Texans win fourth straight, blow out Saints 24

Nov 29, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) is sacked byHouston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt (99) during the third quarter at NRG Stadium.

It was nearly unthinkable that the Texans had a shot at the playoffs earlier this season, but on Sunday they beat the New Orleans Saints, 24-6, to win their fourth straight, get over.

All of it added together led to one of the more frustrating performances in recent Saints history, and the first game under coach Sean Payton when the team didn’t record a touchdown.

And when things were going wrong or quarterback Drew Brees (25-of-44 for 228 yards with one interception) ended up on his back, it was often Watt standing over him after the play. The only points of the day recorded from New Orleans came from their kicker Kai Forbath – he kicked a 30-yard field goal midway through the second, and a career-long 57-yarder shortly before the half to make the score 14-6.

In the two games since the bye, the coaching staff has not feared putting the toughest assignment possible on the rookie’s plate, putting him one on one with A.J. Green two games ago and Brandon Marshall last Sunday.

This time, the defense gave up a chunk play down the sideline and let the Saints get inside the red zone for the first series all game.

The Texans pushed the lead to 14-0 when Hoyer threw a shovel pass to Cecil Shorts for a touchdown on Houston’s second drive.

Houston’s defense came as ready to play as Hoyer. Now, three games later, Watt is playing at his peak 2014 level, having won AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors last week.

It was the 20th three-interception game of Manning’s career.

Those weren’t the only examples of Hoyer throwing behind his target, but they stood out as poor throws causing the offense to leave potential points on the field. Watt became the second-fastest player in league history to reach 70 sacks (Reggie White, 57 games).

After opening the season with three straight losses, the Saints put together four wins over a five-game span, but again have faltered with two consecutive losses against mediocre teams, Tennessee and Washington.

“I felt pretty good”, Peat said. New Orleans is not the same team they have been in past seasons, but Brees is always risky and has eclipsed 300 yards passing six times already this season.

What the Jets had hoped would be a recipe for success; a dominant defense and running game with a quarterback who gets the ball in the end zone more frequently than he gives it away has fallen flat.

“Well, what happened was, that second game we got our ass kicked”. “I thought we did a good job against him overall”. The Texans coaching staff deserves a ton of credit, in the heat of pressure they managed to rescue a complete disaster turning the Texans into a team that could challenge the Patriots. Shut down at times, they still moved the ball when they had to. It’s the worst in the league, both in terms of total yards allowed per game and points per game. “Now it’s going to be December, and if we want to make a run, then we’ve got to play our best football”. It reminds me of this scene from The Simpsons where Homer has a far different view of himself than society does…

“The plays are drawn up pretty well, we have to be able to execute them”.