Needing a big victory before the bye, Houston hosted Detroit in their third game against the NFC North. The Texans came into the game undefeated at home while Detroit was riding a three-game winning streak. Houston’s rushing attack started slowly while Brock Osweiler threw yet another interception while targeting DeAndre Hopkins. Despite these struggles, Houston did just enough to notch a crucial victory and reach 5-3 heading into the bye.

Here are the takeaways from Houston’s big victory on Sunday.

Injuries Strike Once Again

Houston played a much better game this week after the loss to Denver, but the victory was costly. In the first half alone, the Texans lost Alfred Blue (ribs), Christian Covington (foot), Jaelen Strong (ankle), C.J. Fiedorowicz (concussion), and Lonnie Ballentine (groin). All five players were questionable to return as Houston’s depth was severely tested. To make matters worse, Vince Wilfork left the game in the third quarter with an injured groin, and Will Fuller left in the fourth with an injured leg. Luckily for Houston, both Fiedorowicz and Blue returned to action in the second half.

Every injury is terrible for both team morale and gameday strength, and only the best teams respond with renewed vigor. Houston showed off impressive resilience and didn’t crumble under some tough circumstances, taking control of the game with relatively unknown players.

Osweiler Loves C.J. Fiedorowicz

Brock Osweiler’s first foray as a Texan has obviously been a bit of a disappointment. Houston’s offense is near the bottom of the NFL in almost every category, and Osweiler has struggled to connect with DeAndre Hopkins. However, there is one player that is experiencing a career renaissance behind a new quarterback. Tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz has gone from a struggling pass catcher to Osweiler’s favorite target through eight weeks, catching 21 passes for 236 yards and two touchdowns. These totals have already surpassed the tight end’s combined career totals, but Fiedorowicz is nowhere near finished. In the first half of Sunday’s game, Fiedorowicz caught five passes for 43 yards and one touchdown before leaving with a possible concussion. The talented tight end did return in the third quarter but failed to record any more touches as Houston switched to a run-first, clock killing attack.

With the entire offense struggling, Fiedorowicz remains one of the best options in Houston. It’s downright impressive considering that Houston’s tight end group has been a liability since Owen Daniels left town after the 2013 season.

A Tale of Two Rushing Attacks

Given Detroit’s 18th-ranked run defense, the matchup on Sunday should have been a slam dunk for Lamar Miller and Alfred Blue. Strangely, Houston’s duo couldn’t gain any ground against a depleted defense, failing to rush for more than 23 yards in the first half. Many of these issues seemed to come from injuries to both Miller and Blue, as well as some struggles along the offensive line. The only bright spot for this rushing attack was a short touchdown run by Miller to put Houston up 14-0.

As the game progressed and Detroit’s defense tired, both Blue and Miller seemed to get better. Blue, in particular, had a key 19-yard run to move the chains and put his offense in scoring position late in the fourth quarter. Miller put the dagger in Detroit, rushing for 25 yards on four carries and forcing the Lions to use all three timeouts.

After a very slow start on Sunday, the Texans runners recovered to total 105 yards on the ground and provide balance for Osweiler as the QB attempted his fewest passes of the season.

Extra Points: DeAndre Hopkins is a Beast

2016 has obviously been a down year for Houston’s star receiver as he has failed to connect with Brock Osweiler. Hopkins has been open on multiple occasions, but Osweiler has simply missed him too many times. Coming into Sunday’s game with only 390 receiving yards and three touchdowns, Hopkins was looking for a resurgence against Detroit’s dreadful pass defense. Well, big plays did come for Hopkins despite lower receiving totals.

Needing a score, Brock Osweiler threw a pass to Nuk on a crossing route, who caught the pass with one hand and dove forward to set up first down and a Lamar Miller touchdown run. It was a fairly routine play for the superstar, but it was nothing compared to his third catch of the day.

Osweiler threw a 14-yard pass to Hopkins that was completely off-target. Somehow, Hopkins managed to reach behind him, bat the ball around four times while completing a 360-degree spin, and make the catch.

Hopkins has shown time and time again that he is one of the NFL’s very best receivers, and Sunday was no different. Hopkins officially passed Andre Johnson for most receiving yards in franchise history through the first four years of a career. The former Texan and current Titan previously held the record with 3,953 receiving yards, but Hopkins topped that number with 36 first half receiving yards to push his total to 3,959. The most astounding fact about this record is that Hopkins has achieved these totals with eight quarterbacks throwing him the ball. Johnson, on the other hand, only dealt with three.

Houston will now head to the bye week looking to get healthy and fix the struggling offense in time for a playoff run.