HOUSTON – Ashton Jeanty was off to the races, achieving acceleration and power unmatched by the Texans’ top-ranked defense.
Although the Las Vegas Raiders’ talented rookie running back was accurately scouted by the Texans as being dangerous despite a relative lack of production, there was no stopping him Sunday. Or even slowing him down.
Jeanty rushed for 128 yards and one touchdown on 24 carries and generated 188 yards of total offense and two scores as he caught a 60-yard touchdown pass out of the backfield.
During the Texans’ 23-21 victory, the sixth overall pick from Boise State put on a show at their expense. Jeanty ran through safety Myles Bryant on a 51-yard touchdown run after being initially bottled up at the line of scrimmage. He dashed past overmatched linebacker Henry To’oTo’o on his touchdown catch and Bryant missed a tackle despite having a sound pursuit angle.
As outstanding as Jeanty was, the Texans’ defense didn’t perform well fundamentally as their tackling was substandard. They missed 10 tackles overall, including two apiece by To’oTo’o and fellow linebacker E.J. Speed and two by Bryant that allowed Jeanty to race into the end zone.
“When it comes to tackling, it’s about your will, desire and want to get the guy down,” said Texans coach DeMeco Ryans, a two-time Pro Bowl linebacker and former NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. “If you have enough will and you wrap the guy up like you’re supposed to wrap up and finish the tackles, we’ll get him down. A poor example of tackling, one that we don’t coach, and we got to do a much better job of wrapping up and finishing.
“We knew that going into the game, that was the main emphasis for us to be able to win that game was we knew we would have to wrap-tackle Jeanty because he was such a physical back. He did a great job of breaking tackles. So, we saw that it wasn’t a surprise when we got into the game, we just got to execute what the game plan is. We got to execute when the game is on the line there.”
The Texans sorely missed middle linebacker, team captain and defensive signal caller Azeez Al-Shaair, a sure tackler. Without Al-Shaair in the lineup due to ankle and knee injuries, the Texans’ defense struggled to stop the run.
Al-Shaair leads the Texans with 96 tackles.
“Anytime you’re without your signal caller, Azeez has been huge for us this year,” Ryans said. “He’s played a lot of big-time snaps for us, made a lot of big time plays. So, of course, if he’s not out there, we’re going to miss him and we missed him out there on this past Sunday. Hopefully, we’re able to get him back this week.”
Jeanty gained the second-most yards by a rookie in franchise history, trailing only the great Bo Jackson and his 235 yards against the Seattle Seahawks in 1987.
“It was a beautiful day to watch Ashton,” Raiders coach Pete Carroll said. “His talent is so obvious to me and anyone who has watched him. He’s just really hard to tackle. Guys just fall off of him, and he just keeps striding. It was great to see him have that much space and be able to do his thing.”
Jeanty’s speed and moves were eye-popping.
He’s one of the few bright spots on the Raiders’ thin roster.
“I’ve never been in the game and actually like stopped and was like: ‘This man’s a dog,’” Texans Pro Bowl defensive end Will Anderson Jr. said. “A ton of respect for him. He’s going to be a really good player in this league. Tough back, tough runner, hard to bring down. He’s going to do a lot of great things in this league.”
Jeanty had the longest touchdown catch by a Raiders running back since Jamize Olawale’s 75-yard touchdown reception against the Texans in a 2016 game in Mexico City.
Jeanty, Alvin Kamara and Christian McCaffrey are the only rookie running backs since 1970 to have five touchdown catches.
“I was real happy,” Jeanty said. “It’s something I haven’t been able to do as much. I’ve had a couple drops but kept my confidence up and knew I would get another opportunity to showcase that I can catch the ball.”
The poise and talent of Jeanty is obvious.
He rushed for 2,601 yards to lead the nation last season at Boise State.
The Raiders are on a nine-game losing streak and are 2-13 overall, but Jeanty represents a foundational piece for Las Vegas.
“Ashton is not only a great player but an outstanding human being,” Raiders quarterback Geno Smith said. “The way that he works every day, the way that he puts his head down. We’ve been through a lot this season, but he’s been so mature about it. Games like today are what we expect to see from him.”
The Texans knew what to expect, at least from the words that Ryans delivered all week.
Nonetheless, knowledge and ability to stop a running back are two different things.
“They didn’t run the football well throughout the year, the numbers would say that,” Ryans said. “As I showed the guys all week, Jeanty, he was able to break a lot of tackles. That’s what he’s done. You think he’s down. You think the play is over and he’s still pulling guys for more yards.
“Credit to the young man for how he runs the football. I like to see how guys run the football: tough, physical, finishes the right way and then you put him out in empty and he’s able to make a huge play for them, explosive for a touchdown. Hats off to Jeanty. Really good player. He has a really bright future in this league. Everything that’s advertised on film, it is the truth.”
After the game, Bryant told KPRC 2 that he was disappointed to not be able to bring down Jeanty.
“I think he’s a real solid player,” Bryant said. “He’s able to just find space in the run game. They were able to hit us over the top in the pass game, and he was just able to make plays. So, I just got to be able to finish those tackles and give us another down.”
NOTES: Ryans didn’t provide an update on injured offensive tackles Aireontae Ersery and Trent Brown. Ersery has a broken hand, per league sources. Brown was limping noticeably after the game due to a left knee injury. Both are undergoing further testing.
“There’s no update with the injuries right now,” Ryans said. “I haven’t even seen these guys yet. So, we’ll see how it goes as we go throughout the week. I’ll let you guys know.
“For the guys who got injured, there’s still an evaluation process that has to go testing to see where the guys are and we’ll have to see how the week plays out. For the guys that did not suit up in the game, it was injury-related. I don’t look at us in a position to rest guys just to rest them, every game is important. If those guys were able to go, they would have went.”
The Texans didn’t play Al-Shaair and running back Woody Marks. Marks has a lingering ankle injury and had hoped to be able to play. The team opted to rest him to allow him to heal up.
“You hope that we were able to get back to full health and be at full strength for this game,” Ryans said as the Texans prepare for a Saturday road game against the Los Angeles Chargers. “This is a huge game coming up for us on this Saturday versus a really talented Chargers team. We’re excited to go against them. So, hopefully we have everybody available, everybody ready to roll.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com
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