Joe Mixon’s performance against the New England Patriots wasn’t the only prominent running back making headlines for the Houston Texans Sunday afternoon.
Dameon Pierce showed off that same spark that made him a fan-favorite during his rookie season as Houston picked up the 41-21 win over the New England Patriots. After missing four games due to a hamstring injury, Pierce seemed to kick it into a new gear.
Pierce, a third-year runner from Florida, rushed for 76 yards and scored on a 54-yard touchdown run to put the game out of reach. On eight carries, he averaged 9.5 yards per attempt.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway was Pierce’s explosiveness, something that had been missing since setting the tone during his rookie season. According to NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Pierce reached 20.72 mph at top speed on his 54-yard score.
The touchdown run marked the second-longest attempt of his career, only to be a 75-yard touchdown run over the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2022.
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“Dameon made the most of his opportunities and there you go, he has a big explosive run for a touchdown, one of the best runs we’ve seen him have since we’ve been here,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said postgame.
Entering Week 6, Houston ranked 23rd in rushing behind performances from Cam Akers and Dare Ogunbowale. Mixon, who finished with 132 total yards and two touchdowns, was out for three games with an ankle injury.
After Sunday’s performance, the Texans rank 13th in rushing, averaging 118.8 yards per game and 4.5 yards per run. They averaged 6.9 yards per attempt in Sunday’s win and totaled five rushing first downs.
As for Pierce, the sophomore slump could be a thing of the past. While he finished with 416 rushing yards, his contact total dropped from 4.3 as a rookie to 2.9.
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Through two games, Pierce is averaging 8.4 yards per attempt. Even if you were to take out the 54-yard score, he’d still be averaging just around 4.0 yards per run.
The Texans travel to Lambeau Field to take on the Green Bay Packers next Sunday at noon CT.
