Both things can be true. Watson doesnt always see the blitz, even though he’s improved a lot in his line reads this year. he’s also still great when the game is on the line or even when the protection breaks down. The best way to get a team to stop blitzing is to burn them with an over the top pass completion. Fuller helps with this immensely. You saw it work in the Pats game where they had to stop bringing extra pressure despite them having some success with it.
Like many others I feel better about drawing KC than Baltimore, but we are still the underdogs here. I'm sure KC is also just as happy they drew us and not NE.
Just realized Stills didn't play in the first matchup. We'll see how much that offsets Maholmes' being hobbled. IR'd Howard also played but only 49% of snaps. Situation seems Chiefs favor slightly overall.
I know all the fault is not on the line but it is not on Watson either. Look at 01:00 of the video, #93 comes in totally unblocked. Deshaun has to scramble to avoid the 1st sack but then somebody else gets him. Yes he could have thrown the ball away, but #93 should have been blocked. At 1:10, the tight end doesn't even attempt to block allowing #58 to come straight at Deshaun. Luckily Deshaun evades him and throws a strike to Kenny Stills. There are other times like at 4:24 where it looks like Deshaun just panics under pressure and starts running round trying to make something happen. He should have stayed in the pocket. Then at 4:38 Rod Johnson AND Darren Fells get beat by the same guy off the edge.
When they don’t even get a blocker assigned... that’s also on the QB to adjust the protection. The lineman aren’t seeing the entire defense in front of them... the QB is. it’s why the ability to read lines and make adjustments is more important than anything that is measured at the combine... and is why most highly touted QB’s eventually fail. Watson is able to do it well... and he continues to improve... but he wasn’t great on Saturday.
In the examples I gave, I don't think there was no blocker assigned. Deshaun was surprised to see the guy come free. In some cases (one of the ones I posted) the linemen just got beat. As a lineman, you can't blame not seeing the whole defense when you miss the defender right in front of you. I watched the game live so maybe my perspective is probably skewed but there were times where I actually counted and dude had Bills defenders in his face in two seconds. The Bills were getting to him when only rushing four. Even the best QB is going to struggle when his offensive lineman is getting beat. Something definitely changed in the second half. IMO The designed QB runs in the 1st scoring drive had an impact on how the Bills defended from that point on. The play calling changed the game. The other thing is Deshaun is not going to throw the ball away on a third down. It's mostly a flaw but he is going to scramble every time he feels pressure on 3rd down. Unfortunately sometimes that ends in a sack, but sometimes it ends to a game winning completed pass.
That's not true at all lol, Mahomes got hurt after their quick start and was severely limited in the 2nd half, which is why we were able to keep their offense off the field. We were gonna get blown tf out if he hadn't gotten hurt most likely. Also there was a freak interception play were Mahomes thought it was a free play. Watson was 30/42 that game which is probably about the right amount of attempts for him here. If he only gets up 25 attempts like against Buffalo its game over. We don't have a good enough o-line and running for full ground and pound against an explosive offensive team. Our only chance is if Watson is in the zone and throwing dimes and to try and keep up with their offensive output.
How does Mahomes being injured help keep the Texans offense sustaining long drives? Its not like the Texans were just partially effective on offense... they were pounding the ball. Mahomes "injury" did not squander the 17-3 lead they had. You need a healthy mix of it... but look at what is winning these playoff games. Its not razzle-dazzle. Its harder to play mistake-free football with constant drop backs. Watson is going to be needed to play extremely well and make throws... but its highly unlikely they win a shootout against this Chiefs team. Adopt the Giants-Bills SB 25 model... control the TOP.
Well if Mahomes is limited, they won't be as successful on offense. Which equals more possessions for us. Hyde had a good game but it wasn't like we were going full on ground and pound either. If our defense comes out looking good then sure you can go more conservative and try to win TOP. But the Chiefs are by far the most high octane offense in the AFC and I'm just not convinced the Texans' defense is good enough here. It won't be like the first game, I promise. For me the blueprint is how the Titans won in KC which was a high scoring shootout. For the Texans, ground and pound always seems to turn into a 3rd and long where we have to ask Watson to pull something out of his ass. Seen that movie many times.
But they didn’t have that many more possessions. They just made the most of each one. They weren’t going full ground game... but it was an ultra-effective mix that kept the Chiefs defense backpedaling. exactly why you try to avoid a shootout. The offense needs to execute, regardless. But I also don’t want to ignore or abandon the running game early... something that could have happened in the previous game when they went down 17-3, but they stuck with it and the Chiefs eventually wore down.
Everyone remembers the Buffalo comeback, but few remember Elway’s comeback in the playoffs against the Oilers the year before or Montana’s Chiefs comeback against the Oilers the following year after the Oilers had rattled off something like wins in 10 of last 11 for 12-4 record and a 1st round bye. Perhaps there would have been more enthusiasm from the fan base to keep the Oilers in Houston if it wasn’t for these wasted years of some of the best football talent the city has ever seen.
Another way is a quick screen pass. Do you remember a single true screen pass (not quick outs to Hop) during the BoB era? I don't.
I think the Houston (and this BBS) fan base has been pretty consistent in the two eras. Those Oilers teams had made the playoffs a lot... and everybody was tired of them not doing anything other than the occasional wild card round win. Those teams never made a conference championship, let alone a SB. They sold out the dome consistently. People disliked the owner. When the mediocrity hit its apex (failing to win the divisional round game with home field), this city was pretty much done with that era... and when the rumblings of the team moving hit, a lot had resigned themselves to the fact that they'd rather not have a team than be subjected to mediocrity vs. heartbreak (with a shitty owner) every year. The Texans do have similar lofty boom or bust expectations around here... and the same indifference/apathy being exhibited by some with these games is similar to what the Oilers had at the end of their tenure. Houston football fans are utterly consistent... even if its a completely different generation of fans.
I still glory in the first two AFL championships. Of course, the first game I remember going to was the championship game the Oilers lost in 1962 (I was 5) to the Dallas Texans who eventually became the KC Chiefs.
Hopkins fuller and stills will the receivers and weather won’t be an issue it will be like in the 40s 50s fair weather
