Apollo Stallion Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 Figured I'd start this thread as I'm as prone to ripping this team apart as anyone, but we probably need a place to keep progress in perspective. We were the 3rd worst team in football last year (and no it wasn't all because of 3 injuries), so let's at least take a little time to appreciate the steps we take back to respectability before being disappointed that we aren't immediately playing like Super Bowl contenders. Yes, there are plenty of sunshine pumping sources including coaches, Texans PR, Vandemeer, John Harris, McLain, etc, but since I like to think of our group as a bit more discerning, let's at least try to keep a spot for the good. Feel free to rip away in the other threads as I certainly will, but lets try to keep the sarcastic false positives out of this one. In Reddit-speak - serious tag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apollo Stallion Posted September 10, 2018 Author Share Posted September 10, 2018 Watson was awful and we almost beat the AFC champs in Foxboro. Yes, this is a positive. Kid is 22, coming off an ACL and we were probably all way over-optimistic that he was going to walk into his first game back and take the next progression from the Seattle game vs. steps back. His legs and heroics masked some deficiencies last year and let's face it, he had exceptional luck with opponents dropping those arm punts he's prone to throwing. Yes, he will be great, but he IS NOT the reigning MVP as we tend to treat him - he has 1 really great win on his resume (Tenn) and 3 really good losses (Sea, NE, KC) the last of which was 10 months ago. This one was in the range of Cinn, Cleve, but NE ain't them. Of all the people on this roster I can handle a bad game from and expect a bounce back it's him and ultimately relying on his arm for a few months vs. his legs will make him better in the long run. Lamar Miller - Looked great in PS and today. If anything, we needed to ride him more in the 2nd half, but we kept pressing for big plays. Blue is even finding holes and not lineman butts. Ervin even caught a pass. Rookie TEs - Akins and Thomas made some plays. Outplayed #1 who got open once. O-Line - no it wasn't great, but greatness can't be expected from this bargain basement & developmental group. Watson was slow making reads and held the ball way too long which led to more pressure than should have been there. Henderson took one for the team in breaking his ankle to save his QB. Lack of experience with Rankin/Davenport is going to be scary, but there were no XSF or Lamm level lapses. Run blocking was solid. D-Line - JJ is getting there. Not DMVP level, but made impact plays. Blackson made multiple plays from RE spot. Reader notched 2 sacks from NT! LBs - not a great day with Clowney invisible, but Gronk's gunna Gronk, so not going to lose faith in Cunningham. Burkhead ran for 64 yards on 18 carries and White only caught 4/38 which is solid. Secondary - We got ourselves a safety or 3. Mathieu is obviously a difference maker, KJ forced another turnover, and Reid flashed elite athleticism. Kevin Johnson got abused, but Hogan got shot down for 11 yards and rest of WRs got 9/84. Sub 100 yards to WRs after giving up 266 to Cooks, Hogan, Amendola last year IS progress. STs - Don't let this get lost. We gave up 19 yards in returns and forced (well fell on) a critical turnover. Ervin averaged 31.2 yards on 5 kickoffs and 11 on 2 punts. Daniel buried 3 punts inside the 20 and Fairbairn was perfect. Best performance from these units in years! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jch1911 Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 12 minutes ago, Apollo Stallion said: Ervin averaged 31.2 yards on 5 kickoffs and 11 on 2 punts. Mea culpa to @mse326. I finally looked - before today Ervin was averaging about 18 (almost 19) yards per KR. Of the all time players with 11 or more returns, he had the worst average. BUT that was before this season, so I hope he continues to improve and becomes the Texans best KR ever! I still don't see a game breaker, but I can live with 30 yards per KR and NO fumbles! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jch1911 Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 45 minutes ago, Apollo Stallion said: Rookie TEs - Akins and Thomas made some plays. Outplayed #1 who got open once. This is doing a disservice to Griffin. He was open at least 2X when targeted (that I saw)... DW under duress on one throw (throw bounced in front of him and the 2nd time was a bad overthrow.) That being said the rookies look good and Griffin was able to get open. Next moves I could foresee To IR RT Sentral Henderson CB Kevin Johnson Cut T Kendall Lamm WR Vyncint Smith Signed off practice squad T/G Chad Slade Free agents signed to roster WR Corey Coleman (Will Fuller insurance) T Austin Paszctor (spends week learning offense while Slade is swing tackle) CB Dave Amerson or Josh Robinson (Amerson has shown he can be a #2 or #3; Robinson would be better at ST. All depends on if Webster can start or not.) Signed to PS WR Vyncint Smith (after clears waivers) cut Jester Weah G/T David Quessenberry (gotta have DQ on this team) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KhanYouDigIt Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 How did Colvin look? