Week 9 – Texans v.s. Colts: Game Breakdown

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Every single time. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 1-point lead or a 100-point lead. It’s tough to ever feel confident about the Texans odds of winning until the clock hits zero. The Texans dominated the first half and it looked like their season may have turned around. Case Keenum had a heck of a game but it wasn’t enough as the Texans fell to the Colts last night. Let’s take a look at the good and the bad from the Texans 27-24 loss (which I unfortunately correctly predicted) to the Colts.

What Went Right

• Case Keenum – If there is one Texans player that gives Texans fans any hope it’s got to be Keenum. Keenum had another spectacular performance under the bright lights with 350 passing yards and 3 TD’s. Keenum did all he could given the play calling, but it just wasn’t enough.
• Andre Johnson – See what a good quarterback does to a wide receiver? 9 catches for 223 yards and 3 TD’s. Beast
• Ben Tate – 22 rushes for 81 yards. Not a great performance but I have to give the man props for playing with four cracked ribs.
• Dennis Johnson – Good work in his little time on the field. 8 rushes for 36 yards and a decent return.
• Antonio Smith – It took six games but Smith finally showed up in a game and sacked Luck two times and made a handful of other plays.
• J.J. Watt – One sack, one pass deflection, one blocked kick, and a few hurries. Good night.

What Went Wrong

• Arian Foster – Told team he was good enough to go and it took him just one or two plays to head to the locker room to get changed back into street clothes. That can’t EVER happen.
• Second half play calling – Rick Dennison took over play calling duties in the second half and he might have cost the Texans a win. Keenum was rolling after one half but the Texans went away from big plays in the second half.
• Brice McCain – It amazes me how he still gets playing time. Beat all day every day.
• Keshawn Martin – Bonehead decisions and fumbles, yet he still somehow gets sent back to return all the time. WHY?!?!?
• Special Teams – A great first quarter but went back to normal giving up big yardage returns, bad punts, and terrible returns. Joe Marciano still has his job amazingly.
• Johnathan Joseph – T.Y. Hilton‘s money is made with his speed. Can’t get beat by the deep ball and he did TWICE.
• Randy Bullock – Texans lose by three and their kicker misses three field goals. If my math is correct then this game could have ended in a different fashion. Bullock has been nothing short of pathetic this season.
• Officiating – Some rough calls went against the Texans late in the game including what seemed to be an Andre Johnson catch ruled incomplete after review. It was originally called a catch on the field but somehow, even though video replay seemed to show otherwise, the officials overturned the call causing the Texans to punt late in the game.

The Turning Point

With the Texans up 21-3 at halftime, things were looking good for the Texans, but then things quickly turned south. Gary Kubiak collapsed as he headed towards the locker room and the Texans play would show their concern for their head coach. Kubiak headed to the hospital and Wade Phillips took over as the head coach with Rick Dennison as the team’s play-caller. As the game went on the Texans looked flat and Kubiak was clearly on their minds, and you can’t blame them for that. It clearly had a huge effect on the Texans and it’s extremely unfortunate given the way the Texans had been playing. Prayers to both Gary Kubiak and his family.

My Final Thoughts

Another brutal loss is what we should have expected. Again, if the Kubiak incident doesn’t happen things could have been different, but you can’t play the “what ifs” game in the NFL. The Texans are now 2-6 and the playoffs are almost out of reach. The Texans schedule does get softer so their’s always a chance but it’s not looking good. Texans fans should start paying more attention to college football as it’s like our Texans will be drafting in the top half of April’s NFL draft.