I would say the mid-60's temperatures and overcast skies were a breath of fresh air for the Texans but the real relief came in the form of a three-phases win over Tennessee that got the Texans back on track.
The opening drive for Tennessee was productive until a red zone stall-out forced them to kick a field goal. That was the last time they would score.
Ka'imi Fairbairn went 4-4 in the first half as Houston built a 12-3 lead. It felt good at the time. Then I remembered that the intermission lead over the Cowboys last week was even more, at 16-6.
The Texans remembered too. And they made sure things would go differently this time, with two second half touchdowns that pushed the advantage and final score to 26-3.
The 26 points were the most surrendered by the Titans this season. Coming into the game, they were ninth in scoring defense. The Texans gave them their biggest margin of defeat. They also closed their final visit to the Titans current stadium with a 13-12 edge in all time visits to Nashville.
The lasting impression from this game for me is the play of C.J. Stroud. He's off to an excellent start this season and finally was rewarded with a win. Stroud hasn't thrown a pick yet and the Texans haven't turned the ball over since opening day.
The defense feasted in the pass rush department in the final stages of the game. And even though they gave up a play here and a play there, they never relented, making life miserable for the Titans with two takeaways, including Jake Hansen's first career pick.
Now comes a visit to Jacksonville, I mean London. That the Jags will have spent more than a week acclimating to London, while having the lay-of-the-land feel from their annual visits, feels wrong. But here we are.
Jacksonville had a walk-off win over the Eagles Sunday morning. They can eat bangers and mash all week and be ready for a hungry Houston team eager to get a shot at the AFC South leader.
The important thing about the day's activities is that your team finally erased the donut in the win column and can really start to get well with a victory at Wembley on Sunday.
