In Houston’s 22-17 victory over the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. recorded five tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss, four quarterback hits and one pass defended.

How good a stat line is that?

Since passes defended became an official statistic in 2006, Anderson is the second rookie to meet those numbers in each of those categories in the same game.

The first was another Houston pass-rusher, J.J. Watt, in a 20-13 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Nov. 27, 2011. Watt went on to win NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards in three seasons.

Texans tight end Brevin Jordan is here to tell you Anderson could do the same thing.

“That dude has a motor like no other, bro,” Jordan said. “He’s a freak, bro. My first game back actually against Arizona, we had like a pregame – you know, pregame team stuff, seven-on-seven – and that first play of team, I lined up and we ran like a play we run, like our bread-and-butter, outside-zone stuff. And I was going against Will, and the dude is hitting me in my chin. And (coach) DeMeco (Ryans) and them was laughing and stuff. Damn, he’s kind of strong. The dude is a freak, bro.

“And he’s a real good dude – real good dude. Comes from a good family. I mean, he’s a captain for a reason. It ain’t no accident that he’s a captain. He’s a captain for a reason. He’s a real respectable guy.”

Anderson hit quarterback Russell Wilson on Denver’s first snap of Sunday’s game, and he sacked the Broncos QB on the first snap of the second half. Anderson already had sacked Wilson on a third-down snap in the first quarter.

In the third quarter, cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. intercepted a pass after Anderson had deflected the football. The takeaway put the Texans on the Denver 21-yard line, and Houston scored a touchdown four snaps later to take a 22-10 lead with 14:16 to play.

“What a game by Will,” Ryans said. “I think everybody’s seen his stat line. You talk about tackles for loss, you talk about sacks, putting pressure on the quarterback – Will, he wreaked havoc today and that’s what we envisioned when we selected Will, and to see him show up in a big-time game for us, show up really being an impact player for us, that’s who Will Anderson is, and he shows it every single day, so really happy for Will and the game that he had. He had a big-time game for us.”

After two seasons as a unanimous All-American at Alabama, Anderson joined the Texans as the third pick of the NFL Draft on April 27. Houston made a trade with the Arizona Cardinals to add Anderson after using the No. 2 pick on Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud.

The rookies have helped spark a turnaround for the Texans, who own a 7-5 record in 2023 after winning seven games combined in the previous two seasons.

“We’re just proving everybody wrong,” Anderson said after Sunday’s game, “and we really don’t have anything to prove to nobody but ourselves. And that’s one thing we focused on all week is just us doing us better and us coming out here and executing and just having uncontrollable strength. That’s just what coach talked about. Man, I’m just so excited right now.”

Houston had the opportunity to move into tie with Jacksonville at the top of the AFC South standings, but the Jaguars defeated the Texans 24-21 on Nov. 26. By rebounding against the Broncos while Jacksonville lost to the Cincinnati Bengals 34-31 in overtime on Monday night in Week 13, Houston is back within a game of the division lead with five weeks remaining in the regular season.

The Texans have been to the playoffs six times in the franchise’s 21-season history.

“I don’t worry about what happened here in the past with the Texans,” said Ryans, who is in his first season as an NFL head coach. “This is 2023. This is our team; this is our brand of football. And our guys are a resilient group of men who show up every single week. They put the work in every week, and they show up on Sundays and they execute and they play for each other, and that’s all I can ask for. And our guys continue to get better.”

Houston visits the New York Jets at noon CST Sunday.

The Jets have a 4-8 record as do the Tennessee Titans, who will be the opponent in two of the Texans’ final four games. Houston also has the Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts remaining on its schedule – two teams who have the same 7-5 record for the stretch run to the postseason.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.