27-6 loss to New England

Photo by Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2015 All Rights Reserved.

By Robert H Kelly

Copyright 2015 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (December 15, 2015) Two field goals were all they could manage on Sunday night and that was not enough for the Houston Texans, as they fell to the New England Patriots by the score of 27-6 at NRG Stadium in Houston on December 13, 2015., With the loss, the Texans fall to 6-7 for the season, but remain in a first place tie for the lead in the AFC South with the Indianapolis Colts.

The Patriots jumped out to a 7-3 lead after 15 minutes with a Tom Brady short pass to wide receiver Keshawn Martin for the touchdown. Stephen Gostkowski split the uprights for the extra point. The Texans added a 37-yard Nick Novak field goal with 2:42 left in the first quarter.

The Texas and Patriots traded field goals in the second quarter with Gostkowski scoring from 43-yard out at the 12:18 mark for New England. Novak added the second Texan field goal with 9:30 remaining in the half. Novak’s 45-yard kick closed out the scoring for the Texans. With 19 seconds left in the half, Brady hit tight end Rob Gronkowski with a one-yard pass for the touchdown. Gostkowski again added the extra point to give the Patriots a 20-6 lead at the half. The Patriots added another touchdown in the fourth quarter on a two-yard run up the middle by running back James White and Gostkowski’s extra point.

Offensively, Brady was 22-of-30 in the air for 226 yards and two touchdowns. Texans’ quarterback Brian Hoyer completed 11-of-12 passes for 155 yards before he left the game with a concussion. T.J. Yates replaced Hoyer as the signal caller and completed one pass for four yards.

Texans head coach Bill O’Brien was questioned by the media concerning Hoyer in the post-game press conference after the game. He stated:

 “Well first I’ll tell you, there’s nothing more important than the health and safety of every player in that locker room. I think that’s paramount. That’s number one, and as far as those things go, I think obviously it’s too early to tell. Obviously whenever you suffer a concussion like that, multiple concussions within a five or six-week span, obviously the player himself is concerned about that. Nobody is more concerned than I am because of my relationship with Brian and his family. I think that the Houston Texans will always do what’s best for the player.”

He was also questioned about defensive end J.J. Watt playing with a broken hand.

 “Yeah, there are two parts to the answer of that question. First, one thing that I will say is that he will get more and more adjusted to having that club on his hand, without the use of his fingers. That is the type of athlete he is, that is the type of worker that he is. He is just a great player. But I think the other thing too is to look at, when you watch him play, it’s not all about the stats. He put a lot of heat on (Tom) Brady. He did a lot of things in the running game to help stop the run. Even though he may not have been the one making the tackle, he was very disruptive, along with (Jadeveon) Clowney, along with some other guys in there, so he still is his disruptive self. Just because it doesn’t always show up on the stats sheet doesn’t mean he didn’t have a good game. I thought that he played a whale of a game.”

Next up for the Texans is a Sunday, December 20, 2015 match-up against Indianapolis. The game will kick off at 12 noon CST at Lucas Oil Stadium.