Woody Marks — Week 1: Nine Carries, and the Fourth and One
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 14
Marks carried nine times for forty-two yards, four of them first downs, and took the fourth and one at the Buffalo twenty-two with four seconds left in the third quarter — three yards behind the right guard, worth eight points of win probability, on the drive that gave Houston a 28–27 lead. David Montgomery carried twenty times and scored three touchdowns. Marks also returned three kickoffs for seventy-eight yards in a 36–31 loss to the Bills.
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Fourth and one at the Buffalo 22, four seconds left in the third quarter, Houston down 21 to 27, one snap after C.J. Stroud's own keeper had been stopped for nothing on third and one. Woody Marks behind the right guard for three yards, first down. That carry was worth +1.6 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and eight points of win probability, and it kept alive the 13-play drive that ended with David Montgomery's seven-yard touchdown catch and a 28 to 27 lead. The drive had already converted one fourth and one, Montgomery's, from the Houston 37.
The line: nine carries, 42 yards, no touchdowns, longest 12, four of the nine successful and four first downs, +1.5 expected points on the ground — a better figure than Montgomery's −0.3 on more than twice the carries. The 12 came second and 10 from the Buffalo 36 with seven 16 left in the half, up the middle to the 24, and Montgomery scored from the 18 four plays later. A 10-yarder came on second and 20 from the Houston 25 in the fourth after a holding penalty, and the last carry was third and two at the Buffalo 45 with 44 seconds left, down 31 to 36, six yards up the middle plus a defensive holding call on the play. Two carries lost two yards each, one from the Houston four after a 63-yard punt. The one target was a catch for −2 on second and 10 in the second quarter.
Houston ran 32 times and Marks had nine of them against Montgomery's 20, with three before halftime and six after. Montgomery had both rushing touchdowns and every carry inside the Buffalo five; Marks had the longer average and one of the two fourth-down conversions. Three kickoffs also went to him, for 22, 31 25 yards, all to the Houston 25 or beyond.
Back in June the preview had Marks 30-second among running backs across 16 games of consistent opportunity, and said the open question was how the Houston backfield would be divided. The first answer was 20 to nine, with the scoring work going to Montgomery and a share of the short-yardage work coming to Marks. That is a division, not a verdict, and it is drawn from one afternoon. Houston is home to the Bengals on Sunday the twentieth. Nine is the number to check next week.
_Data via nflverse._
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