quick thoughts on the texicans
 

1) Richardson had some off throws. the 1st 4th down throw. wtf? I don't blame him on the pick. 2 big time misses to AD changed the game. less efficient than I would like but cant argue with the explosive plays. just dimes. not sure he will ever get the high throws under control. probably won't. but dude is a gamer and seems to play his best when the game is on the line. not a bad 1st outing but I want to see more easy passes made

2) the oline run blocking was bad. way too much money to play that mediocre. they should be better than that

3) did a te catch a pass?

4) pierce was the man. that td was fucking amazing. great throw and great catch. pierce is amazing at tracking bombs down the field. may be a big year for him. and that heater he caught over the middle was awesome

5) did blackmon do anything?

6) I thought cross was flying around. not perfect but I don't recall a missed tackle and he ended plays that could have been huge gains

7) this run d is the most disappointing. wtf man? never would have guessed that would have happened. just embarrassing. love buckner and Grove but taven shitface played way too much.

8) to start the pass rush was on fire. but the back end couldn't hold up. I expect that to be a weekly issue we all say coming. this defense will be a problem all year. which surprises nobody

9) way too many missed opportunities. 3rd and 14, pass rush gets home, stroud evades and hits Nico for a 15 yard pass? fuck you. happened all game

10) rigo was good

11) so many opportunities to win this game but we fucking couldn't make the play. encouraging but we needed this one. not the time to miss.

12) this is at best a 9 win team. Ballard shit the bed once again by sitting on his hands instead of improving this team. I am tired of it.

13) fuck the run d. fuck the pass d and fuck the oline

Buckner wasn't out there for most of the 2nd half and apparently has a back injury. That's why the run D went to shit.

Was a RB targeted? (no)

15-13...kick the extra point.

Defense couldn't get off the field.

How do you install a new field where players are slipping? Who vet that field?

We definitely needed this one.

You nailed it.
I will add that Gus Bradley sucks. Why is he still here?

Yep. worst move of the offseason was retaining him. Yeah we got crushed on the ground, but you know what stands out to me more than that, ANOTHER 75% completion game by the opposing QB. His scheme just makes it soooooooo fucking easy to go get simple chain moving completions that control the game. TOP was 40-20, and I think our TOP in the 2nd was 6 mins.

Gus Sucks!

Latu best pass rusher in the draft according to Ballard, was non-existent.

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he had Tunsil jumping early. I thought latu was fine

2 false start penalties on Tunsil and at least 3 pressures wasn't enough for a rookie debut when he played <40% of the snaps?

ARs statline (and just watching him) shows some ups and downs. Mostly what we expected out of him last year, except he didn't get a full rookie season so this is rookie season part 2.
But as I said in the game thread, 4 TDs (with 2 passes and 1 run by AR) and big plays down the field (a huge thing missing from this team since Luck) ought to be good enough, and I'm happy with it, we can tolerate the growth pains if we get that scoring output.

The defense just has to be better. I didn't hear anything in game about an injury to Buckner - whats up with that?

Towards the end of the game, Kevin Bowen had tweeted that DeFo was getting looked at / attended to on the sidelines and thought that it looked like he was in pain.


And Steichen started the post game press conference saying that Buck had suffered a back injury in the game.

Really REALLY missed Downs today. Mitchell has potential but he’s not there yet.

I don’t think I’ll ever watch AR without the nagging thought in my head that he’s going to get hurt. He got nicked a couple times today but shook it off.

The touchdown to Diggs on 4th and goal was one of the most pathetic displays I’ve ever seen. I mean, what the hell were they thinking? It’s fourth and GOAL. No one is going to beat you over the top. Why on earth would you allow Diggs to run a simple out pattern into the end zone? Jesus Christ. At least press him at the line or run a linebacker under the route. Absolutely mind boggling how easy that was for Stroud.

Very very disappointing day from the defense.

AR was about what I expected. Could have been better on the short stuff and missed at least 2 deep balls but some of that is because Downs didn’t play.

But the defense was just atrocious.

Edited to add-that touchdown pass to Pierce was as impressive a throw as you will EVER see in your life. That was just amazing.

