Texans @ Broncos · Week 3

WEEK 3 · FINAL

THE READ

Broncos run away with it, 38-14

Broncos were never troubled, putting Texans away 38-14. Bo Nix did the damage for Broncos — 19/23, 347 yards, 3 TD. C.J. Stroud did the damage for Texans — 14/23, 214 yards, 2 TD, 6 INT — in a losing effort. Bo Nix has now cleared 250 passing yards in 3 in a row. Through the air: Broncos 347, Texans 214.

The Wire · league beat

THE WIDER PICTURE

Team	SRS	SOS	MARGIN	TO +/-
Texans	-2.8	-1.2	-1.6	-9
Broncos	+10.8	-4.4	+15.2	+13

SRS is how many points a side beats an average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20. SOS is how hard that schedule has been. Full table.

Broncos — AFC #1 · division · 7-2 Texans — in the hunt · 4-6 Playoff picture →

In the MVP race

#7 Bo Nix QB · Broncos · 0.8% of the field

The whole board →

IN THE BOOTH

Daniel Keller The numbers guy

Houston turned the ball over 6 times and watched Bo Nix complete 19 of 23 while C.J. Stroud threw 6 interceptions—there was never anything close to a game here once the mistakes started.

Nicole Santos Beat reporter · replying

Pat Bryant II turned 4 catches into 114 yards and a touchdown—that's not noise, that's the kind of complementary receiving that lets a young quarterback operate clean, and Denver is getting it from multiple places now.

They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers — none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that did not happen.

Bo Nix

Broncos

19/23, 347 yards, 3 TD

C.J. Stroud

Texans

14/23, 214 yards, 2 TD, 6 INT

Pat Bryant II

Broncos

4 catches, 114 yards, 1 TD

THE STORY SO FAR

🔥 Bo Nix has now cleared 250 passing yards in 3 straight games.

⭐ Pat Bryant II has not had a better afternoon this season.

⭐ Nico Collins has not had a better afternoon this season.

WHAT DECIDED IT

Through the air Broncos 347, Texans 214 Broncos

Total yards Broncos 393, Texans 293 Broncos

On the ground Texans 79, Broncos 46 Texans

Giveaways Broncos 0, Texans 6 Broncos

THE ROOM Final. The recap is below.

📺 THE WEEK 3 SHOW this game is in the week's show ▶ Watch the show

THE MATCHUP SCOUT every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling

LEAGUE DATA counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it

Balanced Pass 59% · Rush 41% · 26.5 scored, 28.1 allowed

9.1 yds/att 61.7% completions 6.3 yds/carry 357.1 yds/game 1.5 giveaways/game 5.0% sack rate last 5: 2-3

Primary weapon: Nico Collins WR — 30% of the receiving yards · DEPENDENCY HIGH

SAPPHIRE METRICS QB efficiency 67 · Aggressive Balance 91 Ball security 58 Back usage 35% QB runs 2.5/game

PERSONNEL off the roster — unit averages, best starters only

QB 81 WR 82 TE 84 RB 80 OL 83 DL 83 LB 77 DB 87

Best: Will Anderson Jr LEDG 95 Fastest: Devontez Walker WR 94 SPD 4 at star dev or better

YOUR NOTEBOOK what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic

HOW THEY PLAY the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season

KodakBoppin

Broncos · his last 8 games

Balanced One back

Pass / run61% / 39% Points for / against31.4 — 20.4 Margin+11.0 Giveaways a game1.1 Sacks taken5.9% of dropbacks Lead backRJ Harvey · 14.1/g Top targetCourtland Sutton · 27% QB carries1.4 a game

SAPPHIRESPORTZ.GG

Texans · his last 8 games

Balanced

Pass / run58% / 42% Points for / against27.4 — 29.1 Margin-1.8 Giveaways a game1.6 Sacks taken5.8% of dropbacks Lead backAntonio Gibson · 8.9/g Top targetNico Collins · 31% QB carries2.4 a game

Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.

THE SERIES SAPPHIRESPORTZ.GG against KodakBoppin — the men, not the teams

KodakBoppin leads it 1-0. KodakBoppin won the last one.

1 meeting avg 14.0 — 38.0 biggest: 24 pts to KodakBoppin

S2 · week 3 SAPPHIRESPORTZ.GG 14 — 38 KodakBoppin KODAKBOPPIN

Only meetings Sapphire can attribute to both men are counted — a Madden export never says who owned a team last season, so the series starts where the record does.

