NFL News & Analysis

DET-HOU grades: Texans defense stifles Stafford, Lions

Houston Texans 20, Detroit Lions 13

Here are the highest-graded players and top takeaways from the Texans' 20-13 win over the Lions on Sunday:

Houston Texans

Quarterback grade:  Brock Osweiler, 69.1

After last week's rough performances in a loss to Denver, there where many question marks surrounding Brock Osweiler and whether he'll ever be able to justify the big contract the Texans gave him this offseason, but against the Lions he was able to take some steps forward to show that while he may never warrant the deal he got, he can still be an effective QB. Osweiler was pressured on 62.5 percent of his dropbacks, but Osweiler was able to complete 64.7 percent of his passes under pressure for 122 yards.

Top offensive grades:

T Duane Brown, 87.8

C Greg Mancz, 81.6

TE Ryan Griffin, 74.1

TE C.J. Fiedorowicz, 73.7

WR DeAndre Hopkins, 72.2

Duane Brown posts big game, while DeAndre Hopkins is mostly quiet

With the Texans wide receivers dealing with injury issues, the expectation coming into this one was that star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins would be heavily targeted and take over the game. However, those expectations did not turn into reality, as Hopkins was targeted seven times, hauling in just 4 catches for 44 yards. At left tackle, Duane Brown recorded an excellent grade.

Top defensive grades:

CB Kareem Jackson, 89.8

LB Benardrick McKinney, 86.0

ED Whitney Mercilus, 84.6

LB Brian Cushing, 84.6

ED John Simon, 80.6

Texans do a good job of executing defensive gameplan

The Texans came into this game with a good game plan versus the Lions offense. They were willing to allow short completions, but would come up and make the tackle. With only four missed tackles in the game, they where able to limit Lions to just 240 yards passing — and very few of those yards came on passes with any depth.

Detroit Lions

Quarterback grade: Matthew Stafford, 41.1

After the Lions fell behind in the first half, the pressure was on Matthew Stafford — who entered the week ranked in the top 5 of PFF QB grades — to bring the Lions back. The passing game as a whole struggled against the Texans due to Stafford being inaccurate on passes over 10 yards downfield, where he only completed five passes on 13 attempts for 81 yards.

Top offensive grades:

C Travis Swanson, 79.3

T Taylor Decker, 76.4

G Larry Warford, 74.5

RB Theo Riddick, 65.1

WR Marvin Jones, 61.5

Three-fifths of the offensive line plays well

The Lions' offensive line had three good performances from center Travis Swanson, tackle Taylor Decker and guard Larry Warford, as those three only gave up three pressures between them. however, guard Graham Glasgow and tackle Riley Reiff struggled to protect Stafford, as Glasgow gave up five pressures and Reiff four pressures. Reiff compounded his issues in the pass game with some big struggles as a run-blocker.

Top defensive grades:

CB Johnson Bademosi, 84.3

ED Kerry Hyder, 80.3

S Tavon Wilson, 80.2

S Glover Quin, 76.8

DI A’Shawn Robinson, 75.5

Kerry Hyder continues his strong season as a pass-rusher

The front seven for the Lions has been a disappointment this season, where only one player who has played more than 100 snaps has earned a grade over 51.0, and that is Kerry Hyder. Against the Texans he was able to record a QB hit and three more hurries, as he was the only player who was able to record pressure quickly and consistently this week.

PFF Game-Ball Winner: Houston Texans LT Duane Brown

PFF’s player grading process includes multiple reviews, which may change the grade initially published in order to increase its accuracy. Learn more about how we grade and access grades for every player through each week of the NFL season by subscribing to Player Grades.

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