NFL

Texans show offensive, defensive improvement against 49ers

By Tyler Tyre, Sports Editor
Posted 8/30/22

“Defensively anytime you can get a shutout, that’s really big,” Smith said. “There were a lot of good things we did. They did exceptional and made the right plays and it was good to see the way they competed tonight.”

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NFL

Texans show offensive, defensive improvement against 49ers

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The Texans knew that they needed to show more offense in their final preseason game.

Houston had struggled on that side of the ball throughout the preseason, having troubles moving the ball and getting the run game going.

But the team seemed to find a solution to that on Thursday, as they showed flashes on offense and strong run game in a 17-0 win over the 49ers close an undefeated preseason for the team.

“Offensively, our line played really well even with us sitting a few guys,” said head coach Lovie Smith. “But Davis Mills did some good things in the half he played and running back wise, Dameon Pierce has shown us things every time we give him the ball. He’s a good football player. We protected the ball well too and that’s always important.”

Pierce continued his excellent preseason, rushing six times for 37 yards and a touchdown, averaging over six yards per carry and continuing to show why he earned the starting running back job.

Mills had his ups and downs at quarterback and finished the day going six for 10 with 58 yards and both a touchdown and an interception. But he made improvements throughout the first half.

“Dameon is running the ball really well, and when you have that and an offensive line blocking well for them and you’re able to consistently run the ball downhill, it opens up a lot in the pass game,” Mills said. “When you do that It really keeps the defense guessing, obviously we want to be a run first football team, and with Pierce back there we are really confident in being able to do that this season.”

But the offense wasn’t the biggest story of the night, as that sent to the defense and their huge performance, shutting out the 49ers and holding Trey Lance to 49 yards on his 11 first half pass attempts.

And the Texans were just as strong against the run, holding Trey Sermon to 20 yards and the 49ers to under 75 rushing yards for the entire game.

“Defensively anytime you can get a shutout, that’s really big,” Smith said. “There were a lot of good things we did. They did exceptional and made the right plays and it was good to see the way they competed tonight.”

Now the Texans turn their attention to the regular season, they are excited to get things started but also know they need to make adjustments and improve so they are ready to go for week one.

“We improved on some things and that’s important,” Smith said. “We had 11 penalties in one preseason game and we’ve continued to improve on that. We talked about the turnover ratio and they’ve done really well since then and made some plays tonight, and we protected the ball well. Now the key is to take that and keep improving on it and be ready for the season. But I like a lot of what we did.”

Houston Texans, NFL, football, sports, professional