While the Houston Texans suffered an embarrassing 34-7 loss at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings, they did win in one area.
Leadership.
And the man at the helm? All-Pro receiver and newcomer Stefon Diggs, who stepped into the captain role after Houston found itself trailing 14-0 entering the second quarter.
Diggs, who spent the first five seasons of his NFL career with the NFC North franchise, wasn’t pleased with how the team looked after promising outings against Indianapolis and Chicago. He told reporters postgame that no one was playing the standard expected from a contending club.
What they don’t want you to see:
Stefon Diggs showing strong leadership pic.twitter.com/mZw9GIjpt6
— V̷a̷t̷o̷r̷ (@VatorSports) September 22, 2024
“At the end of the day, we’ll be fine,” Diggs said postgame in the locker room at U.S. Bank Stadium. “Obviously, things didn’t go as planned, but was trying to get things back on track.”
While the Texans’ offense stalled, Diggs delivered. In his first game back since being traded to Buffalo in 2020, the four-time Pro Bowler Houston in receptions (10), targets (12) and receiving yards (90). He also picked up seven of the Texans’ 16 first downs.
“I played here for a long time, and I saw lots of offenses struggle when I was on the other side,” Diggs said. “Obviously, it was a tough atmosphere, but a lot of it was self-inflicted.”
💜LOVED: Stefon Diggs admitted he got emotional before his first game back in Minnesota.
"There's a lot of love here. I'm forever thankful."
🥲🥲🥲 pic.twitter.com/5oMb6OoGft
— Will Kunkel (@WillKunkelFOX) September 23, 2024
Overall, no one stood out on either side. Tim Settle Jr. had two sacks in his first start. Cam Akers, who filled in for the injured Joe Mixon, found the end zone on a 6-yard touchdown pass from C.J. Stroud but mustered up only 21 rushing yards.
Stroud, who was consistent in his first two starts, finished 20-of-31 for 215 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions. His first pass of the afternoon was picked off when Harrison Phillips batted the ball right into the hands of former Texans linebacker Kamu Gruiger-Hill for a 21-yard return.
His second interception was just a late pass intended for Nico Collins, who finished with four catches for 86 yards.
“We’re still a force to be reckoned with. and we’re still very dangerous,” Stroud said. “We’ve built a foundation solid on rock.”
Bobby Slowik and Stefon Diggs trying to gather the offense and get things figured out. pic.twitter.com/jLHwc3gGTV
— Will Kunkel (@WillKunkelFOX) September 22, 2024
Someone has to earn player of the game stats. When looking at the emotions surrounding Diggs’ return to the place that kickstarted his All-Pro career, it’s hard to argue with the results.
For his efforts, Diggs is Texans Wire’s Player of the Week and the third recipient of the award, joining Mixon and kicker Kai’imi Fairbairn.
