Week 5 – Texans At 49’ers: Game Breakdown

Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

I can’t even explain the feeling at this point. There’s a lot of frustration yet I find myself laughing. Disappointment, but I felt like I knew it was coming. I think all Texans fans can agree that they hoped the Texans could pull some victory out but didn’t expect to see what conspired in 60 minutes of football last night. Can you even call it football? That was as bad as a football team (or the offense) can play in 60 minutes. 3 damn points?!? Where the heck was the offense? Let’s take a look at the good (barely) and the bad from the Texans 34-3  loss to the 49’ers.

What Went Right

• J.J. Watt – Because he belongs in this section every single game. Watt was a force on the line last night and forced the 49’ers to bring a double team on many plays. Watt was able to disrupt several runs in the backfield and made a few clean hits on Kaepernick.
• Shane Lechler – Because he has been a top 5 Texans player this season. 3 punts averaging 50.3 yards and one downed inside the 20.
• Arian Foster – The lone bright spot on a putrid day on offense. 21 rushes for 98 yards to go along with 4 receptions for 20 yards. Nice night for him.
• Jared Crick – In his limited meaningful time, Crick had two pass deflections. That was a hell of a lot more than the production of most of his other teammates on the line.
• Coin toss – See how bad last night’s game was? I have to include the coin toss as the 5th best player/event of last night’s game. I’m pretty sure the Texans have won every coin toss this season. Can’t say that about every game though.
• Stats – They always win the stats battle. 29 more total yards, had the ball for almost 8 more minutes, yet they’re only 2-3 when they win the points battle. Imagine that?

What Went Wrong

I really wanted to just write “Everything” but I decided to go a bit more in-depth.

• Matt Schaub – Just another terrible performance by the “quarterback.” If your quarterback has a weak arm, no confidence, and no mobility, then he probably shouldn’t be your quarterback. We used to think Schaub gives us the best opportunity to win, but at this point I’m not so sure.
• Defensive line (minus Watt) – Didn’t feel like they got any push into Kaepernick. Very little pressure, and Gore was able to get to the second level pretty easily.
• Matt Schaub – Another pick-6 which effectively ended the game.
• Officiating on one drive – On one drive in the third quarter the officials made an iffy call on a Brice McCain “holding,” and missed two consecutive false starts by the offense. One they said their was no penalty and the other they gave to Watt. Poor performance on that drive.
• Matt Schaub – He apparently didn’t play poor enough to lose his job next week (yet).
• Keshawn Martin – Sure he had one nice return for 49 yards and one nice 14-yard catch, but otherwise he had another poor performance in the return game. He returns kicks from 5+ yards into the end zone and rarely sniffs the 20-yard line. Just take a knee in the end zone! His punt returns belong on “Dancing With The Stars.”
• Matt Schaub – Look at the tackles stats. Andre Johnson had 1 and DeAndre Hopkins had 1. If Schaub can throw to his receivers those wouldn’t happen.
• Ed Reed – Didn’t look good. Don’t think the Vernon Davis TD was on him, but he also looked old (like a 70+) out on the field.
• Matt Schaub – When your QB rating (32.2) is lower than the Astros win total, things aren’t going well.
• Ben Tate – 7 rushes for 28 yards makes for a nice 4 yards per carry. The problem? Another fumble. I hope he enjoys the Browns the next season.
• Matt Schaub – Oh look! His 6th appearance on this list. I wonder why?
• Randy Bullock – Another missed field goal. As if things couldn’t get worse…

The Turning Point

1st quarter

14:57 – San Francisco kicked off, Keshawn Martin returned kickoff for 16 yards

14:47 1st & 10, HOU12 – Ben Tate rushed up the middle for 1 yard loss

14:11 2nd & 11, HOU11 – Arian Foster rushed up the middle for 5 yard gain

13:30 3rd & 6, HOU16 – Tramaine Brock intercepted Matt Schaub for 18 yard touchdown. Phil Dawson made PAT

That’s 7 points right there. The Texans scored 3. You do the math…

My Final Thoughts 

Just look at the stats. It sure looks like the Texans played decently well. Colin Kaepernick was just 6/15 for 113 yards, 64 of which coming on a blown coverage TD. The 49’ers gained just 284 yards on offense, many of which coming in the 4th quarter. The 49’ers were without Patrick Willis. Yet, you look at the final score and the Texans lost by 31. The defense played pretty well again but they don’t get any help from their offense. Losing by 21 to the Ravens, terrible loss when up 21 to the Seahawks in the second half, and now a 31-point loss to the 49’ers. It’s pathetic. In the last three games the offense has shown up for about 2 quarters worth of football. The fact is the Texans are a good team but they need to figure things out. We will see if Kubiak and the rest of the coaching staff make adjustments as they get ready for the St. Louis Rams next week at Reliant Stadium.