80% of that was the ridiculous vanilla scheme Bradley used. No matter the situation, no matter the personnel, the scheme was the same, outside of about four plays. Any competent QB will eat a defense alive if they are that predictable. Good thing we get Malik Willis next week.

I must have had higher expectations

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Ade Ade and Taven can’t stand up to the run. We got a backup NT but now we don’t have a backup 3-tech that can run defend with Buckner out. Also they held a lot. Notice no one was getting off blocks. They hand arms outside the numbers and were holding pads. No calls whatsoever.

Unpopular opinion: I think we win the next five. Houston is a better team than any of the teams we play (GB, CHI, PITT, JAX, TENN). They have a lot of playmakers, and a good defense. They were picked by so many to run away with the division, and it took Gus Bradley being a moron for them to beat us. None of those teams have near the team HOU has.

Great call out on the 4th down TD- that was insane! It's like Bradley is afraid of getting scored on with every single snap and keeps that mentality in place even when that conservative approach in a specific situation (red zone) is almost certain to get you scored on ala that critical play with an extra defender in place via the back line. Just an abominable defensive call in that position- he is incapable of adjusting and clearly both he and Ballard are firm in their belief that the D line studs will get home in time to protect the back end----- WHICH HAS BEEN PROVEN TO BE A FAILED THEORY! Every fucking QB we face is always like 25-32 for 320 and 3 TDs. It isn't working idiots! Fucking press, so what, if we get hit for a 70 yarder, the best news ever is-- more reps for the offense- we can clearly be explosive, so fuck it, play the shoot out game.

It's weird, Steichen must be cool with being ultra conservative on D despite his hyper aggressive offensive posture, otherwise by now we would have seen a change of scheme. Maybe he feels we have to have a counterbalance to prevent having a gassed D from his high frequency of boom or bust O possessions?

The thing about AR is that his ceiling is absolutely enormous. Which makes him a very fun watch every week. Yeah, I want to see a lot improvement too, but even without it the guy makes throws that are extremely impressive. His cannon may be the best I've ever seen.

I'm still upset about that 4th down defensive play call. It's like what part of "4th and Goal" don't these guys get.

Agree, we SHOULD win each of those games. I also think the running game is going to emerge really quick. If today did nothing else it served notice to the league that we can fucking hit you deep on any given snap. Just don't see how D's are going to stack the box after seeing us push the ball down the field like we did.

Not a single reception by a TE or RB? How was that in the game plan?

Gus Bradley is a fucking moron. I don't understand why he's still here. For that matter, I don't understand why Ballard is either.

The Bad:

1. Obviously the run-D. I can't remember many games where we were consistently gashed. I can think of plenty of games where the total rush yards were high because we allowed a 65 yard run or something... but this was just steady.

It was so bad, and they're usually pretty stout against the runt... it makes me think it was game-planned. I'm very curious to rewatch, but it seems like they chose to go balls-out after Stroud.

This is the main issue and trickles down to the rest of the bad.

2. We got out-TOP'd 40:00-20:00. We couldn't establish a rhythm, particularly in the run game. Between them holding the ball and our own explosive drives, there's a bad and good reason it felt like we didn't stick with the run game. Really, though, we only had 19 passes and 22 runs total.

3. AR's amped up throws... The 4th down and both AD throws... Those are all game-changers. He has to hit the easy shit.

4. Back to the defense... I know people get frustrated at the cushions, but I'm ok with them generally. But in the red-zone, tighten the fuck up. Diggs' second TD, Cross was manned up but lined up 7 fucking yards away when they're on the 4.

5. This one is iffy, but I actually think Steichen came up short, and I'm a huge Steichen guy. I don't think he adjusted the run game/RPO to the Texans' commitment to stacking the box. Could be wrong on replay.

6. The field sucked. After I complimented it.

7. The toe-heel rule is dumb, Brents should've had an INT.

8. Omaha should have made the gameday thread official. Vegas gives 3 points for playing at home and for having "official" in the title. Nice work, dickhead.


