Quick Recap: Texans Offense Continues To Struggle In Loss
By Yoni Pollak
Another week and another loss for the Texans in very similar fashion.
The difference in this game was the change at quarterback. Though other than that, it was another ugly game from the men in the Deep Steel Blue uniforms.
Ryan Mallett started the game and couldn’t get much going in the first half. His receivers certainly didn’t help him out, dropping ball after ball early in the game, and forcing the Texans defense to spend much of the first half on the field.
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The Texans somehow lead 3-0 after the first quarter but the Panthers put up 10 points in the second quarter, one of which was an easy touchdown to Ted Ginn Jr., no thanks to the “coverage” by A.J. Bouye. The Texans were lucky to finish the half down 10-3 with the Panthers also dropping some easy catches and not executing well either.
We thought the Texans defense could be All-Worldly but they’re nowhere close to that after two games. The pass-rush isn’t there even 25 percent of the time and the secondary has more holes than we thought. Johnathan Joseph is no-longer a starting caliber cornerback and Bouye has been burned more often than not lately.
Mallett and the Texans looked better offensively in the second half but it was too little too late for the second consecutive week. After driving the Texans to the redzone with under 30 seconds to go in the fourth quarter, Mallett misfired to DeAndre Hopkins in the endzone to give the Panthers a 24-17 win.
Game Notes
- Mallett wasn’t good today but wasn’t terrible. Drops by receivers hurt him and the offensive line crumbled on many different occasions. Still, Mallett made his fair share of bad throws but is still likely to start week three (and he should).
- The running game is bad. Alfred Blue isn’t a starting RB in the NFL. I’ve been saying it for a while, but Jonathan Grimes is the best RB on this team, with Arian Foster still out.
- Nate Washington should have had an easy long TD but was tackled by the turf monster in the 4th quarter. The Texans still scored on that drive when Mallett ran it in from six-yards out on 4th down.
- Bill O’Brien was outcoached for the second straight week.
- J.J. Watt was held in check much of the game. The Panthers sent many double-teams his way and no one else on the Texans elected to step up.
- Houston got lucky that Carolina was equally ineffective this game. They also had several drops and poor execution throughout this game.
- John Simon is really good at missing tackles and not setting the edge.
- Whitney Mercilus has done absolutely nothing through two games.
- The officials missed two crucial calls in this game. The first was on third down they gave the Panthers a first down on a horrific spot. Still, the Texans somehow elected not to challenge and the Panthers scored on that drive (another coaching mistake). The second was an obvious hold on Jadeveon Clowney in the 4th quarter on 3rd down. The Panthers didn’t score on that drive.
- Special teams is still an absolute mess. Coverage was terrible. Returning was equally as bad.
- RT Jeff Adams left the game on a cart after an injury. He was already a backup lineman and the Texans can’t afford to lose anymore lineman.
- The Texans really need Arian Foster back and healthy for this offense to have any success.
- The Buccaneers won’t be a simple win as many predicted just two weeks ago.
- Remember fans, it’s a long season. The Colts started 0-2 last year and the Texans started 3-0. At worst the Texans will be one game out of the division.
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