Preseason NFL football is never about the score, but a W never hurts. Here are some takeaways from the Texans' 16-13 win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Only a handful of what will likely be starters played for the Texans Saturday night
J.J. Watt, Tyrann Mathieu, DeAndre Hopkins, Will Fuller, Johnathan Joseph, and Benardrick McKinney were among the players held out. Jadeveon Clowney and Whitney Mercilus also sat out for the defense and Keke Coutee is still out for the offense.
Deshaun Watson was in for one series leading the Texans on a scoring drive
His first pass was a quick decision to Bruce Ellington who took it 37 yards for a big gain. Later Watson was a bit behind Braxton Miller leading to Miller getting hit and an incompletion. There was a clear emphasis on quick stuff as Ellington caught another quick one. Ryan Griffin hauled in a big play as he came across the defense and Watson found him for 22 yards. A few more quick strikes had the Texans on third and goal from the one.
The Bruce is loose
With third and goal from the one, the Texans attempted to run a quick play to Bruce Ellington but Troymaine Pope appeared to run the wrong route disrupting the play and resulting in an incompletion. The Texans went for it on fourth down and Watson found Ellington just past the goal line to score the touchdown. Watson seemed to be behind his receivers on a couple of throws but it wasn't anything egregious.
Duke Ejiofor showed up early and often for the Texans
He had two special teams tackles and sniffed out a reverse by Dante Pettis, son of Astros third base coach Gary Pettis, for a big tackle for a loss. The pass rushing wasn't as present as last week, however, but, he went against the 49ers first team for a good amount of reps.
Kevin Johnson had a scary moment early in the game
Marquise Goodwin blew past him for a big gain on third down and as Johnson gave chase he stumbled smashing his head into the turf. He was on the ground for a long while and it appeared as though they would cart him out but he popped up and walked off under his own power. He did not return with a reported concussion.
Aaron Colvin had a tough couple of reps
Second-year wide receiver Trent Taylor shook Colvin in the red zone for a touchdown beating him by a good margin. Taylor again beat Colvin for a first down on another drive hauling in a Jimmy Garoppolo dart. Colvin was an ace at the slot assignment for Jacksonville last year and has made a lot of good plays in practice. It was likely just a bad day but something to monitor next week against the Rams.
Justin Reid had a bounce-back performance with room to grow
It appeared Reid, Zach Cunningham, and Aaron Colvin had a miscommunication allowing 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk to scamper almost untouched for a 24-yard pickup. Reid looked to get lost in the play but that was seemingly his only big mistake. Later, Reid diagnosed a play quickly and blasted the ball carrier stopping them short of a first down. He has flashed plenty of talent but will need to correct the small mistakes. He will be asked to play early in his career a good amount with Kareem Jackson and Tyrann Mathieu being the only safties ahead of him on the depth chart.
Sammie Coates and Braxton Miller had a tough night
Coates had a couple of early snags linking up with Brandon Weeden. He also returned a kickoff. In the second quarter, his night ended as Weeden threw him a high pass that went through his hands and he was drilled by the 49ers defender. He wouldn't return due to a concussion. Miller didn't get a lot of opportunities in the game. He couldn't come up with an early Watson toss and with the offense struggling to get into a rhythm he didn't get much action his way.
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