SMH, I guess the "silver lining" is that with the way some of the people who claim to be Texans fans act, it makes it not so bad that the team is losing. If those people really are Texans fans, they don't deserve to have their team win.
I thought the drive that killed us was the long TD drive by the panthers right after we tied it at 10. I felt like we got some momentum from our TD drive and a 3-and-out would have just given us even more. But instead, we give up a 14 play, 80 yard TD drive that took 7:25 off the clock and killed any chance of our offense staying in rhythm. The 3 penalties from our defense didn't help either....
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The 8 drops break down like this: Polk - 2 Nate - 2 Cecil - 1 Graham - 1 Mumph - 1 Hopkins - 1</p>— Jayson Braddock (@JaysonBraddock) <a href="https://twitter.com/JaysonBraddock/status/645857040682774528">September 21, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">FWIW, revised numbers if the 8 passes weren't dropped is 60 % (completion percentage) <a href="https://t.co/FAG8OpNSJm">https://t.co/FAG8OpNSJm</a></p>— Jayson Braddock (@JaysonBraddock) <a href="https://twitter.com/JaysonBraddock/status/645978485345808385">September 21, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Out of 58 passes, I had 5 that were truly bad passes on Mallett's behalf. Here they are...</p>— Jayson Braddock (@JaysonBraddock) <a href="https://twitter.com/JaysonBraddock/status/645979296478003201">September 21, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Our schedule isn't too bad after this. If you can't beat TB, then yes, commence panic mode. Until then, I'm calm.
And just couple weeks ago, many fans in this forum are 100% sure that this group of WRs are the best that this franchise ever had.
They still are.....but that doesn't mean they can't have a really bad game. Perhaps you don't remember the short history of this franchise, but the Texans have never had a worth a damn WR corps.
All i see in my head the scene from dodgeball when Patches is throwing wrenches at the team. Mallett's head on Patches, and the texans wideouts/rbs as the teammates. Feel free photo shoppers.
Just couple weeks ago before the season started, I posted the stats regarding WR drop balls in this forum comparing what AJ and Hopkin had last year to Cecil and Washington. Its not even close and its one of the many reasons why we are able to sign these guys off the street for dirt cheap. And then our beloved and famous "3rd round draft pick" Jalen Strong, which I pointed out whose called out by his own coach for not satisfied with his work ethic and performance, while others insist he will be a big part of this group, wasn't even active this week and got replaced by a undrafted rookie from the practicing squad. So there you have, the best WR group ever.
Sorry, I dont count it as a "drop" when you are throwing to a RB at 120 MPH when the dude is sitting 8 yards away from you. Its a running back...not a receiver. There is something that needs to be said about "touch". At least 3-4 of those arent "drops"...they're poor throws.
This game isn't a loss if we had a decent offensive line. The inability to run cost us the game. Brown, X and Foster can't return fast enough. I have no idea on why people were so confident about winning this week.
I'm pretty negative on Strong. Tape doesn't match his reputation, and statistics back up tape. He is not a good "catcher" of the football. He doesn't run routes well and he doesn't have great speed. I hope I'm wrong on him, but I expect him to be a bust. As for the drop stats on Shorts and Washington, look, only one person on this board would take those guys over Andre Johnson. When people talk about the receiving corp being strong, they mean the depth. Prior to last year it was always Andre and a bunch of nothing. Last year it was Andre and DeAndre and a bunch of nothing. The idea behind the "deepest" WR corp we've ever had is that you can go 4 deep with guys who are at least qualified to be professional football players, which honestly has never been the case on this team before.
Sorry, but no one cares what you personally count as a "drop". When the ball hits you in the hands and you don't catch it, that's a drop.
If our historically great WR corpse (one of the best in the league) is "dropping" passes maybe the QB has accuracy and touch issues
PFF, which is much better at analyzing game play, determined 6 drops. And even with that, they graded Mallett as having one of the worst days this season.
I know you aren't a "think for yourself" type of person, but some of us are. PFF has some interesting metrics, but blindly going by their ratings without understanding context is a rookie mistake. Again, the top 3 QB's for most yards in a season all time are a collective 1-5 in games where they were asked to pass as much as Mallett was this week....were you really expecting a great game all things considered?
Of course why consider context? Just because the team asked more of Ryan Mallett on his 3rd ever start than Tom Brady or Drew Brees could ever handle at any point in their careers is no excuse right? Why factor that in at all?
They grade on a per play basis. On the flip side, if you are passing that many times, you should expect 6 dropped passes. Just like someone passing 30 times should expect a few dropped balls. You like to mention how there were so many drops...but in relation to how many times he threw the ball, it wasnt as bad as you make it out to be. And what does record have to do with anything? Mallett didnt play well...and part of the reason he had to pass as much as he did is because he did not throw the ball like he was expected to. When you check down every other play or you panic under pressure or you're wildly inaccurate on intermediate throws, then you shouldnt get much sympathy. Yes, we didnt have a run game...but Mallett was just as much to blame for the **** offense as the rest of the lineup.
