Houston’s Boyle tosses 2 TDs as starters sit out in Texans’ 17-15 preseason win over Rams

AP Sports Writer

HOUSTON (AP) — Houston’s Cam Akers isn’t sure what will happen in the next few days as final roster cuts are made.

But the veteran running back believes he made a good case to make the team.

“I feel good,” he said. “I feel like I showed people I’m still who I am. I haven’t lost a step and we’ll just see how it goes.”

Tim Boyle threw for 142 yards and two touchdowns and Akers had 53 yards rushing to lead the Texans to a 17-15 win over the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday in the preseason finale for both teams.

Akers, a former Ram, added 19 yards receiving. He had a career-best 786 yards rushing with seven touchdowns for the Rams in 2022. He’s listed as fifth on the depth chart with Joe Mixon and Dameon Pierce the only running backs who have roster spots locked up.

He made a highlight reel play Saturday when he lowered his shoulder into Jason Taylor II and knocked the safety to the ground at the end of a 23-yard run late in the first quarter.

“That’s just big boy football,” he said. “Me going out and making a play. (It’s) JV (vs.) varsity. I’m varsity.”

The Texans led 10-9 when Boyle threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Johnny Johnson III on the second play of the fourth quarter to make it 17-9.

Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud and Rams QB Matthew Stafford weren’t even in uniform for this one as most starters from both teams sat out.

Houston third-string quarterback Case Keenum started with Stroud and backup Davis Mills not playing Saturday. He led the offense on Houston’s first two possessions before Boyle took over.

Dresser Winn played the entire game for Los Angeles and was 9 of 16 for 72 yards. Zach Evans ran for 45 yards and two touchdowns for the Rams.

“He ran hard, leveled off some of those runs,” coach Sean McVay said. “I thought we were able to get pretty good removal on some of those drives. He was able to press it outside in one gap at a time, and he ended up doing a nice job as a slash runner today.”

Evans’ 3-yard run with about three minutes left cut the lead to 17-15. But he was stopped short of the goal line on the 2-point conversion attempt.

The game was tied at 3-3 after both teams made field goals in the first quarter. The Texans made it 10-3 when Boyle connected with Troy Hairston on a 5-yard touchdown early in the second.

Los Angeles cut the lead to 10-9 when Evans scored on a 4-yard run about seven minutes before halftime. Rookie Joshua Karty’s extra point was no good after it bounced off the upright.

Stafford and backup Jimmy Garoppolo didn’t play this preseason. Stafford, who has missed practice time recently with a tight hamstring recently and is also dealing with a cut on his left thumb played extensively Thursday when these teams held a joint practice.

Third-stringer Stetson Bennett didn’t play Saturday after getting all the QB snaps in the first two preseason games. McVay said that Bennett will serve as Stafford’s backup for the first two regular-season games with Garoppolo suspended for those games for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancers.

“He’s done really well in some of the practice settings,” McVay said of Bennett. “When you do look at it, you’re obviously very fortunate to have Jimmy who will be coming back in Week 3, but he’s done enough that we feel good about him for the first couple weeks.”

Xavier Hutchinson, who is vying for one of Houston’s last receiver spots, led the team with four receptions for 34 yards.

“I came in and I had a lot of confidence in myself and I feel like I had a lot of confidence from the players on our team who had just seen me put in work,” he said. “So it was kind of easy just to believe in myself and really just try to transition into just showing it in a preseason game.”

Injuries

Texans: S Brandon Hill was carted off the field in the first quarter with what appeared to be a right leg injury. … CB Kris Boyd looked to injure his left leg in the first half and didn’t return.

Up Next

Rams: Visit Detroit in a Sunday night game in their opener Sept. 8.

Texans: Open the season Sept. 8 at Indianapolis.

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