After a huge upset win in Philly, the fear of a team let-down in Houston did not materialize, as the Commanders defeated the Texans 23-10.
Much like Monday night in Philly, the story in Houston was again the first half. The Texans, now 1-8-1, came into the game bad, and the Commanders’ (6-5) first half left no doubt they are the much better team.
In the first 30 minutes, the Commanders made the Texans look even worse. The numbers were even more lopsided than against the Eagles.
The Commanders earned 14 first downs while limiting the impotent Texans to a single first down. The Commanders ran 20 more offensive plays in the first half (41-21).
At halftime when I saw the total yards (246-5), I thought, certainly not in the NFL. But yes, those were the numbers. The Commanders had gained 6.0 yards an offensive snap, while the Texans had manufactured a mere .2 yards per play.
The defense even produced six points themselves when Kendall Fuller returned an interception 37 yards for a first-quarter touchdown.
Taylor Heinicke had 164 first-half passing yards, but Davis Mills registered -1. Is that even possible in the NFL? Apparently so; it happened Sunday in Houston. Rushing yards were 82 to 6.
The Texans had entered the game averaging 16 points per game, 28th in the NFL. With the first-half shut out by the Commanders, I honestly wondered if the Texans would score at all in the game against the Commanders defense.