So after a loss, we naturally like to see the silver linings. Who exceeded expectations. Who did ok and who did ugly? My uglys are offensive line. Rustiness of DW- but he should be better, and general playcalling inability to adapt ...I’m starting to think Deshaun needs that deep threat to hasten his return to form. DL not getting to Brady The ok was the corners. And the tight ends - rooks show some promise on separation Good? Hard to believe I’m saying this but Kareem Jackson as a safety. All our safeties looked good imo. Maybe Ervin on kick returns? That’s bout it
I thought defense was pretty good outside of Kevin Johnson. (Dline) looked like it got tired after awhile. Maybe lack of reps in the preseason? JJ looks like he can still be a force. Someone mentioned this in the game thread but when JJ plays, no one else really plays that great. It’s like they’re expecting JJ to do it all. There were a few missed tackles in the backfield that ended up being 5-7 yards gains. (LBs) looked okay. Only knock against them is Cunningham never turns his head in coverage. Cole played fantastic. (DBs) Mathieu loooks like a steal for $7M of course. Kareem played like we all hoped if he ever played safety. Also like what I seen from Colvin. JJo played ok too but I believe this should be his last season. Kevin Johnson was Kevin Johnson. (Oline) smh (Qb) Deshaun was clearly rusty. Wish he would’ve played at least a full quarter or even a half of two preseason games. (RBs) Lamar played really good. I think he was over 100 yards?! If not he was a few yards away. Blue had a few good runs and even a td. Surprised me. (WRs) Hopkins played good to me as well. Had that one drop but got hit helmet to helmet. Would’ve been a fantastic catch. No deep threat on the opposite side so it was tough for him. Bruce showed up as well. (TEs) Rookies gave me hope but Deshaun missed Griffin a few times. Maybe because oline.
Safety and Special teams were the good by far IMO. Both lines picked it up a bit in the 2nd half although the OL still has a ton of work to do. Not sure how the corners were okay. Kevin Johnson quite possibly had the worst individual performance in a Texans uni I can remember.
If BOB would have kicked the field goal on 4th and 5 then we would have covered. That's a positive....I think
Basically everything has already been said. Really can’t say enough how bad Kevin Johnson was. Single handily lost it. Extremely frustrating game to watch & still had a shot to win it. The normal storyline vs the Pats
Some others I thought looked good not mentioned yet: Both Guards, especially pulling on run plays, Fairbairn-kicked it out of the end zone and made easy kicks look easy, Blackson and Reader, special teams in general looked good other than one big return. The bad-Bruce Ellington-I don't remember him dropping this many passes last year, Griffin-blocking horrible, Mercelous-looked slow.
The Good: Lamar Miller and Alfred Blue made some nice runs with no fumbles. Special Teams didn't turn over the ball and we made our extra points and field goals. Defense getting a fumble recovery and an interception. The Bad: Johnson, Offensive Line, Coach and play calling, dropped catches by receivers, QB The Ugly: Fumbling the ball on a handoff to start the game.
Running game looked very good and I thought the defense played well also. Team will bounce back in a big way Sunday. Props to Ervin also in the return game.
Overall not a lot positive. The game was not nearly as close as the score. New England could have won by 3 TD’s if they had to.
The defense did a better job in the second half. New England wasn’t attempting to turn the ball over either, which kept the score closer...but ultimately held them to 6 points in the second half for a team that doesn’t ever let up. The Patriots schemed the hell out of them addressing how the Texans picked them apart last year... where the Texans should have won. For me, running game, safety play and Watson adjusting the speed of the offensive sets stood out. Not going to face that many more stout defenses than that.
I wish we were gonna be that lucky Nick. I know it's only week 1, and defensive rankings don't mean much, but we will be facing 6 of the top 10, with NE ranking #11. Jacksonville, Denver, Dallas, Washington, Philadelphia, and the Giants are all in the top 10 defenses. None of those games will be easy wins. Next week will be one of our weakest opponents of the season, especially if Mariotta is out. No excuse losing to a backup QB. It is definitely a must win, and should be fun to watch.
These rankings are based on last year. A **** ton changes from year to year for these teams. None of those teams have a defensive mastermind like Belichick. The Watson game against NE last year probably single handedly dropped their rankings from the top 10. They may not end up dominating the rankings... but for one game (and Belichick had all off-season to devise a scheme here), I’ll take whatever Belichick coached defense you have. There are schemes... and then there is yesterday. Most other defenses will try and beat you and make you adjust (including the Texans). Defenses that change and adjust to the offense are still the better weapon, IMO... but they are susceptible to exposure if the offense dramatically throws in a ton of wrinkles.
The offensive line was actually improved. People keep dumping on them, but they opened some running lanes and gave Watson some time. Watson was his own worst enemy. The line wasn’t special or anything, but they were improved. I know Watson is everyone’s golden boy, but he had a crappy game. I blame that on reps. He simply wasn’t ready. Of course Jackson was terrible. He hasn’t improved an ounce since he was a rookie and he’s always ALWAYS hurt. I honestly think his career is nearly over. BOB had one of his worst games as a head coach. He needs to take a good long look in the mirror and reevaluate some things about himself. JJ was better than his stats. He played very well and didn’t get hurt! Hurray! All in all, it was just a bad game. Moving on...
The bad- we lost The good- someone else besides K.Johnson will see the field The negative- bob is still an idiot Positive - no real injuries that impact the team.
Watching BOB get out coach, was just sad. We lost the game in the third quarter with clock management. We need an offenseive coordinator in the worst of ways. Running the ball eating clock while down by three scores. I couldn’t believe it not even a jr high coach would do that. The Pats opened the middle of their defense to let us run the ball into to it giving their offense rest, IMO, because we where accomplishing their goal of killing clock. Why would he just take a knee at half? It’s not okay to not try to score when your losing plus we had all of our time outs, too. It’s like BOB can’t read the score board or clock. If JClown wants a big contract he needs/must produce every game. Why is he not in a at least 1/4 of the plays? He didn’t matter in the least. If he doesn’t care why should we?
The good: JJ found his groove in the 2nd half. Miller and Blue were solid. The offensive line was good in the running game. The Badger and KJ had solid games. The bad: very slow start. The offensive line in the pass protection. Watson indecisiveness and poor accuracy. The ugly: Bill O'Brien not having his team ready. Bill O'Brien not making any freaking adjustments after seeing how Belichick was taken away the perimeter from Watson. K. Johnson getting concussed again.
