They 1000% weren't. People just wanted a scapegoat. So far, the best CJ Stroud has ever looked was with Bobby Slowik so I mean... I get why the move was made but to hire another nondescript also ran like Caley was pretty uninspiring to begin with. Today adds a lot of fuel to the fire. Maybe it's turns out to be a good move but I'm not highly optimistic.
Alright I guess the standard is that if we are going against good defenses we can’t score touchdowns?
Some of us tried to lower expectations for game 1 but apparently to no avail. It was obvious to me the offense was going to struggle out of the gate with a brand new o-line, one returning WR, no proven the RB and against a very good, well-coached team. Observing the overreactions is entertaining. I'll repeat two more things: Lack of depth in the secondary and o-line are huge risks to completely derailing the season.
I don’t know what people expect about secondary depth. They drafted a cb, made a great trade using a useless lineman. Stingley got hurt on his first defensive assignment and played sub-par, but the defense gave up 14 points and gave the offense a chance to pull out an upset on the road. We drafted an offensive tackle that played successfully all over the line. They tried a couple of long shots with Robinson and others, but it takes 2 to tango. We had a lack of depth at receiver and they addressed it. The OL was not near as bad as being made out. If you want to b**** at the FO, make it about RB which was obviously ignored and everyone and their uncle knew Mixon would be a problem (every other GM knew it as well). Rome wasn’t built in a day and we lost to a very good team on the road 14-9. What a bunch of unrealistic immature fans we have. This team is going to the playoffs and with one of the best defenses in the league will make some noise. Relax!
I agree with everything in this post with the exception of Mixon. He got injured by a hip tackle, not once, but twice. He's not glass, he got injured on TWO illegal tackles.
WR depth was addressed but depending on two rookies early in the season just ain't gonna work. Kirk is out when the Texans needed him the most. Assuming Higgins and Noel find their stride after several games (of which I'm confident), they should be OK at the position. I think the Texans would have won if Mixon was out there. I hate to sound pessimistic, but it's possible the offense limps all season without him. I'm ready to cut Caley some slack to right the ship, but it may be rough seas for the offense with Mixon. Fans need to chill and give the offense time to sort things out. Don't assume the worst. There are 16 more games.
I think it has more to do with the Rams knowing (1) they had nothing to fear from the run game (2) nor from any receiver other than Nico and (3) the o-line was very questionable in both run and pass blocking. That made their game plan very obvious. IMO, it's not fair to pile on Caley after one game where his hands were tied around his back. That is an overreaction.
Every team in the league has a depth issue in the secondary. There isn’t a single team feeling awesome about their backup corners. The o line was worse in 2023 and the offense was still moving the ball. It’s not even the talent, how are we still committing pre snap penalties every drive? Nobody is expecting the o line to be the best in the league, just serviceable, and to no continue to make stupid ****ing mistakes over and over again.
I guess, but instead of motioning receivers and scheming things for Nico Collins, we’re trying to feed the ball to Damien Pierce with the game on the line. Dare was just a safety valve and he was wide open, so I don’t necessarily take issue with those plays. There are things that can be done to help the offense move the ball and score touchdowns. It’s not like the only outcome of the game had to be the Texans offense sucking ass, that’s absurd. It was a poor gameplan and even more poorly executed, which falls on the head coach and offensive coordinator. The players need to do a better job too.
Yesterday, it looked like Slowik was still the offensive coordinator. I am extremely disappointed in Caley. His old boss twisted him into a pretzel.
It's hard to judge this offense, penalties, injuries to the O Line and game one with no to little time to practice, No Mixon, No Kirk In some ways it looked similar to last year but there were zero explosive plays yesterday and only 5 attempts to Nico, DP is not the DP we got in year one and the fumble to end the game was just a kick in the nads
Grabbing CJG doesn't help the CB position, nor does relying on a 3R rookie when your CB depth is 2-deep. Every team routinely plays 3 WR sets; to not have even an adequate 3rd CB is a roster-building mistake. If Sting or Lassiter get hurt, we are screwed.
Yep and Slowik/Tunsil aren't around to blame anymore. If CJ doesn't improve, how many OC's are we going to blame before we get down to the heart of the matter? Unless he greatly improves his game Cal shouldn't even consider paying CJ big bucks this offseason. Cal will be dooming his franchise and unfortunately I bet that's exactly what Cal does.
There were times yesterday when CJ could have stepped up into the pocket to avoid the rush, but he ran backwards. I still thought the play calling was not creative at all, very predictable. Why does any team keep running plays that go nowhere, over and over again?
Yeah I get CJ has holes in his game, but I can’t unsee what I’ve seen from CJ when he’s performing well. He hasn’t progressed further than that yet, and it’s disappointing, but I am absolutely willing to continue to blame scheme and coordinators. And Demeco Dyans. He’s the head football coach not the defensive coordinator. Figure it the **** out. Hiring randos can work out but again, I don’t look at either of CJs OCs and think, oh yeah those were/are offensive geniuses. I really hope this is just a bad performance and that Nick Caley proves me wrong, but man if the Texans don’t do some stupid stupid **** that I don’t see other teams doing, at least not with the same frequency.
Everyone forgets this and I can’t ****ing stand it. does Jon Harbaugh just focus on his special teams? It’s ridiculous.
