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DJ Bien-Aime, ESPNDec 3, 2024, 06:00 AM ET
- DJ Bien-Aime covers the Houston Texans for ESPN. He joined ESPN in July of 2022 after covering the New York Jets. He’s a former athlete who finished his college career at Louisville. You can catch DJ on ESPN Radio on his show, “Talkin’ Texans.”
HOUSTON — There was 3:31 left, and the Jacksonville Jaguars had just cut 17-point fourth quarter lead by the Houston Texans to 23-20 on Sunday
Jaguars quarterback Mac Jones had just thrown his second touchdown of the quarter after replacing Trevor Lawrence, who suffered a concussion after a late hit from linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair that knocked him out of the game.
The Jaguars had two timeouts and the two-minute warning at their disposal to stop the clock. Even with Pro Bowl quarterback C.J. Stroud under center, coach DeMeco Ryans set his mind on closing the game out with running back Joe Mixon.
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Mixon got five carries, and he bulldozed his way for two first downs before Stroud took two knees to secure the win and push Houston to 8-5.
“Joe is an old-school running back,” Ryans said. “He is the guy that wants it 30 times and keeps getting better the more touches he gets. Really proud of him to know he’s hurting and still pushes through, still churns out yards when they’re loading the box and to still be able to find a way to get yards.”
Mixon’s finishing touches to ice the game only highlighted an afternoon where he had 101 rushing yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.
“[Offensive coordinator Bobby] Slowik was dialing that thing up, and the guys were executing whatever the play call was,” Mixon said. “We were doing whatever we could to execute. Credit to Slowik to call a third-and-5 run. [We went out there] and executed it to end the game like that. That’s a hell of a thing, man. So, I’m just glad we were able to put it on ice.”
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Week 13 against the Jaguars marked Mixon’s sixth straight road game with at least 100 rush yards and a rush touchdown. That’s the longest streak in history surpassing Tiki Barber (2004) and Derrick Henry (2020), according to Elias Sports.
He is up to 887 rushing yards (eighth) for the season, his 88.7 yards per game ranks third and he is also tied for the third-most touchdowns at 11.
On Sunday, Mixon was able to take pressure off Stroud, who finished 22-for-34 for 242 yards and one touchdown with a passer rating of 95 — his highest rating since Week 8 against the Indianapolis Colts (99.5). Stroud also threw for 112 yards off of play-action with a passer rating of 109.
Stroud, who’s fourth in passing yards (3,117) heading into their Week 14 bye, said Mixon’s presence on and off the field has helped him.
Houston Texans running back Joe Mixon’s 88.7 yards per game ranks third in the NFL. David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire
“He means a lot to me, man,” Stroud said. “Not only just in this offense, but just as a brother. Somebody who has been there before, been around a great, elite quarterback, and [he] knows what it looks like. He’s always telling me like, ‘Bro, you got it. Just continue to just be you.’
“For me, it’s been great to have that because at times you can be in your own head or whatever. But he’s always there to pick me back up. And a lot of the guys, too.”
When Houston returns in Week 15, it’ll start a run of games against the Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens in 11 days, so the Texans will need to lean on one another to get through the slate.
“For me, we have the same amount of time from Miami and for Kansas City,” Ryans said of the six-day turnarounds. “We will get a short week with the Christmas game versus Baltimore, so we will look ahead on the [four-day] schedule there. … We will hit the ground running, but we will have time to prepare and have our guys ready to go.”
