Eagles Fail to Hold First-Half Lead for First Time, Tied with Texans 14-14

HOUSTON – The one-win Houston Texans did something no other team has been able to do against the Eagles this season – prevent them from holding a halftime lead.

Houston scored on the opening possession and then on its final possession, with touchdown throws of 2 yards and 13 yards from Davis Mills to force a 14-14 at the intermission at NRG Stadium on Thursday night.

The Eagles tried to get the lead back after Houston tied it with 37 seconds to go in the second quarter, but Jake Elliott missed from 54 yards away despite pristine conditions under the Texans' dome.

The biggest thorn in Philly’s side was rookie running back Dameon Pierce. Without Jordan Davis, who was put on IR on Wednesday, Pierce had his way on the ground running 13 times for 88 yards, a 6.8 yards per carry average.

It’s not a good sign for an Eagles team that has to face a string of good running backs in the coming weeks, including Washington’s Brian Robinson and Antonio Gibson, Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor if he is healthy, Green Bay’s Aaron Jones, and Tennessee’s Derrick Henry.

Jalen Hurts’ homecoming to Houston did not go exactly as planned in his hometown of Houston.

The QB lost his first fumble of the season when strip-sacked by former teammate Steven Nelson on a blitz. The turnover spoiled a drive that had reached Houston’s 27 after back-to-back completions to A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith that covered 31 and 22 yards, respectively.

He was also off with a handful of his throws, one of which would have been intercepted by rookie safety Jalen Pitre had A.J. Brown not broken it up on the sideline.

Hurts threw 12 times on the team’s opening drive despite a Texans team that was ranked last in run defense entering the game.

He completed eight of his throws for 76 yards including three third-down conversion, on a 23-yard completion to Quez Watkins, a 9-yard throw to Brown, and a 16-yard toss to Dallas Goedert to set up first-and-goal. Miles Sanders finished the drive with 2-yard run on fourth-and-goal. It was his sixth TD of the season.

The TD tied the score at 7-7 with 1:33 to play. The drive covered 18 plays and traveled 91 yards in 8:04. It was the longest TD drive by plays for the Eagles since Dec. 30, 2018, against Washington.

The Texans grabbed a 7-0 lead on the opening possession, traveling 75 yards in 5:23 that culminated in a 2-yard TD pass from Davis Mills to tight end Teagan Quitoriano.

The Eagles took the lead when it decided to turn to the run.

Miles Sanders began a 79-yard march with runs of 12 and 25 yards. The Eagles ran eight times on the 10-play scoring drive that ended with a Kenny Gainwell 4-yard run on third-and-goal. It was his third rushing score of the season.

Hurts ended the half 14-for-18 with 176 yards and a passer rating of 107.4.

Goedert had three catches for 52 yards.

Sanders had eight carries for 54 yards to go with his one TD as the Eagles put up 78 yards on the ground.

The Texans ran for 98 yards with a 6.8 yards per carry average and are on the brink of becoming the fourth straight team to put up more than 100 yards rushing against them.

The Eagles had dropped to 15th in the league in run defense coming into the game.

Mills threw just nine times but completed eight of them for 90 yards and two scores.

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.

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