6 Things That Stood Out

The Houston Texans crumbled in their 6-20 Week 2 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, dropping them to an 0-2 record to kick off the new season for the second year in a row, this time with back-to-back losses on their home field.

And in the fallout of the Texans’ brutal performance from this weekend against the Bengals, we were able to get a glance at just how the snap share panned out for both sides throughout the day.

In all, there are a lot of obvious factors that stand out, but also a few noteworthy ones that could be a sign of what’s come as well. Let’s break down the Texans’ snap counts from their Week 2 loss against the Bengals by sorting through six key things that stood out more than the rest:

The Lack of Tight End Usage

A huge emphasis of the Texans’ offseason roster tweaks had been catered towards upgrading their tight end room. Houston entered the season with five tight ends compared to their two from last season, and felt primed to run more 12 and 13 personnel sets to match the ongoing trend of heavy personnel across the NFL.

Just two weeks into the season though, the Texans’ tight ends––outside of Dalton Schultz and his 12 receptions––remained mostly a non-factor. Behind Schultz, Foster Moreau led the way with 29% of the offensive snap share, and neither of Cade Stover or their second-round pick in Marlin Klein claimed more than 12%.

A Near 50-50 Split Between Montgomery and Marks

After David Montgomery had led the way in the Texans’ running back room with 20 touches, three total touchdowns, and a majority of the snaps in Week 1, it was a much more even split between him and Woody Marks in Week 2.

Montgomery had just four more snaps than Marks, as he was on the field for 52% of the offensive reps, and only logged two more carries than him as well. Granted, this wasn’t exactly a game script catered towards a run-heavy attack from Houston, but could be something to keep an eye on moving forward.

Xavier Hutchinson’s Presence on the Field

Without Nico Collins in the mix due to a hamstring injury he suffered in last week’s practice, it was fourth-year veteran Xavier Hutchinson who secured the most snaps of anyone in the Texans’ wide receiver room. He was on the field for over 80% of the offensive snaps, and right behind him was Kayshon Boutte with a little over 70%.

It goes to show how much the Texans staff trusts Hutchinson on days where their offense is heavily depleted. His size and blocking ability also help when Collins’ physical presence isn’t on the field, but their six-point performance certainly showcased how much Houston’s No. 1 wide receiver was needed moving forward.

Jake Hansen Has Clear Command of WLB Role

The Texans are going to be forced to play linebacker Henry To’oTo’o until at least Week 6, and potentially longer, as he recovers from a shoulder injury he sustained in Week 1 against the Bills. And in the first game that To’oTo’o wasn’t in the mix for Houston’s defense, it was fifth-year veteran Jake Hansen who claimed all of the team’s snaps as an off-ball linebacker.

Hansen had a relatively quiet performance with just two total tackles, but this game showed that he’ll certainly be a notable presence on the defensive side of the ball for the next several weeks while To’oTo’o is out.

How the Texans Pivoted Without Jadeveon Clowney

This pass rush was bound to be a little less potent this weekend without Jadeveon Clowney on their defensive line rotation, who missed all of last week’s practices with a knee injury. So the Texans were forced to take their edge rotation in a different direction, knowing that their third defensive end was going to be out.

So the Texans decided to hand a pretty evenly split share of opportunities to both Dominique Robinson and UDFA Sebastian Harsh, who combined for a total of 23 snaps––just about where Clowney’s snap share landed by the end of last week against Buffalo. 

Jaylin Noel’s Increase in Opportunity

We knew the Texans were going to hand their second-year pass-catcher Jaylin Noel a big increase in snaps with the combination of Collins, Jayden Higgins, and Tank Dell out of the mix in the receiving core. Yet we didn’t know just how much Houston would increase his dose of opportunities.

And it turns out, he was on the field about 60% of the time for the Texans’ offense, exactly double what he got last week against Buffalo. It still only resulted in one catch going his way for a pretty solid 31 yards, which now takes his average yards per reception to a whopping 28.0 on the season.

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