The Houston Texans came up short in a brutal overtime loss for their Week 7 matchup against the New York Giants, 21-27, now taking them down to an ugly-looking 2-5 record through their first seven games.
And in the aftermath of the Texans' humbling loss to the Giants, we now have a glimpse of just how the snap counts panned out for Houston in all three phases of the action; who played a good amount, who didn't, and some other interesting aspects of the team's game plan as a whole.
So now, let's take a closer look at just how the Texans' snap counts panned out for Week 7 against the Giants, and sort through three key things sticking out from the day that looked a bit different than usual:
Xavier Hutchinson Sees Over Half of Texans' Offensive Snaps
For as deep and talented as the Texans' wide receiver room looked to be heading into this matchup against New York, it probably wouldn't have been anyone's initial expectation to see Xavier Hutchinson land the second-most snaps at the position.
However, that would be exactly what the Texans' plan of attack was here on the offensive side of the ball. Only Hutchinson and Nico Collins would be the only receivers on the field for over half of Houston's offensive snaps for the day.
To be fair, Hutchinson did turn in those extended looks for three receptions, 17 yards, and one of C.J. Stroud's two touchdown scores on the day. Yet, with the personnel Houston has around the offensive side of the ball, this feels like a pretty peculiar turn of events for the wide receiver position, knowing the type of potential and overall talent this group has.
Marvin Harrison Jr.'s Continued Limited Usage
After the Texans got their first look at Marvin Harrison Jr. and his capabilities in his debut for the team last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. the belief remained that Houston would only expand his usage and workload over the course of the next few games.
In his second appearance in a Texans uniform, though, Harrison saw just two more snaps than he saw against the Jaguars. He did manage to turn in his only reception on the day for a short six-yard touchdown, but he remained a non-factor outside of it.
Houston is going to have to determine how to involve their newest second-round investment better into the game plan moving forward. Or else, it won't take long for their big swing to go and get him from the Arizona Cardinals to look like a miss.
M.J. Stewart Steps in for a Big Role
The Texans were forced to pivot from their usual plans at safety in this game knowing that Reed Blankenship was going to miss the action due to a concussion/hand injury. And that led to M.J. Stewart becoming Houston's top contributor in the back-end next to Calen Bullock.
Statistically, Stewart had a strong outing on his behalf. He led the Texans in combined tackles with 12, while also chipping in for half a sack–– to the point where there might be a real conversation of whether Stewart deserves to be Houston's starting strong safety instead of Blankenship moving forward.
But in terms of Houston's effort as a collective on the defensive side, it's hard for them to hang their hat on many overwhelming successes in a game where they allowed 5.5 yards per carry on the ground and had a ton of lapses both in pass coverage and in overall tackling.
Add us as a preferred source on Google