This is the biggest farce... How exactly was the offense night and day different with Mallett? I think people want to believe this because they are clinging onto any hope that Mallett could be "the guy". In the Cleveland game, Mallett had a 7.0 ypa and 211 yards passing on 66.6% completion rate. However, the running game pounded out 213 yards on 50+ carries, leading to a 34 minute TOP. Overall, the offense averaged 5 yards per play. Want something to chew on? Out of the first 9 games that Fitz started, there was only 1 game that the Texans averaged less than 5 yards per play (against the Bills, which they won). And out of the 11 games that Fitz played the whole game, there was only 1 game in which he had under a 7.0 ypa. By what metric are we assuming that the offense was so much better under Mallett? Or because of what Mallett brings to the table? Yes, Mallett had a good game, but "Night and Day" difference from how the offense was with Fitzpatrick is absolutely incorrect.
I feel the difference went beyond simple passing stats and run/pass differentials... it was how he commanded the offense with a mix of hurry up along with slowing it down when needed. It was the occasional ball with zip along with the occasional deep ball that gave you glimmers of what this offense "could" be with a guy who not only could run the hurry up well, but had a cannon for an arm. There were no miscommunications or mistakes that required early timeouts. Lastly, what often gets overlooked, is that Mallet did not look like a guy starting his first NFL game.... or somebody who'd only taken 4 regular season snaps to that point. That sort of "poise" gave optimism that something tangible could be built on top of that. Contrast Fitz who is in his 10th season... it would be hard for me to believe that he also had that total-control grasp of his team in his first NFL start. Even up to his last start, he didn't have the offense getting to the line with the same "command". (now, granted... the Texans were going into that Cleveland game off a bye week, so had 2 weeks to implement everything... perhaps they just scripted it perfectly, and Mallet benefitted from the extra week of practice.).
The protection was absolutely "night and day" better; the pace was quicker; decisions were better; a TE caught a pass and Mallett was able to connect downfield. It was also one of the rare wire-to-wire - I won't say blow-outs but the Texans seemed in absolute control from the opening kick and it felt cruise control-y - 26 second half runs. And remember: no Arian Foster. ETA: More remembering - a lot of Fitzpatrick's numbers were out of whack because of his redonk game aginst the Titans. I'd be curious how his numbers, minus that game, compared to Mallett's start.
I understand that. But I would think that if you trashed on a guy since he was drafted, like a majority of people did, you would be able to see the MAJOR improvements he made last season. But No. People want to constantly bash this guy, and yet through all of it he remained loyal and stayed even though he probably went and earned more money and play for more respectful fans.
I posted this in the wrong offseason thread. There needs to be a poll for the number of people on this forum who cannot spell Ryan "Mallett." Is Jordan Cameron still an option for the Texans, and for how much money?
He actually can throw the ball deep. Took the safeties out of the box and woah, like magic we had some room.
Yes, we had an uptempo offense...no arian foster, but the guys we had were pounding out yards and giving Mallett plenty of 3rd and short situations to work with. If you look at protection, our offensive line was night and day better after the bye than before the bye, even when Fitzpatrick returned as starter. Did Fitzpatrick all of a sudden learn how to call pre-snap protection better? Or was that more of a case of the offensive line just getting their crap together? And yes, the Texans were in absolute control of the entire game...but without 200+ yards of rushing, Mallett would have been in a much more difficult situation. I'd say the 6 touchdown performance by Fitz was the most impressive the offense had been all year long. Tennessee was in the top half of pass defense in 2014. EDIT: After the bye, it was BOB that improved his playcalling. He was atrocious the first half of the year and just as responsible for the lacking offense as Fitz was in the first half of the year.
Maybe, but O'Brien believes in him enough to bring him back. I think that shows something about the confidence in Mallett.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not against bringing back Mallett, I'm just saying that we can't assume all that much based on one good game against a bottom feeder team. I certainly hope that Mallett comes out and crushes it this year.
Dre and Dream are Houston legends so of course it matters. It happens but both look weird if they're not in a rockets or Texans uni.
Well yeah, but Dream wearing a Raptors jersey for a little while didn't change that and IMO it's the same thing as Andre having his declining year or two elsewhere. We'll always have the memories and that's about all he's good for at this point.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Also, with Ryan Mallet coming back, and Brian Hoyer possibly signing as well, the Texans have released QB Thad Lewis.</p>— Field Yates (@FieldYates) <a href="https://twitter.com/FieldYates/status/575045152873521153">March 9, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
And yet you're willing to call Hoyer a "career scrub" based on your exposure to him last year (this game included). Sample size is poor all-around... but its good that the one person who has seen the "most" of them as pro's is this team's head coach.
I've seen nothing at all worth liking in Hoyer's larger sample, I've seen a little worth liking in Mallett's sample so I have more hope for him showing something. In the end, I give BOB the benefit of the doubt because he hasn't done anything to make me thing he doesn't deserve it.
