Quick Thoughts On Houston Texans Loss To The Pittsburgh Steelers

“They are who we thought they were…”

Am I right?

My expectations for the Texans weren’t good for this season. Was expecting such a meh season. 5-11, 6-10, 7-9. Nothing great. Just a solid team, beating the bad teams, close in other games, poor efforts against good teams.

And that’s about what they’re up to at this point.

The early part of the season got fans excited. However, the last three weeks have fans screaming for everyone’s head. To be fair, I’ve been calling for Ryan Mallett to start at QB from the moment they traded for him. More on that in a moment.

Here’s some random quick thoughts on tonight’s loss.

Oct 20, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin reacts in the first quarter against the Houston Texans at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Outcoached, outdisciplined, outplayed. Good early start to the game; a promising start considering the Texans had struggled all season long in the first quarter. But the Texans completely lost control in the second quarter. Brian Cushing‘s mistackle and poor coverage on Le’Veon Bell was a momentum changer. Right when it happened the thought popped into my head and it ended up being true. Bummer.

Ben Roethlisberger‘s big-time throw for his 1st TD was a beauty. And then everything completely unraveled. Danieal Manning‘s muffed kick led to terrible position. An Arian Foster fumble afterwards gave the Steelers an easy 3-yard TD. The next drive an INT forced by pressure – but still a bad throw – gave the Steelers another easy 7.

And that was basically the game. The Texans had a few chances later on in the game but they couldn’t come through. Key penalties continued Steelers’ offensive drives. Some missed opportunities by Fitzpatrick and then a late game fumble by DeAndre Hopkins was basically all she wrote.

So how does this change? Let’s start with quarterback. I actually thought Fitzpatrick was decent. That is, decent enough to win you a game against a bad opponent, like Washington and Oakland. Probably decent enough to beat Pittsburgh had they not had that second quarter debacle. But it happened and Fitzpatrick isn’t good enough to lead your team back for a win. He just can’t.

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Can Ryan Mallett? I don’t know. BUT I WANT TO FIND OUT. Fitzpatrick made some decent throws throughout the game, but missed an open Andre Johnson in the endzone in a key part of the game. Of course he looked pretty good late in the 4th, but doesn’t every QB when a team plays a deep zone to not give up any huge plays?

I just want to see that change, whether it helps or not. Why? Read what I wrote last week.

Bill O’Brien didn’t have a great game himself. 12-men on the field probably isn’t his fault, but that can’t EVER happen. A RB going in motion uncovered? Yea, maybe call a timeout there. He couldn’t rally his team and they just weren’t able to come back.

And a quick note on the return teams…YOU GUYS SUCK. Sincerely, Texans fans.

The Texans will continue to fight in games, continue to frustrate fans and win 6-8 games. Mediocrity sucks.

They are who I thought they were…

MEDIOCRE