Houston’s offense started the fight… but the Texans defense finished it.
Eight straight wins.
A playoff spot clinched.
And the standard in Houston? Officially back.

Heading into this matchup, all eyes were on the offensive line. No Trent Brown. No Ersery. Questions everywhere. Instead? The Texans delivered one of their most impressive performances of the season. Blake Fisher and Jarrett Patterson stepped in and played clean football—no sacks allowed, just three total pressures, and zero penalties. That’s winning football.

The run game wasn’t pretty, but it was tough.
Woody Marks embodied that.

71 rushing yards

59 yards after contact

Six runs of 5+ yards

Add in Jahwar Jordan’s impact and Houston doing what it does best—rushing for over 100 yards—and the offense held up its end of the bargain.

Then the defense took over… and took souls.

28 pressures. 27 defensive stops. 5 sacks. 8 tackles for loss. Just 7 missed tackles

After giving up 145 rushing yards to the Raiders last week, this was the true test. The Chargers ran into a brick wall: 74 rushing yards, 3.4 yards per carry, and no rusher over 40 yards. Absolute domination.

This is the defensive standard Houston has been waiting for—and they found it again. The structure, the discipline, and the ability to take what’s in front of them and still figure out how to win is what separates contenders from pretenders.

Plus, major props to Nick Caserio for shoring up weaknesses with key additions like K’Von Wallace and Leki Fotu—moves that are paying off in real time.

This episode breaks down how the Texans became one of the most complete teams in football and why this run feels very real.

 

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