Red Zone
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Then, the Texans moved the drill into the red zone, where they pounded the ball with Nick Chubb from the 12-yard line to the two-yard line on two runs. With the Lions in man coverage and chasing receivers all over the field, Stroud sauntered into the end zone untouched on a scramble. But, his best was saved for the next play. On the two point conversion, he zipped a ball to open WR Christian Kirk who had beaten Terrion Arnold near the sideline. I mean, that route/throw/catch…oh yeah, gorgeous.
Mills' unit couldn't do much on the first three plays of the drive from the low red zone, but on the final play of the drill, Mills found Hutchinson in the back of the end zone free from defenders. Mills put the ball between the 1 and the 9 and it was touchdown time for X.
On the second play of the next low red zone drill, Stroud floated one to a wide open Dameon Pierce for the easiest touchdown imaginable.
Two plays later, Mills found WR Quintez Cephus wide open on the bootleg for a touchdown. Cephus had himself a day for sure.
Two plays after that, WR Jaylin Noel beat man-to-man and was wide open in the end zone. Behind great blitz pickup and excellent pass protection, Mills completed the touchdown pass to Noel beautifully.
K Kaimi Fairbairn nailed his three field goal attempts from varying distances after the red zone period.
Team period #5 started with a wonderful Stroud-to-Nico connection on play action. The fake was so good that Lions LB Alex Anzalone was all the way at the line of scrimmage tackling Nick Chubb before he saw Stroud ready to throw to a wide open Collins.
This was Stroud's drive until Hutchinson, rushing opposite Tytus, sacked him on the final play. Stroud followed that completion to Nico with one to Dalton Schultz. Chubb popped pads for four yards on the next run. Stroud then hit Cade Stover for another completion. Stroud, then, punctuated his drive with a scramble TD on the next play.
I'll say this and you can take it for what it's worth, but I really like the ball in Woody Marks hands. REALLY like it.
When Mills took over on his drive, he moved the Texans down near the end zone. Once close, he went up high on the fade route to one of the best athletes on this team Quintez Cephus, who "Moss'd" a Lions DB for a TD that set off the offensive sideline. What a catch that was!
Then each team had a shot at a late game situation. The Lions offense went first and QB Jared Goff was fantastic, honestly. He has such command of that offense, but CB Kamari Lassiter made an excellent play on WR Jameson Wiliams to keep the Lions out of the end zone. K Jake Bates (yeah, HIM) knocked home three points to "tie the game", if you will.
The Texans offense went next. After a Stroud scramble and a questionable incompletion to TE Irv Smith Jr, Stroud threw to Xavier Hutchinson for a first down. What I remember the most was saying to Marc, loudly, "HE'S GOT ALL DAY!" When have I/we said that over the past two years? The pass protection was outstanding on third down and all day long.
Braxton Berrios made a catch to get into field goal range even though the Lions were offside, but that was as close as the Texans got. K Kaimi Fairbairn then drilled a FG from deep to, again, "tie the game". I couldn't tell from how far, but it was 50+ for sure.
Defensive HITS
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That ended the practice and a wonderful day of competition and great work in front of the great Detroit Lions' fans. But, let's not deny the defense some HARRIS HITS. Like I said, I spent the day with the offense but I did see a few things from the defense in between things.
I read after practice some national writers on hand praising CB Derek Stingley Jr and I saw him have a PBU on a throw from Lions starting QB Jared Goff to WR Kalif Raymond. He also couldn't hang onto an interception during a team period as well, yet still a PBU.
S Calen Bullock picked off Goff in the end zone for the third time in less than ten months, actually. As he dove to make the pick, Bullock was mobbed by his teammates…after fellow former USC star Amon-Ra St. Brown picked the former USC safety up in the end zone. Funny moment, but a respectful one.
DB Jalen Pitre came up with a pass breakup on a throw to one of the Lions' WRs early in the team session.
DT Foley Fatukasi was shot through a cannon to tag off on RB David Montgomery for a TFL. Most times that the Lions ran the ball throughout the day, the Texans defensive front slowed it for not much yardage.
There are hits, Harris Hits, and the way Kamari Lassiter hits...
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Speaking of stopping runs, one of the great things about this Texans defense is EVERYONE participates in stopping the run, including the CBs. Texans CB Kamari Lassiter came up to pop Montgomery on a run that bounced outside in the last team drill of the day. As soon as Lassiter knocked Montgomery out of bounds, he started doing, well, that Kamari thing where he pounds his helmet as if to say "you can't hurt me." That tracks. His adjective to me the other day about his play was "relentless". Yep, 100% facts.
So, that'll do it for the last practice in the preseason from the Lions facility. I said it earlier, these two teams have a ton of respect for one another that showed in everything that transpired on those two fields today. For your Texans, it was a bit of a slow start, but by the second quarter, they'd found their sea legs and played well against one of the best teams in the league as you'd want, and expect. Now, the Texans have one final preseason game on Saturday for guys to make a final push for a roster spot, a practice squad opportunity or increased playing time in the future. Should be drama-filled, in a different sort of way, at Ford Field on Saturday. See ya then, everyone.