A day after the run game went off for 185 yards on 41 carries against Indianapolis, Bill O'Brien had praise for his offensive linemen.
Left tackle Duane Brown, guards Oday Aboushi, Jeff Allen and Xavier Su'a-Filo, center Greg Mancz and right tackle Chris Clark "did a good job" in O'Brien's eyes.
"I thought all those guys played well," the head coach said.
Allen exited with a concussion in the second half, so Su'a-Filo came off the bench and battled through a hand injury of his own and filled in at left guard. Aboushi slid into Allen's spot on the right side at guard, and the Texans were still able to average 4.5 yards a carry on the day.
O'Brien said offensive line coach Mike Devlin deserved a lot of credit, too.
"Mike does a really good job," O'Brien said. "We were lucky to be able to hire Mike when we did, a couple of years ago. Guys have a lot of respect for him in the room."
And the offensive line's teammates have a lot of respect for the blockers up front.
"They mean a lot," running back Lamar Miller said. "They've been making me and Alfred's (Blue) job easy this whole season. I give a lot of credit to those guys. They do their assignment. They get moving up front and today I think they did a great job of just getting movement. We were just trying to be decisive to keep
the chain running."
Miller amassed 107 yards on 21 carries, and twice broke loose for a gain of 20 yards. He also scored the Texans' lone touchdown.
Quarterback Brock Osweiler said the line's togetherness was one of the reasons the Texans have been able to pound out 100 or more yards on the ground in eight straight contests.
"I think the offensive line, just that entire room, I think they're a really close-knit group," Osweiler said. "I think they have great chemistry in that room and it translates to the game."
For Brown, seeing what Aboushi and Su'a-Filo were able to do in adverse circumstances made the win Sunday all the sweeter.
"Just a gutty performance by guys up front," Brown said. "A lot of guys playing banged up. Jeff Allen goes out. Oday stepped in at right guard. Xavier, a little banged up himself, came in at left guard. Played great. Did a great job. When you're able to run the ball consistently, everything else takes care of itself."
The Texans will return to practice at the Houston Methodist Training Center on Wednesday. They host the Jaguars at noon CT Sunday in NRG Stadium.
Texans fans showed up to support their favorite team in a Week 14 matchup with the Colts.
