It will be some time before the Houston Texans and their fans can assess whether the team's recent trade for wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. will be worth the hefty price.
But no one is going to grumble about MHJ's debut.
The Texans defeated their AFC South rivals, the division-leading Jacksonville Jaguars, 34-31 on Sunday, Oct. 18, when Ka'imi Fairbairn drilled a game-winning, 49-yard field goal as time expired to avert overtime.
Harrison didn't have a major statistical impact on the game, catching three passes for 34 yards. But, with just a few practices under his belt, he was a significant component of a Houston pass game that carried the offense against a stout Jags defense.
“Marvin Harrison Jr. – they brought him in, he had no really time to practice, and he did exactly what they needed him to do,” said former former Pro Bowl defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, now an NFL Network analyst, said on “GameDay Final.”
Harrison's three catches matched his season high with the Arizona Cardinals, and his 34 yards represented his second-best output of the season in that department.
“He had three first-down catches today," McCoy said. "He’s a big-bodied receiver, and they needed him to go in, catch the ball, help us move the chains, and they did that today. I’m excited to see what this team has moving forward, because that defense will be better. If the offense is rolling like this, everybody look out for the Texans.”
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why Marvin Harrison Jr.'s Texans debut was bigger than the stats