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apollo Stallion Posted September 10, 2018 Author Share Posted September 10, 2018 33 minutes ago, KhanYouDigIt said: How did Colvin look? Solid, unspectacular, but secondary gets big credit for not giving up anything deeper than 14 yards to non Gronks. Think I remember Colvin getting beat down the seam on one of those Gronks, but recall a great tackle on a run as well. Seemed to me that Joseph was covering short underneath stuff stuff to RBs and FBs all day as well as a big part of shutting Hogan down. Cole played a ton of snaps with Cunningham playing more like a 3rd safety at times. Reid was only other guy to play in secondary with Bademosi, Jamerson, Moore exclusively STs. Webster was inactive, but I think that was more about being new and not being a special teamer. Failed to mention Bademosi instantly making special teams impact fighting in the pile for a massive special teams turnover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tab Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 Biggest ray of sunshine was Honeybadger chewing out Kjo. It was just really nice to see one of our guys get pissed off and have some actual passion I think Watson should be able to adjust, he just wasnt in the game. I dont know if this is because he's changing his play style to be more like BOB's crap pocket QB style or if it really is just rust. I hope this game stung for him at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ET80 Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 5 hours ago, tab said: Biggest ray of sunshine was Honeybadger Period, full stop. Guy was in on two big turnovers, picking up the fumble and picking off Brady after the Blackson tip. Think he had a few pass breakups as well. Big shout-out to ST unit as well, they had their best game in ages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastor Dillon Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 I wasn’t as impressed with honey badger. His int was all luck because he was beaten and the ball got tipped. Same with the fumble recovery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastor Dillon Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 Its still to be decided whether they are playing good, but considering we didnt have a 1st or 2nd round pick, we have quite a few rookies that are going to be playing for us this season. Reid played a lot yesterday, and had a really nice PD, i think on Gronk Rankin basically played LT the whole game after not playing most of the pre season, and many experts expecting him to be a guard or center. Akins and Thomas each caught a pass at the TE position. I suspect that Ryan Griffin will be gone this off season and those two will have it Coutee will get some run when he is healthy, probably as our 4th WR. Ejiofor was inactive yesterday, but I like what he gave us in the pre season. This could turn out to be a very solid draft class producing 3-4 starters and some solid depth over the next several years. One week in and I would rank this class a B right now. Considering we didnt pick until the 3rd, im not sure its not an A- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ET80 Posted September 10, 2018 Share Posted September 10, 2018 At least we're not the Bears. 20-0 lead going into half at Lambeau (first time since 1948 they had a lead that big in Lambeau) and Aaron Rodgers seemingly out with a serious looking knee injury, Khalil Mack with arguably the most dominant 1st half defensive performance I've ever seen... ... only to have Rodgers go full Willis Reed in the 2nd half, hobbling out and putting up 24 in the 2nd half for a 24-23 Packers W. If I was a Bears fan, I'd check out right about now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pastor Dillon Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 any news on whether Mariota and Lewen will play sunday? If they are both out, its an easy win for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ET80 Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 4 hours ago, Pastor Dillon said: any news on whether Mariota and Lewen will play sunday? If they are both out, its an easy win for us. Only one I know is out is Delanie Walker - this being said, I can't see a situation where Lewan is cleared, he was out cold for a good while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ET80 Posted September 11, 2018 Share Posted September 11, 2018 2 hours ago, ET80 said: Only one I know is out is Delanie Walker - this being said, I can't see a situation where Lewan is cleared, he was out cold for a good while. On this note, we should be dealing with two new OTs (Jack Conklin is still on PUP) and might be getting Blaine Gabbert - who is only slightly worse than Marcus Mariota. Our big three - Watt, Mercilius, Clowney - better get a few sacks and some significant pressure, or this experiment from 2014 of pairing these three up can be declared a failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tab Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 On 9/10/2018 at 12:05 PM, ET80 said: At least we're not the Bears. 20-0 lead going into half at Lambeau (first time since 1948 they had a lead that big in Lambeau) and Aaron Rodgers seemingly out with a serious looking knee injury, Khalil Mack with arguably the most dominant 1st half defensive performance I've ever seen... ... only to have Rodgers go full Willis Reed in the 2nd half, hobbling out and putting up 24 in the 2nd half for a 24-23 Packers W. If I was a Bears fan, I'd check out right about now... https://wgnradio.com/2018/09/09/the-hamp-ob-show-with-koz-9-9-18-quick-hit-they-should-have-buried-them/ i thought i was mad at BOB after our game.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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