The Houston Texans earned their first win of the season against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 5.
Houston Texans Week 5 Recap: Good, bad, ugly against Jacksonville Jaguars
Jair Lopez
The Good
The Houston Texans earned their first win of the 2020 season against the Jacksonville Jaguars and snapped a four-game losing streak that led to the firing of Bill O'Brien.
Deshaun Watson had his second consecutive game for at least 300 passing yards, but he finished with a win. He completed 71 percent of his passes for 359 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions.
The offensive line also had their best outing against an injury-ridden Jaguars defense that was missing Josh Allen and Myles Jack. To the Texans credit, the Jaguars only notched one sack on Watson, and Watson was more to blame as he opted to keep the football to attempt to get positive yardage.
However, Watson looked rather sharp against the Jaguars, and the receivers seemed to benefit from Tim Kelly's playcalling with O'Brien no longer involved. Brandin Cooks had his best game of the season with eight receptions, 161 yards, averaged an absurd 20.1 yards per reception, and a touchdown catch on a late fourth-down play.
The offense was humming, and Cooks had a stellar performance after only accruing 10 receptions for 138 yards through the first four weeks. Will Fuller also had another solid game with four receptions for 58 yards and earned his third touchdown reception in three consecutive games.
Darren Fells had to step up with Jordan Akins sidelined with an injury; he finished with two receptions for 57 yards and a 44-yard touchdown reception. Fells showed some solid glimpses as a blocker and helped pave a lane for David Johnson late in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
Houston's run game had its best performance against the Jaguars' depleted defense. They had 22 attempts for 129 yards on the ground and averaged a solid 5.9 yards per carry.
David finished with his best game as he finished with 96 yards. He had 77 yards on his 10 carries outside the tackles and 19 yards on 7 carries when running between the tackles.
On the other side, Houston's defense had another solid game getting to the quarterback as Zach Cunningham, Jacob Martin, and Whitney Mercilus brought down Gardner Minshew. Houston ranks 7th in the league with 14 sacks through the first five games.
The defense had more good news as they forced their first turnovers of the season by recovering two fumbles in the second half. The defense did its job in Week 5 and kept Jacksonville to only 14 points.
Houston received unexpected help from Tyrell Adams as he replaced Benardrick McKinney, who was dealing with a shoulder injury leading up to the game. Adams tallied 13 total tackles and had a crucial fumble recovery that the defense needed.
The Bad
The biggest issue from this game was the turnovers from the Houston Texans on offense. Deshaun Watson had two interceptions against the Jaguars defense, which has become an underlying issue for this offense.
Watson has five interceptions through the first five weeks of the season and he has only gone one game without turning the football over (Week 4). His first interception can be excused as it was tipped at the line of scrimmage, but his second was a forced pass to Will Fuller in tight coverage.
Houston was fortunate to force two turnovers of their own against Jacksonville, but Watson will need to work on not being overly aggressive with the football.
Another aspect the Texans need to continue to work on is their run game since it was stuck in the mud until the fourth quarter. David Johson had 50 of his 96 yards in the fourth quarter with six carries. The Texans will need a more consistent David Johnson through four quarters moving forward, but this was a solid showing after his earlier struggles.
The Ugly
The Houston Texans' defense suffered a minor setback on paper with Benardrick McKinney ruled out against Jacksonville. Tyrell Adams showed out, but they will need to see whether this was a flash in the pan or if he can build on this performance.
The Texans announced McKinney will undergo shoulder injury and will miss the remainder of this season. Losing McKinney hurts Houston on paper, but they will need to figure out whether they have what they need on defense to turn their fortunes around.
The Texans are ranked 31st on run defense and are allowing an average of 160.4 yards per game. The defense faced a struggling Jaguars offense, so it will be interesting to see how they fare against tougher competition moving forward.