The stuff people will say is bad, but I don't think is:

1. AR's INT. I still think that ball looked ok. Interested to see the endzone angle again.

2. Pass-D was relatively good. Our DL gave up the run, but the pass-rush was there. 10 QB hits, 4 sacks, don't know the pressures yet but it seemed like a lot. Stroud got away like 5 times I think and just made good plays.

DB's played pretty well, tackled pretty well thank God. Collins made two crazy plays, credit where it's due.


The Good:

1. Pierce finally had someone take advantage of what he does.

2. AR, for all his easy misses, made some truly insane throws. That first bomb was a cartoon and will get the replays... I was actually somehow more amazed at the Dulin TD pass.

3. From the offense's perspective, you've clearly got the explosive element. 27 points in 20:00 is good. 23.6yds/rec and someone having a 101.2 passer rating while going 9/19 is crazy.

Think back to the 2009 game against the Dolphins when we gave up 240 yards, had the ball less than 15 minutes, and scored 27 points and won. This game was similar in terms of explosive plays. We just came up a field goal short.

4. I keep remembering how little AR has played with his teammates. 5 starts and like 15 quarters.

Granson should've had one, that was the pick. Richardson's other throw to a TE was the only real bad read I saw him make on the day. He tried to force a ball to MAC in triple coverage in the endzone. Fortunately To'o-To'o knocked it down so it wasn't intercepted.

One of the biggest factors in the loss might have been the field condition. Drive after drive short circuited because a receiver slipped, not the least of which was the pick to end the Colts last possession of the 1st half. It was a nicely placed ball that would have given them 1st and goal, and a chance to seize the lead at the midpoint of the game.

I wondered the same...I think I saw a fake handoff to Taylor who then ran left all alone but AR threw into triple coverage up the middle. I think it was early in the 3rd qtr.

Richardson can be fun to watch. I'm not sure he'll ever be accurate, but I see enough there to be okay with watching how this goes. If he can develop okay I don't see why we can't expect good things. Carolina and Philly both showed that type of player can get you to a SB.

I love seeing guys overcome, especially our guys. As frustrated as I am with this product, I really enjoyed watching Pierce.

So sick of watching opposing teams convert third and longs against this defense.

Really wish the correct calls would've been made so they didn't convert.

We had trouble stopping Mixon, I'd hate to see us try to stop Detroit's Montgomery! Did anyone else see the overtime finish last night? Montgomery behind Detroit's OL literally bulldozed over the Rams right down the field into the endzone, I have never seen anything like it in an NFL game!:eek:

Very likely that if Granson isn't falling he at least gets a hand on that pass and that's not a TO (I haven't seen a replay to see if it is feet getting mixed together or a slip though).

cant imagine a 5 win run with this defense

The discouraging part is Houston’s weakness is their OLine.

They’d better nut up before Sunday because they’re gonna get a heaping helping of Josh Jacobs.

Why? The defense did great until Buckner left. With a healthy Buckner, it's absolutely possible.

I don't see the officials ignoring as many holds on third and long all season, so we have a shot. If they had called one or two of them in the second half, we are likely celebrating a division win.

AR is unfortunately gonna get the cam Newton treatment, they’re letting him get fuckin suplexed out there without a flag that’s insane for a QB

He struggles throwing to the outside, but down the middle he’s throwing fucking lasers out there

The throws he put on film will benefit JT going forward

They sold on to stop JT and dared AR to beat them and he nearly did

That last TD run was fuckin awesome as well

Even in a loss, I’m very excited about what I saw

It's so demoralizing just to watch, and it's at the point where I dread seeing 3rd and 10+, which is just infuriating. It can't be fun for the defense guys at all.

Refs are never really held accountable for their BS. Texans are a dirty ass team and that one defender launched himself like a missile head first which would have probably ended AR's season if he didn't get down. I thought QB's were suppose to be protected now days. I guess it just depends on which QB it is.

Suplex Mahomes like that you’ll be flagged, fined, ejected, or out of the league if not all the above

It's always been like that.

They'll start protecting AR when AR transcends the Indianapolis market and other markets want to watch.