The Houston Texans are off to a good start after defeating the Chicago Bears in a 23-14 victory.
Quarterback Brock Osweiler overcame an early interception and went on to complete 22-of-35 passes for a total of 231 yards. Osweiler explained, “It’s always ‘Play the next play. Play the next play,’ no matter what happened on that previous one, you gotta forget about it and move forward. That’s really what we did as an offense and as a team tonight.” It was clear he moved on from the rocky start lobbing two touchdown passes to DeAndre Hopkins and rookie Will Fuller.
At the end of the first half Fuller dropped a pass that could have been a catch-and-run touchdown. He must have left that misstep on the ground where he laid, face-in-the-turf helmet-in-hands, momentarily after the play because he came back with a vengeance in the second half. Fuller redeemed himself with quite the performance receiving 5 receptions, gaining 107 yards and one catch-and-run touchdown.
Brian Cushing left the game early in the first quarter after suffering an alleged Grade 2 MCL sprain. This was another blow served to Cushing who has spent the better part of the past two seasons recovering from a LCL tear, a broken leg, and ACL injuries. Cushing was replaced by inside linebacker Max Bullough. Coach Bill O’Brien said of the circumstances, “Hopefully [Cushing will] be back at some point. Max is a very bright player, B-Mac [Benardrick McKinney], those guys are good football player[s]. We feel like we’ve built depth there, and it’s next man up. That’s the National Football League. Sometimes injuries happen. It’s a tough, tough game and the next guy has to step up.”
Jadeveon Clowney had quite the performance as he terrorized the Bears offensive line while paying special attention to quarterback Jay Cutler with three quarterback hits. Clowney, who also delivered a sack and two tackles for losses, explained post game, “My team is counting on me to be out there. I go out there and compete for them. We had a good time out there and we got the win.”