After a dissapointing loss against the Arizona Cardinals last Saturday, the Houston Texans now look to get their first win on the preseason, as they returned home to face the Atlanta Falcons.
In the first quarter, the Texans showed signs of improvement. The Texans' defense were giving the Falcons a tough time. Jadeveon Clowney led the way early with a sack and a tackle resulting in a loss of yards. Matt Ryan had a tough job making plays with the Texans going after him agressively. At the end of the quarter, the Texans offense was starting to heat up. Ryan Fitzpatrick had a nice 10-yard run that kept the drive alive. Alfred Blue capped off the 12-play, 69-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. The Texans led 7-0 at the end of the quarter. Matt Ryan was 3/7 for 37 yards.
Along came the second quarter. Tom Savage came on as the quarterback to get some work in. He did not look too good though. Most of the plays were to the running back, Jonathan Grimes. Grimes had a nice 22-yard gain, but the Texans could not score. Later on in the quarter, the Falcons got on the scoreboard. Sean Renfree came on as quarterback and made an impression right away. The Texans' defense committed many penalties that contributed to this good drive by the Falcons. Devin Hester capped off the 11-play, 49-yard drive with a 12-yard reception for a touchdown that tied the game at 7. It wasn't too long though before the Texans retaliated. Ryan Fitzpatrick came on to work on his two-minute offense. Quickly marching down the field they went. Quick and accurate passes were made. DeVier Posey caught an 8-yard strike from Fitzpatrick to give the Texans the lead again. The 7-play, 79-yard drive only lasted one minute and thirteen seconds. Chris Boswell missed the extra point, but nontheless, the Texans led 13-7 heading to halftime. Ryan Fitzpatrick was done for the day. He was 9/12 for 97 yards and a touchdown.
Case Keenum came on as quarterback for the Texans in the third quarter. Keenum went to work right away. Keshawn Martin caught multiple screen passes that led to easy yards. The Texans' used little plays to get down the field. Although they couldn't come away with a touchdown, Randy Bullock nailed a 40-yard field goal to give the Texans a 16-7 lead. The Falcons got the ball back with 10:24 remaining in the quarter and couldn't get things going. Short passes by Sean Renfree just wasn't enough to get the offense started. Offensive penalties also hurt them, as they gave the ball back to the Texans about halfway through the quarter.
To the fourth quarter they went, where all the action started taking place for the Texans. At the end of the third quarter, the Texans were having a good drive, but it was soon washed away. Case Keenum was intercepted to begin the fourth quarter. TJ Yates, the former Texan, came on for the Falcons, and couldn't make anything happen. Matt Bosher's punt was deflected by Anthony Denham and picked up by Jonathan Grimes for the touchdown, giving the Texans a 23-7 lead. Everything was going right for the Texans. They even blocked a field goal in this quarter. Later on in the quarter, TJ Yates was intercepted by Andre Hal, who returned it for a touchdown. Although Boswell missed another extra point, he added a field goal at the end of the game. The Houston Texans won, 32-7.
This was the first time in Texans preseason history where the offense, defense, and special teams all scored. This win was also the Texans first win in 336 days. Hopefully the momentum from this game carries forward, as they get ready to face the Denver Broncos next week.