Texans Receivers Step Up in Win vs. Patriots

The Houston Texans pulled out a 41-21 win against the New England Patriots even without the NFL's leading receiver in Nico Collins.

With Collins out, the Texans needed Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell to step up in his absence, and they did exactly that. Both Diggs and Dell caught a touchdown from quarterback C.J. Stroud and the pair accounted for 134 of his 192 receiving yards.

“We have a really talented wide receiver room," Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. "Tank and Stef, again, as I mentioned yesterday, it wasn’t a matter of stepping up it was just Tank and Stef being Tank and Stef. They can beat man coverage. It doesn’t matter who they’re going against. They can beat man coverage because they run routes the right way and they’re difficult to cover and so that’ll always be the challenge. Those guys just keep working. If we keep protecting the right way, giving [QB] C.J. [Stroud] time, we feel like we like our matchup versus whoever those guys line up against.”

With Collins out for at least three more games with a hamstring injury, the Texans will need Diggs and Dell to continue playing like they did against the Patriots.

The Texans' next test comes this weekend when they travel to Lambeau Field to face the Green Bay Packers.