The Houston Texans rode the coattails of J.J. Watt for a over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at NRG Stadium. Our takeaways:
- J.J. Watt already had six quarterback hurries and a pass defense before tearing out Buffalo's heart in the third quarter with off an ugly lob from EJ Manuel. What won't show up in the box score: Watt swallowing up blockers and destroying the pocket all afternoon to keep the Bills at bay through the air. Watt single-handedly kept Houston in the game and looms as an early favorite to win his second Defensive Player of the Year.
- Buffalo generated just six yards over its first three drives before leaning on the run to build an early 10-0 lead. Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller combined for 93 yards at 4.2 yards per rush. It wasn't enough to offset another skittish performance from Manuel, who threw away the game with a pick on Buffalo's final drive. Manuel averaged just 3.1 yards per pass over an outrageous 25 first-half throws. His wideouts spent most of the day in a fog before the second-year passer found Mike Williams for in the fourth quarter -- even so, he still threw for just 5.1 yards per pass.
- Houston had its own problems, amassing just 12 rushing yards in the first half en route to a puny 37-yard day on the ground. Arian Foster has looked rejuvenated in recent weeks, but not against this Jim Schwartz-led defense.
- Bills fans weren't surprised to see their old quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick struggle with a pair of interceptions. To be fair, his second pick was tipped at the line, but Fitzpatrick continues to throw his share of errant passes. Houston moved to 3-1 with this win, but I don't see much hope for a team held back by such mediocre quarterback play -- especially on third downs.
- Randy Bullock saved the day for Houston with three second-half field goals led by an edgy 55-yarder that kept the Texans afloat.
- We're feeling pretty good about "Making the Leap" candidate DeAndre Hopkins. After smoking Bills cornerback Corey Graham for a , the freakishly athletic Texans wideout consistently outran Buffalo's secondary to pile up 64 yards off five grabs. His teammate, Andre Johnson, lost his first fumble in 82 games.
- Sammy Watkins hasn't look fully healthy this season and continues to drop balls, but the Bills rookie caught his of the year on a second-quarter strike that saw him fend off a Texans defender for the ball. He's shown special ability at the point of the catch.
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