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Brian Hoyer, DeAndre Hopkins look good together in New Orleans

Brian Hoyer, DeAndre Hopkins

AP

The Texans have ended their quarterback competition by naming Brian Hoyer as the starter for the first week of the regular season, but coach Bill O’Brien has made it clear that he won’t be afraid to turn to Ryan Mallett if Hoyer can’t find a way to lead a successful offense.

One way Hoyer can keep that from happening is by looking for wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Hoyer did that twice early in Sunday’s game against the Saints and the drive ended with a touchdown for the Texans. Hoyer found DeAndre Hopkins open against Saints corner Keenan Lewis for 29 yards down the sideline on the second play of the game and then went Hopkins’s direction again in the end zone.

Lewis was flagged for pass interference after Hopkins got the best of him again, although that didn’t stop Hopkins from reeling in the ball as he went out of bounds. After a replay, the ruling was that Hopkins didn’t complete the catch process in time and Alfred Blue scored two plays later.

Hoyer looked sharp in general and finished 7-of-11 for 82 yards while also leading the Texans to a field goal before Ryan Mallett was roused from his slumber to lead the team on their fourth offensive possession of the game.