Houston Texans: What Ryan Fitzpatrick Needs To Work On

It’s the end of the week and the Houston Texans are raring to go for the match up against their next opponent — the Tennessee Titans.

They will hit the road to the Music City to face a struggling 2-5 squad that is still trying to find its identity.

I would normally say that the Texans are a shoo-in to win this game Sunday but I’ve seen so much over last season and the current one that I feel that anything is possible.

Possible that they may lose this game.

Rookie quarterback Zach Mettenberger is getting his first NFL career start under center and it’s tough to tell what kind of a performance he will put on.

I sincerely hope that he doesn’t light this team up or the game is going to be horrid to watch.

Luckily, the Texans are preparing for their opponent in the utmost of fashion and it’s imperative that they execute precisely and succinctly for eventual success.

George Godsey, the Texans’ quarterback coach, was available to the media Wednesday and provided some interesting tidbits in regard to what Fitz needs to work on so our offense runs like well-tuned machine, not a beat-up jalopy.

Here are some points he raised in regard to what he needs to do:

Be Efficient on Offense

"“To be efficient on offense,” Godsey said. “On normal downs, making the right decisions, going through his progressions in the passing game. On third down, finding a way to move the chains. He [Fitzpatrick] did a good job to start the game last week with the run-check. When we get the ball in the red zone, let’s score touchdowns. We can’t settle for field goals. That’s kind of what we’re looking for at the position.”"

I couldn’t agree with him more — Fitzpatrick was looking extremely efficient out there to start the game but toward the end of the half, Fitz started to look like his old self. The team would stall and would go three-and-out to have Shane Lechler punt or rely on Randy Bullock for the field goal. Bullock worked extra hard Monday kicking his way to scoring nearly half of the team’s points. After such a great start, the team ended up going 4-for-12 in regard to third down efficiency. Relying on the place kicker to keep the team in the game is not only blasphemous but just boring, lazy football to watch. Yawn!

Don’t let impulse ruin the reads.

"“When the pass is called, we have a designed read for Ryan [Fitzpatrick] to go through and sometimes if he jumps to a certain side too quickly because of what he sees in the coverage instead of going through just his normal process off seeing the safety, seeing the front and just working the progression like it’s installed, I think that’s what he’s talking about,” he said. “We’re going to try to get the ball to the open guy. He’s done a decent job as far as completion percentage has gone. But like I said, it’s more of the critical situations, a third down, making sure he’s not jumping to conclusions off of maybe what he saw on tape. ‘This is this play at this particular time.’ He can go through his progression at that point.”"

This is more evident than ever. Fitz is good at making his reads when needed but what his mind interprets and what his body does are two totally different things. Those two objects must be in-sync in order to keep those chains moving. You’ve seen it, I’ve seen it — it’s just hard to watch. I know he can do better with these particular qualities that he possesses but it takes time to hone to get it just right. Unfortunately the clock’s ticking on the Texans’ season; and, as of right now, the team is time-poor. So far this season, he has decently completed 66 percent of his passes but he has eight touchdown passes to seven interceptions. That’s nearly a 1:1 ratio and that’s unacceptable. He has got to do better in this area.

Don’t force something that’s not there.

"“That’s the challenge at the position, he said. “A lot of stuff happens post-snap and it’s all based quick decision-making. Unfortunately at that point, we didn’t make the right decision. When things happen like that, the best thing sometimes to do is take it and run, like he’s done a good job of. I think when he gets that situation again, we don’t need to force a ball in that situation or just play second down and move on. The thing with that is that there’s no 10-point play, or there’s no 14-point play and I think that’s the big thing to understand at that position that you’ve just got to chop wood and take it play-by-play and hopefully that next play, the big play is there for us on the next down.”"

This why us fans call him Pickpatrick! Part of his attributes is that he can run the football to get the yards needed when nothing is there but knowing WHEN to do so is important. It’s paramount to dominate the hash marks on any given down but he’s got to be shrewd with it. I love that he’s tough, can take a beating and scrap with just about anybody. Like I said above, his whole body has to be in sync, it’s sometimes a blessing and a curse that his Harvard brain is directing the traffic for the Texans. He sometimes will long for the “big” play instead of just slowly chipping away at the opposing team’s defense. He’s got to be surgical and tactical with every move he makes as our Bulls march down the field. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady regularly do it — it’s now Fitzie’s turn!

Be Efficient on Offense

Don’t let impulse ruin the reads.

Don’t force something that’s not there.