Well the Texans defense in the last 3 quarters - YAY!!!! Texans defense in the first quarter - Kill it with fire before it breeds.
But even then, I still saw them give up several 3rd and long conversions (either via a wide open completion or penalty). Why do they seem to get "better" in the red zone? Because its a shorter field, and there's less space the awful safeties have to cover. That's where a box safety like Swearinger can actually play at an above average level. Mercilus showed some flashes... Reed was again non-existent. The Colts could basically triple team Watt and have zero fear of Crick/Reed/anybody get close to Luck.
It's the scheme they play, the bend but don't break style allows for plays to be made with a big field then clamps down with a small field. It's a style of defense that when done correctly has led to multiple championships and when done wrong has led to 24 point quarters.
The secondary cannot defend the entire field consistently when opposing QB's are rarely pressured from anybody besides Watt.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Say Fitz all you want. Brown, Jones and Myers touch no one. Foster can't help. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Texans?src=hash">#Texans</a> <a href="https://t.co/9NsrOLZaVU">https://t.co/9NsrOLZaVU</a></p>— PDS (@PatDStat) <a href="https://twitter.com/PatDStat/status/520599509483921409">October 10, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Agreed, which is why it's so important that Clowney be back and healthy going forward. There were so many plays that would have been sacks or throws made while hit if Clowney was in there instead of Merc. Now Merc had a good game, but Clowney would have gotten to the QB just a bit faster and a few times that would have made all the difference.
Yeep. Old Schaub, passing game was probably our biggest strength. You could expect Schaub to throw for a ton of yards and move chains all day. With Fitzpatrick, obviously we didn't sign up for that. But I am very pleased with him so far, he's exceeded my expectations from time to time this season and seems to really want to win and play very hard.
No clue, maybe he rested on his laurels because he's been praised too much in the past. Maybe he's in decline. I dunno, but something needs to be done because he's looking like hologram did last year.
Cool post I found by a Texans fan on reddit. Pretty much exactly how the game went defensively if I'm not mistaken. This one of y'all? Spoiler How I anticipate things to go tonight on defense: 1 - Colts are without their starters at center and both guard spots. J.J. is probably going to attack them early and often. 2 - Indy knows that, so they will probably try to double him every snap. 3 - To discourage double teams, Romeo will probably show A gap pressure with Cush/Tarp/Tuggle/D.J. to keep the center engaged while Watt gets one on ones at the 3-tech. 4 - As a counter to that, Richardson will probably be kept in to block a lot since he's a great pass protector, which then allows the center to double Watt as originally planned. 5 - This will then encourage Romeo to show six man rushes, which Luck actually wants since that lets him just throw hot all day and take 4-5 yard gains with impunity or even a screen for a big gain. Texans corners will be tested quite a bit in man tonight just for the sole purpose of giving Watt one on one matchups up front. That means Kareem vs Reggie in the slot, J-Jo vs Hilton (rematch #4) on the outside, and possibly Hal vs Hakeem on the other side. Should be a hell of a battle. 6 - Where Romeo can really turn the tide in this is by doing what he does best...confusion. Show A-gap pressure, force changes in protection, make Luck identify hot, and then drop someone into the obvious hot read to generate a turnover or make Luck hold the ball long enough to take a sack. Kareem is a competent blitzer from the slot, and Crennel has been willing to send him off the edge to stretch protections when they slide towards Watt. That would of course trigger Reggie hot in the slot, so I expect Cushing or D.J. to drop from the A gaps into those obvious hot reads and try to get their hands on the ball. That's how Cush got his pick six in week one last season, so we know he can do it. Even if Luck sees it and pulls the ball up, that gives Watt an extra beat to get into the back field, which is the whole game plan here anyway. 7 - This is going to be a great battle. Pay attention every defensive series to see the subtle changes in how Romeo calls the game. Showing pressure, dropping out of it, sending it, man-free, zone blitzes. How he times his blitz calls will probably determine the outcome of this game.
LOL at all the whiff blocking there. OMG! I would not want to be one of those guys in the tape review session. Arian Foster...LOL. Block somebody!
Lets give the Colts Oline a lot of credit. One example comes to mind , our LB #51 or 52 (new kid we just signed) made a great spin coming off the edge, beat the RT easily. Luck didn't see him coming and right as #51 thought he was going to get a sack another lineman pancaked him. If we can get consistent pressure on the QB , our secondary would be much better. Also Crennel is really backing on that pressure thus having his CB/S playing 8-10 yards off the WR'S. This is another reason why both Dallas and Indy complete a high % of the 3rd down conversions.
Exactly.... Just get the ball in Fosters hands. And on screen plays he'll be close to the sideline. That will make the defense move up and than Fitzpatrick could try to make a play down field... Not going to beat anybody good with a stagnant offense either.... The best defense is a good offense. And can't really blame the 2nd TD the Colts scored in the 1st quarter considering the defense was on the field for so long. Besides, dominate defenses are hard to sustain in a league geared for the offense to be successful. Have you seen Seattle play this year....???
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>DeAndre Hopkins said he thought Fitzpatrick's fumble was an incomplete pass. That's why he hesitated.</p>— Dave Zangaro (@DZangaro) <a href="https://twitter.com/DZangaro/status/520617615539306496">October 10, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Somehow some way Bill has to get this team ready to play some football. This is the 4th game so far that we came out sluggish, unexpired, and lethargic and unprepared.
Can't be too down about this, we knew the limitations of this team when the year started. That was one hell of a comeback, it just wasn't going their way last night. The secondary gave up way too much ass to receivers. We can't give up big chunks of yards all over the field and then point the finger at Fitzy like he plays safty and blame him for tripping on his own feet allowing a touchdown. Fitzy didn't do that, he brought the team back from the highest yrd total allowed by a defense in a quarter ever. Knowing how mistake prone he is the defense can't put pressure on the offense to score thirty points, that's ridiculous. Watt, Merciless, Simon, Cush and even Reed were bringing solid pressure our secondary let us down. J. Jo is done and we already knew what Kareem was. I know its frustrating for Crenel to not have had Morris to go in for Joseph but this off season our secondary needs to be addressed in free agency and the draft. But like I said we all know the best we could hope for this season is 9-7, then its Bryce Petty time
They ran the screens yesterday and they were terrible. I'm so tired of the "defense is tired" excuse. They got tore up before they could possibly be tired. And this isn't new. They've been run all over this year going all the way back to the year they brought Wade in, any team that tried could throw down field all day long. The defense just isn't good.
brutal game. Demoralized early. Then comes the tease of hope and thrill. Only to be followed by a comedy of errors. I still don't think Andre's catch was a catch but given the call was a fumble i get that it wasn't "conclusive" enough to overturn...even though I still think it was. Still, texans had another chance and Fitz went fitz.
Kareem did his job against Wayne, J. Jo and Kendrick Lewis were just abused. Where's Lonnie Balentine? LoL
