DeAndre Hopkins hauled in 10 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns as the Houston Texans went into Jacksonville and emerged with a 31-20 victory over the Jaguars. Here's what you need to know:
- This game featured two of the NFL's most acrobatic catch-point receivers in Hopkins and Jacksonville's Allen Robinson. It was Hopkins who stole the show as the best player on the field, pulling off a series of circus plays including a 32-yard "helmet" catch that set up his own 9-yard touchdown. With 15 more targets, Hopkins now has 89, more at this point in the season than any wide receiver since 1991. "Nuk" is now on pace for a mind-boggling 139 receptions, 1,936 yards and 13 touchdowns on the season.
- Speaking of impressive numbers, Blake Bortles already has more touchdown passes (13) in six games than he had in the entirety of his rookie season (11). He's on pace for 4,350 yards, 35 touchdowns and 19 interceptions with the Jaguars' offense moving the ball more efficiently than they have since 2007. Although it's evident that Bortles has made strides in accuracy, reading defenses and working through progressions, his back-breaking mistakes are killing his team in the win column. Bortles tossed an interception at the goal-line just before halftime, uncorked his sixth pick-six in 19 career games and missed at least two receivers running free for potential game-altering plays.
- It's fair to point out that Brian Hoyer had the advantage of Arian Foster helping him move the chains against an underwhelming defense, but he's simply a better quarterback than Ryan Mallett. He's more accurate, has much better touch and makes better decisions. Hoyer's 119.3 passer rating for Sunday's game is the second-best of his career and the highest of any Texans quarterback since Ryan Fitzpatrick's six-touchdown performance generated a 147.5 rating last November.
- Relatively quiet over his previous six quarters, J.J. Watt dominated the second half. The boxscore will show only two tackles, but he wrecked plays in the backfield and hurried Bortles on seemingly every play.
Wake up and watch with the world. The NFL is live on Yahoo. For the first time ever, the NFL is streaming a live game on Yahoo. Bills vs. Jaguars live from London, Sunday, October 25th 9:30 am ET.
