Joe Mixon

A week after he made a strong return from a hamstring injury with 132 total yards and 2 TDs against the Patriots, Texans RB Joe Mixon accounted for most of the offense in Sunday's narrow loss at Green Bay. He ran for 115 yards and 2 TDs on 25 carries (89.3% of the team RB total) and caught two passes for 9 yards. Even that low reception total ranked second on the team for the game. Mixon's 124 total yards constituted 63% of Houston's total net yardage against the Packers.

Mixon was asked to -- and often made -- the best he could out of Houston's inability to run the ball and Green Bay's loss of Quay Walker early in the first half. Mixon touched the ball eight times on Houston's final drive and was stopped for negative yards on four of those plays, which goes to show you how well he played in the circumstances. His 32-yarder down the sideline set up Houston's final touchdown of the game -- also his touchdown -- and a special teams turnover at the Green Bay 11 gave him his other score. Mixon has feasted since coming back and he'll be an RB1 against the Colts in Week 8.

He's only a backup to Joe Mixon at this point and has no standalone fantasy value, but it would have been nice to see him at least carry a little bit more of the load in such a run-heavy game script for the Texans. Pierce should remain on benches barring surprising Mixon injury news in Week 8 against the Colts.

It was a war zone for Stroud, as Packers DC Jeff Hafley pantsed the Texans pass protection early and often with sim pressures, often getting heat on Stroud despite sending just four. With Quay Walker's injury shifting the game into Joe Mixon's hands, Stroud took merely four sacks instead of the seven or eight he could have had to go with this Daniel Jones-esque stat line. We'd like to say Stroud will rebound next week against the Colts, but Houston's pass protection has officially become enough of a problem that you now have to factor in a lower ceiling for Stroud -- he might be more of a low-end QB1 or high-end QB2 at this point for fantasy purposes.

Mixon practiced in full on Friday and can be safely expected to handle his typical full-time role. The Texans' game against the Packers profiles as one of Week 7's most fantasy-friendly contests. Mixon is an RB1.