Houston Texans: How To Fix Brock Osweiler's Problem

Are you believing what you’re seeing Houston Texans’ fans? Are you surprised? Well, let elaborate what I’m talking about. I’m referring to our dismal quarterback play as of late. Brock Osweiler, the $72 million man that we’ve anointed to rescue us from the mediocre quarterbacks that we’ve had over the years has forsaken us.

Are you believing what you’re seeing Houston Texans‘ fans? Are you surprised? Well, let elaborate what I’m talking about. I’m referring to our dismal quarterback play as of late. Brock Osweiler, the $72 million man that we’ve anointed to rescue us from the mediocre quarterbacks that we’ve had over the years has forsaken us.

Is he a wolf in sheep’s clothing?

I certainly hope not.

Is it a bit early to start making judgements about his skills?

Possibly, but we’re going to do it today anyway.

Let’s rewind back to earlier this year during NFL free agency — we were all excited about the apparent coup d’etat that we made of a guy that was ready to come into his own.

At that time, it was clearly obvious why he wanted to leave the Denver Broncos, he didn’t want the Peyton Manning/John Elway comparisons and wanted to make a mark on his own accord.

Also it didn’t help that the Texans guaranteed $37 million — including a $12 million signing bonus — to help influence his decision.

And most of all, he didn’t feel appreciated as the Broncos didn’t not want to budge from the deal that they offered him, which was significantly lower than the Texans’.

We all saw and heard him at his initial press conference back in the Spring.

He stood tall — he has no choice, he’s 6’7″ — emanated confidence, said the right things and looked every bit of person who was ready to take leadership of this football team.

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I was excited because, for the most part, our past quarterbacks were just doing what they could just to keep their job, so there was nothing that indicated in how they came across to demonstrate stability.

Remember when Matt Schaub got into Andre Johnson‘s face when the 2013 season was falling off a cliff?

Nope, that didn’t go over well because that’s not his personality and he has always been a silent leader.

The type of guy that speaks softly but carries a big stick.

I know it’s an old adage but it certainly rings true about Schaubie.

Brock’s a bit different, he looks like he’ll get into your face if you screw up but the problem is when you’re the leader and you’re the one making mistakes, it’s hard to critique others.

This puts him in a tough spot.

So how bad is it?

So far, Brock has gone 109-for-188, passing for 1,113 yards with six touchdowns to seven interceptions through their five games so far.

Of course, the alarming stat is the interceptions but let’s look a bit deeper into what’s causing the problem.

So what exactly is the problem?

His ability to remain cool and collective when the pressure is on.

According to Pro Football Focus, Osweiler has a 92.9 quarterback rating when there’s no pressure thrown at him.

When he’s being blitzed, that number drops to a 58.5 and when there’s pressure being applied it tumbles even further a 23.1.

Ouch.

Not to mention that the majority of his 1,113 passing yards this season (911) have been picked up off of no-pressure plays.

That constitutes 81.2 percent of those yards were in a clean and stout pocket.

The problem with that is that our offensive line is quite makeshift and it could very be the worst in the league at this time.

But Brock can’t blame that because the elite quarterbacks know how to distribute the ball despite the pressure that’s being thrown at them.

He hasn’t been able to prove that he can yet and he can’t but the blame on the offensive line.

He asked for this when he came here and he has got to rise to the occasion.

Next: Week 6 Game Status Report

So here are three simple things that Osweiler must do in order to get back on the straight and narrow:

1.) Make good decisions

2.) Be versatile

3.) Emanate confidence

The No. 3 bullet point is the most important because it’s reflective of how the team perceives him and the overall flow and attitude during a game.

This also has an effect on our opponents as well because if there is any sign of weakness shown, they will exploit it, which is similar to what the Minnesota Vikings did to him this past Sunday.

He has to show that he can’t be rattled and is in command.

He talked a very good game at that press conference but talk is cheap, especially in a league that is centric around the theme of “what have you done for me lately.”

I’m rooting for the guy and I feel that he’ll come around eventually but it’s got to be sooner than later.

Let’s hope for the best and win some football games Brock.

Go Texans.

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Houston Texans: How To Fix Brock Osweiler’s Problem

By Brian K. Patterson | Oct 15, 2016

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