AFC South Week 2 Review

September 19, 2016

HOUSTON TEXANS (2-0)

Kansas City Chiefs (12) @ Houston Texans (19)

You can be certain that the Houston Texans had been waiting for this matchup since the 0-30 loss in the 2015 post-season Wild Card game. The result was essentially what they wanted, but let’s discuss some quick takeaways from Sundays game.

The Texans still have a dominant defense, even with the loss of line-backer Brian Cushing, with four sacks and 3 fumble recoveries.
DE J.J. Watt got his first fumble recovery and sack of the season.
The Texans defense held the Kansas City Chiefs to only field goals. The Chiefs kicker, Cairo Santos, made 4-out-of-4 field goals Sunday, with the longest of 53 yards.
Rookie wide receiver Will Fuller has become one of quarterback Brock Osweiler’s favorite targets (as well as offensive contributor), and this Sunday showed us exactly why. Fuller caught 4-out-of-7 targets for 104 yards. Fuller is the first rookie in the Texans franchise history with consecutive 100-yard receiving games to start his career.
Oweiler does just enough to win with a touchdown to DeAndre Hopkins and giving kicker Nick Novak opportunities to make 4-out-of-5 field goals Sunday. Osweiler passed for 268 yards, a touchdown and 2 interceptions. Thus far, the Texans offense has been a good complement to the Texans dominant defense. But if the Texans want to continue winning, Osweiler will need to avoid interceptions.

The @HoustonTexans' new-look offense impressed in Week 1 and they are now a top-10 team in ESPN's power rankings: https://t.co/fXwh90zgol

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 13, 2016

The Kansas City Chiefs weren’t ready for the Houston Texans defense.
Alex Smith had a terrible day, passing for only 186 yards and no touchdowns.
The Kansas City Chiefs defense is back, looking like the dominant defense they were in the 2015 season. The defense had 2 sacks and 2 interceptions, held the Texans to 19 points and did not allow any touchdowns in the second half.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (0-2)

Jacksonville Jaguars @ San Diego Chargers

See AFC West Preview and Prediction.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (0-2)

Indianapolis Colts @ Denver Broncos

See AFC West Preview and Prediction.

TENNESSEE TITANS (1-1)

Tennessee Titans (16) @ Detroit Lions (15)

In week 2, the Titans defense was able to contain Matthew Stafford and the Lion offense in an incredible come from behind victory.

"Together."

Let's go inside the #Titans locker room for Coach Mularkey's victory speech. pic.twitter.com/K07KsdbyB7

— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) September 19, 2016

Sunday’s game was all about the penalties: The Titans had 12 penalties for 83-yards, while the Lions had 17 penalties for 138-yards.
Titans: Losing 3-15 into the fourth quarter, Mariota was able to throw for two touchdowns, even with an unsuccessful 2-point conversion, the Titans led 16-15 over the Lions.
The Lions had an opportunity to set up a winning field goal in the final minute for a second straight week, but Matthew Stafford threw an interception to Titans’ cornerback Perrish Cox at midfield with 18 seconds left, leading to the loss.
Lions running back Ameer Abdullah left the game with a foot injury in Sunday’s game in the second quarter. The good news is that initial X-Rays came out negative, but more tests are scheduled. The initial belief is that Abdullah has suffered a foot sprain.
Will the real Detroit Lions please stand up? The question that always sits in the back of my mind is…is the offense really that good or is the defense really that bad, or vice versa? In week 1, the Detroit Lions allowed 385 passing yards, 82 rushing yards and 4 passing touchdowns. In week 2, the Lions held the Titans to only 16 points, sacked Mariota 3 times and intercepted the ball.