Texans down 17-14 at the half, but are (+2) in turnovers. The Eagles are having little trouble moving the ball, with 268 yards of offense in the first half. Most of that came through the air with 202 yards passing from the combo of Nick Foles and Mark Sanchez: 17-22, 202 yards two touchdown, two interceptions.
– When both Texans starting corners went down early in the game, it figured to spell trouble for the Texans. Well, Eagles head coach Chip Kelly is smart, they attacked Andre Hal consistently the rest of the half. Hal gave up a long 59 touchdown to Jeremy Maclin almost immediately after he came in for Kareem Jackson (knee). He was beaten on the second touchdown toss, too, when backup Eagles quarterback Mark Sanchez threw one right past him to Jordan Matthews in the back of the end zone.
Johnathan Joseph left the game to be evaluated for a concussion, he Went to the locker room, then returned to the sidelines, then returned to the locker room again, all before halftime. Rookie Jumal Rolle found the field quite a bit and off a tipped pass intended for the Eagles Josh Huff, Rolle got his first career interception.
Turnovers clearly kept the Texans right in the middle of this one and turnovers is exactly what has plagued the Eagles all season. Pressure on Nick Foles forced a throw well behind Riley Cooper. That ball was picked off by A.J. Bouye who returned it 51 yards for a touchdown. Following the Rolle interception, Houston went 68 yards in four plays for their second touchdown. Most of those yards, came on the 56-yard touchdown reception from Arian Foster. Foster beat former Texan Connor Barwin and won a race for the endzone for his 10th touchdown of the season (seven rushing, three receiving)
Overall: The Texans have struggled to run the ball and they a costly false start early in the game from Duane Brown that forced them to punt. The Foles injury has not really done anything negative to the Eagles offense. Sanchez has looked darn good for a guy that hadn’t thrown an NFL pass since 2012. The Texans have to get competent play from Bouye, Rolle and Hal the rest of the game, because it doesn’t appear that either Jackson or Joseph will return.
1st half stats
Fitzpatrick 6-9, 110 yards, TD, 145.6 passer rating, sacked 3 times
Foster 9-32 rushing, 2-63 receiving
Watt 1.5 sacks, 1 tackle for loss
Mercilus 2 sacks, 2 tackles for loss
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