We left way too much time on the clock after our last score. We ran a hurry up offense when it really wasn't necessary
This was a very winnable game, and the way the Steelers handled the Ravens today indicates that the Texans are legit. I was disappointed in the play calling and the the offensive line play. I thought both were much better last week. What Stroud said after the game doesn't make sense to me, but I think he is the best thing to come around the Texans in a long time. Most of his throws were on target until late, and there were several drops. The running game was a bust. The defense played their hearts out and got gassed late. Pass defense needs work.
The classic talk radio caller explanation for a loss is always “bad play calling”. Has definitely stood the test of time. Definitely a guilty pleasure of this forum as well.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/te...ons-21-houston-texans-19-offense-18413892.php “I’ve been done bad in this stadium two times now,” said quarterback C.J. Stroud, referencing Ohio State’s loss to Georgia in the college football playoffs last January. “I don’t think it’s fun.” … Why did the Texans struggled to score points? It was simple. They were facing third-and-long far too often and couldn’t convert. Eight of their 13 third-down attempts were third-and-7 or longer, including seven of their first 10. The Texans converted only four of their third-down attempts all day. “They were loading the box, making it really, really hard for us to run the ball,” Stroud said. “I feel like we still tried to withstand that and get positive runs, but it’s hard to live in third and long.” Dameon Pierce, who had been the lone bright spot on the Texans’ offense in 2022, didn’t get going until that last drive. He finished with 66 yards on 20 carries for a 3.3 yards per carry average. Pierce faced seven or more defenders in the box on 14 of his 20 carries, according to NFL’s Next Gen Stats. He was stuffed three times. “I think we have to get it going,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “We’re going to keep running it. We’ve got to block it better. We’ve got to run it better.” … The Texans had the most success when they were passing it on first down. They passed on first down 11 times in Sunday’s game. Stroud was 7 of 11 for 92 yards on first-down throws. They ran it on first down 15 times — twice with Tank Dell and 13 times with Pierce — and gained only 39 yards on those plays. They lost yards on four of those plays and gained only one yard three more times. That culminated in a lot of difficult throwing situations for Stroud on second and third down and led to stalled drives. Of the four drives that got to the Falcons 25-yard line, the Texans only reached the end zone one time. One of those stalled drives happened after the defense forced a fumble and put the Texans’ offense in great field position. The Texans won the turnover battle 2-0 Sunday. Rarely do teams lose when they win the turnover battle by two. But the Texans scored only three points off those turnovers — both of which happened on back-to-back drives in the third quarter. “We’ve got to score points on that,” Stroud said. “We’ve got to help our defense out. Overall, it’s a lot to learn from. It just sucks because you lose, but a lot of positive things happened.” … Robert Woods said Stroud gathered the offense together and told them exactly what the Falcons would do. He told Schultz to be ready when the time came. On third-and-9 from the Falcons 18-yard line, Stroud hit Schultz in the back of the end zone for a touchdown, putting the Texans up a point with 1:49 left. But again, the lead was not enough, and the Falcons had too much time. “They made a couple of plays there at the end of the game, and we didn’t,” Ryans said. “So credit to those guys for stepping up and making the play when they had to.”
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/te...lcons-21-houston-texans-19-recap-18413891.php “A sack would’ve ended the game,” defensive tackle Khalil Davis said. The Texans did not sack Ridder all game. A mixture of four- and five-man rushes managed to hit him three times. But a defensive front equipped with No. 3 overall pick Will Anderson Jr. failed to levy the damage it needed. “Two minutes and you’ve got a one-point lead? We’ve got to get to the quarterback,” said defensive end Jerry Hughes, who finished with four tackles. “We’ve got to affect him, affect his rhythm, affect what he sees out there, and, you know what, we just didn’t do that today.” The Texans (2-3) entered the weekend producing the NFL’s fifth-fewest quarterback hits (19) and a benign pressure rate (23.2%) that ranked 15th in the league. “When we’re on the road and the offense gives us a lead like that late in the game, we’ve got to shut the door,” Hughes said. “If we’re going to be the defense we want to be to win this division, that’s what we’ve got to do.”
The most disappointing part of that is that Ridder had 16 sacks after the first 4 games, and we couldn't even get one on him.
Maybe if Pierce wasn't running straight ahead into a pack of defenders half the time it will work, but I dread the run plays every time we try it. It's like we go forward then backwards, and can't even get a first down when it's 3rd and 1 without pure luck.
Save your typical smug reply.... No one said to score slowly. Manage the clock is what I am saying. We were running at 2 minute offense pace with 2 timeouts left and we wound up leaving 2 minutes on the clock. The Falcons had all their time outs and had been walking all over our defense and we were only up a point. I get the strategy for us to run up to the line and try to catch the defense off guard. It worked as far as getting the score but operation maybe the Falcons will fumble for a third time fell short. Sure running the offense at a normal pace that helped run the clock could have backfired too. But it's a legitimate strategy as well. We were not getting the ball back with the way our defense was playing. Join the debate or go back to grouch replies.
I didn’t get to watch game live today, building some cabinet built ins for the wife. Looked like a frustrating game. Will watch in just a bit
And PLEASE….no more running Tank Dell at runningback! I dread the Tank Dell running plays WAY MORE! They didn't run the ball as much as they should have. I don't blame D. Pierce AT ALL! If the hole ain't there, its just not there.
