The Houston Texans took it on the chin when the Denver Broncos walloped them 38-24 at NRG Stadium in Week 14, and with a rookie quarterback making his first road start. Certainly such a shocker would drop the Texans out of the top-10 of anyone’s power rankings.
According to the Touchdown Wire’s NFL power rankings for Week 15, the Texans weren’t harmed too bad by the surprise loss. The first place club in the AFC South tumbled to No. 8.
The Texans were coming off a 28-22 win over the Patriots in which they matched the four touchdowns allowed by New England’s defense all season and shut down New England’s offense (although that’s not difficult to do these days). So presumably, against the Broncos and rookie quarterback Drew Lock making his first road start, Romeo Crennel’s defense was set for another strong performance.
Perhaps not. The Broncos may have their franchise quarterback of the future, and the Texans have some serious questions about their defense after Lock completed 22 of 27 passes for 309 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Lock became the first rookie in NFL history with at least 300 passing yards and three touchdown passes in his first career road start, and his 235 yards in the first half was the most for a Broncos quarterback since Peyton Manning was taking snaps. Meanwhile, Deshaun Watson managed just 28 completions in 50 attempts for 292 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. The Texans travel to Tennessee next week to meet the red-hot Titans. A loss bumps them out of the AFC South lead — and possibly out of playoff contention altogether if the performance against Denver was more than an anomaly.
The Titans are currently No. 11 in Touchdown Wire’s power rankings. A loss to Tennessee will no doubt relegate the Texans to the outside looking in on the top-10. More importantly, they will fall a game behind the Titans with two games to go.