Sunday afternoon's Houston Texans 24-20 win over Jacksonville had many of the same earmarks as the previous three games of the season, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. There were stretches where the Texans' offense looked unstoppable, piling up 17 points and 261 yards in the first half. Unfortunately, the Texans remained stuck on 17 points for most of the second half.
The first five Texans possessions in the second half netted five punts, but fortunately, before Tommy Townsend's leg threatened to fall off, the Texans' defense gave their offense one more chance, with 2:54 to go in regulation, and the Texans trailing 20-17. Sometimes, one more chance is one too many to give C.J. Stroud. Such was the case on Sunday, as Stroud led an efficient, successful drive to pay dirt.
I want to relive the drive play by play, and then give you three takeaways afterward, so without further ado, here we go:
PLAY NUMBER 1 2:54 – 1st-10, HOU 31 – STROUD scramble 11 yards (5 yards tacked on, illegal contact on JAC)
PLAY NUMBER 2 2:46 – 1st-10, HOU 47 – STROUD to COLLINS, 26 yards
PLAY NUMBER 3 2:03 – 1st-10, JAC 27 – STROUD to OGUNBOWALE, 6 yards
****TWO MINUTE WARNING**** PLAY NUMBER 4 1:55 – 2nd-4, JAC 21 – STROUD to COLLINS, 6 yards
PLAY NUMBER 5 1:13 – 1st-10, JAC 15 – OGUNBOWALE middle run, 6 yards
****TIME OUT #2 JAGUARS****
PLAY NUMBER 6 1:08 – 2nd-4, JAC 9 – OGUNBOWALE, middle run 1 yard
****TIME OUT #3 JAGUARS****
PLAY NUMBER 7
1:04 – 3rd-3, JAC 8 – STROUD to SCHULTZ, 6 yards
****TIME OUT #2 TEXANS**** (ran clock down to 0:30)
PLAY NUMBER 8 0:30 – 1st-G, JAC 2, STROUD 1 yard scramble
****TIME OUT #3 TEXANS****
PLAY NUMBER 9 0:22 – 2nd-G, JAC 1, STROUD to OGUNBOWALE, 1 yard TD
My takeaways from the most important drive, thus far, in the Houston Texans' 2024 season:
1. DeMeco Ryans' clock management was masterful
Whereas I think Ryans got way too cute with the clock at the end of the first half — the Texans left the field kicking a field goal on second and goal with a timeout still in their back pocket — I thought this final drive was masterful. Once the Texans got in chip shot field goal range, 1st and 10 at the Jags' 15 yard line with a little over a minute left, Ryans prioritized making the Jags use their final two timeouts. From there, the Schultz catch on 3rd and 3 to keep the drive alive ensured the Jags would be getting the ball back with little to no time remaining. Beautifully done.
2. C.J. Stroud showed his typical maturity
Notice in this nine play drive, other than the catch and run for 26 yards by Nico Collins, there wasn't a ton of explosiveness. This was Stroud working the clock, taking the underneath stuff, and making certain that the Texans' worst case scenario was a 20-20 trip to overtime. Stroud calls it "taking the boring stuff," and he's gotten really good at it.
3. Amazing what happens when you play clean, penalty-free football
The Texans had torpedoed their previous two drives with holding penalties from left tackle (and penalty machine) Laremy Tunsil. Really, for the last few weeks, penalties have put the Texans in 2nd and long and 3rd and long situations way too often. The worst down and distance the Texans had on this game winning drive was 2nd and 4. If they do that regularly, they will be unstoppable.
4. Dare Ogunbowale is embedded in the Texans' Circle of Trust Joe Mixon is undoubtedly the most trusted running back on this time, but he was unavailable on Sunday. While Cam Akers got the lion's share of the touches on Sunday in the backfield, when the game was on the line, Ryans trusts Dare Ogunbowale, who was on the field for all nine snaps of the game winning drive, and caught the game winning touchdown pass. Ogunbowale is the classic glue guy on an NFL roster.
Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast , on Instagram at instagram.com/sean.pendergast , and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast . 
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