MATCHUP ADVANTAGES unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push

Texans receivers vs Broncos secondary 82 v 88 BRONCOS

Broncos receivers vs Texans secondary 84 v 87 TEXANS

Texans line vs Broncos front 83 v 86 BRONCOS

Broncos line vs Texans front 82 v 83 EVEN

Texans backs vs Broncos run defence 80 v 83 BRONCOS

Broncos backs vs Texans run defence 82 v 82 EVEN

Texans passer vs Broncos secondary 81 v 88 BRONCOS

Broncos passer vs Texans secondary 85 v 87 EVEN

TOP PERFORMERS

Bo Nix QB Broncos 347 pass yds

C.J. Stroud QB Texans 214 pass yds

Pat Bryant II WR Broncos 114 rec yds

Jaylen Waddle WR Broncos 108 rec yds

Nico Collins WR Texans 85 rec yds

Courtland Sutton WR Broncos 78 rec yds

Devontez Walker WR Texans 72 rec yds

Riley Moss CB Broncos 2 INTs

Brandon Jones FS Broncos 2 INTs

Alex Singleton MIKE Broncos 1 INTs

🎬 The Game Recap
this game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›

BOX SCORE

TEXANS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
C.J. Stroud QB	14/23	214	2	6	1	44	80.9

BRONCOS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Bo Nix QB	19/23	347	3	0	2	67	158.3

TEXANS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	BTK	YAC	LNG
Jeremiah Cobb HB	7	36	5.1	1	12	12
C.J. Stroud QB	3	23	7.7	0	0	13
Antonio Gibson HB	3	18	6	0	7	12
Jayden Higgins WR	1	2	2	0	0	2

BRONCOS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG
RJ Harvey HB	10	39	3.9	1	0	9	15
Jonah Coleman HB	2	7	3.5	0	0	3	5
Pat Bryant II WR	0	0	0	0	1	0	0

TEXANS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	LNG
Nico Collins WR	4	85	21.2	0	12	30
Devontez Walker WR	2	72	36	1	15	44
Jonnu Smith TE	2	19	9.5	0	9	13
Antonio Gibson HB	2	14	7	0	6	10
KJ Duff WR	2	10	5	1	1	6
Jayden Higgins WR	1	9	9	0	11	9
Jeremiah Cobb HB	1	5	5	0	1	5

BRONCOS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	LNG
Pat Bryant II WR	4	114	28.5	1	28	67
Jaylen Waddle WR	5	108	21.6	1	19	46
Courtland Sutton WR	4	78	19.5	1	3	23
Luke Hasz TE	4	29	7.2	0	5	12
RJ Harvey HB	2	18	9	0	18	11

TEXANS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	PD
Henry To'oTo'o WILL	3	0	0
Will Anderson Jr LEDG	3	1	0
Calen Bullock FS	3	0	0
Derek Stingley Jr CB	2	0	0
Dalton Brooks SS	2	0	0
Azeez Al-Shaair MIKE	2	0	0
Reed Blankenship SS	2	0	0
Quentin Lake SS	2	0	0
Kamari Ramsey FS	2	1	0
Jalen Pitre CB	1	0	1
Wit Weeks MIKE	1	0	0
Dylan Stewart REDG	1	0	0

BRONCOS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	INT	TD
SirVocea Dennis MIKE	4	0	0	0
Brandon Jones FS	3	0	2	0
Patrick Surtain II CB	3	0	1	1
Talanoa Hufanga SS	2	0	0	0
Jonathon Cooper LEDG	2	0	0	0
Zach Allen DT	1	1	0	0
Riley Moss CB	1	0	2	0
Red Murdock MIKE	1	0	0	0
Jahdae Barron CB	1	0	0	0
Alex Singleton MIKE	1	0	1	0
Jacob Thomas SS	1	0	0	0
Nik Bonitto REDG	1	0	0	0

TEXANS

nothing recorded

BRONCOS

PLAYER	FG	XP	LNG
Wil Lutz K	1/1	5/5	33

RECENT FORM

Texans

W 24–17 vs Titans WK 2

L 22–31 vs Jets WK 1

Broncos

W 31–28 vs Raiders WK 2

W 49–0 vs Bengals WK 1

TEAM STATS

Texans		Broncos
293	TOTAL YARDS	393
214	PASSING YARDS	347
79	RUSHING YARDS	46
1	SACKS ALLOWED	2
2	SACKS MADE	1
6	GIVEAWAYS	0
0	TAKEAWAYS	6

Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD

0 TEXANS — 1 BRONCOS

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