Eagles vs Texans NFL 2022

Week 9 of the 2022 NFL season: Lessons from the Eagles' victory against the Texans on Thursday night

Eagles vs Texans :

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Dallas Goedert isn't exactly outstanding, but he's not far from it either. Since Rob Gronkowski quit football (for the second time), the tight end power rankings have largely followed this pattern: Travis Kelce is one. Mark Andrews 2. 3. All other parties. However, there is a case to be made for ranking Goedert somewhat above most (if not all) competitors at the position, just below the Kelce-Andrews Line. His performance on Thursday was not the best statistically in the NFL, but it was essential to the Eagles' closer-than-expected victory. He had eight catches for 100 yards and one touchdown. It seems like the Eagles called for that play to that man in numerous high-stakes scenarios in this game, and Goedert has been a screen machine this season. That was most definitely the case in Week 9. He continued to deliver. A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith both had very quiet nights, so the Eagles' offense was propelled by Miles Sanders' running and the screen pass to Goedert.

Offensive Rookie of the Year favorite Dameon Pierce. Pierce should be at the very top of your list because no quarterbacks are having successful first NFL seasons, and OROY favorite Breece Hall is out for the year. Pierce had a difficult game against the Titans on Sunday, but he quickly got back on track, setting career highs for rushing yards (139) and carries (27). The Eagles attempted to gang up on Pierce without wide receivers Brandin Cooks and Nico Collins in action, but Pierce still found ways to outpace and bounce off Eagles would-be tacklers for additional yards after contact. He might not be the league's most exciting running back, and his receiving skills are still developing. But Pierce, who has a promising future with the squad, is unquestionably the team's bell cow. The Texans scored big in the fourth round, but Pierce might have moved up had Florida given him more than 100 carries in 13 games the previous year. (It might also have preserved Dan Mullen's employment.)

The underrated addition from the offseason was C.J. Gardner-Johnson. When Gardner-Johnson was shockingly traded from the Saints to the Eagles on August 31, it was reasonable to wonder how long it could take him to get used to the system and his new teammates. The response is roughly six weeks. He started and participated in almost every defensive action for the Eagles in the first month of the season without incident. But recently, his importance to this defense has skyrocketed. Gardner-Johnson now has five interceptions, which puts him in first place in the NFL, after his diving grab of Davis Mills on Thursday. He had five interceptions in his first 47 NFL games, and he's added five more in his last four contests. It wouldn't be a leap to say that he has been one of the top Eagles defenders over the previous four games if you include the sack he recorded last week against the Steelers.

Javon Hargrave has recently been on a sack binge. Even though Mills wasn't the fastest runner, Hargrave had to go a considerable distance on his first sack to pursue Mills and make a significant third-down stop. The Texans were driving at midfield when No. 2 also arrived on third down and crushed rookie guard Kenyon Green of the Texans to take down Mills for a loss. A 9-yard loss on the third play forced the Texans out of the end zone and stopped their momentum while the outcome of the game was still in question. Although Hargrave was given a roughing-the-passer call, it felt at most marginal. The basic reason is that he has been on a tear lately. Last week, he beat the Steelers (who declined to re-sign him) in retaliation and then destroyed Kenny Pickett for good measure. Hargrave has now recorded six sacks for the season, including five in the last two games. He is one of the top interior penetrators in the game and is making a strong midseason push for the Pro Bowl.

Jordan Davis was missed by the Eagles. The Eagles' interior run defense was quite porous, if there was one significant criticism of their performance on Thursday night. There was a good reason the team used a first-round pick on Davis, a mass of humanity whose effect cannot be quantified by statistics like tackles (14), tackles for loss (one), or sacks (zero), but by filling up two holes with his size and strength. On Thursday, they got a fairly decent idea of just how much Davis means, especially for a player who was averaging 22 snaps per game. The Eagles understood they had to run the ball a lot against the Texans because of their severe receiver shortage, but Houston consistently found success running inside. The earliest Davis could play again after suffering an ankle injury was Week 13 against the Titans. The Eagles had best come up with some alternate strategies during the mini-bye as they will be facing some pretty talented backs between now and then.

Next Gen stat of the game: When Davis Mills and Chris Moore connected for a 13-yard touchdown for the Texans, Mills was moving at 16.04 mph when he released the ball, which is the third-fastest pace by a quarterback on a TD pass this season.

NFL Research: With a victory over the Texans, the Eagles improved to 8-0 for the first time in the history of the team. Currently, Jalen Hurts has won 11 straight regular-season starts.