3rd Quarter Drought..

[thunderkyss]

I was watching the Texans/Cleveland game on Replay the other day, & I remember a stat from that game. It flashed across the screen, that we allowed 96 points in the third quarter up to that point(game 11). If I'm not mistaken, we've also had problems scoring in the third quarter as well.

Any idea's as to why that is??

Certain things have to start happening for us to become a legit contender. Winning at home, I think we've done that. Winning on the road... I think we can all agree that we've got to get better there as well.

But coming out flat in the third quarter..... that ain't going to work.

[adam]

I think part of it is in the half time adjustments. That's the only thing I could imagine having that big an impact on our play in one specific quarter over such a long period of time. It's the coaching staff's job to make adjustments at half time to improve the team's efficiency going into the third and fourth quarters, and that just wasn't happening last year.

[HOU-TEX]

K.C. - Mario's TD return. Offense turned it over their first possession (TO).
Car - Touchdown
Ind - Interception (TO)
Atl - FG
Mia - FG
J-ville - Recovered a fumble after 3 and out punt, which ended with a FG
Tenn - Interception (TO)
SD - Decent drive with nothing to show. This game sucked.
Oak - FG attempt blocked
N.O. - 3 and out. Fatty couldn't get 1 yd on 4th down
Cle - 3 and out. Next possession = (TO)
Tenn - 3 and out
TB - AD return for TD. First offensive possession = 3 and out
Den - Touchdown
Ind - Interception (TO)
J-Ville - AD return for TD. First offensive possession = TD

It appears turnovers are the primary reason for our opening 3rd quarter failures.

[GP]

Originally Posted by adam

I think part of it is in the half time adjustments. That's the only thing I could imagine having that big an impact on our play in one specific quarter over such a long period of time. It's the coaching staff's job to make adjustments at half time to improve the team's efficiency going into the third and fourth quarters, and that just wasn't happening last year.

I wonder if Sherman was given the reins a little more than Kubiak would have liked to have allowed, and Sherman's the reason behind our offense failing to adjust at halftime?

I am hoping that Shanny Jr. is going to correct this problem and hopefully be sharp enough to see what we need to do from one half to the next.

3rd Quarter was pure hell. Period.

[barrett]

that's wishful thinking at best. i'm sure kubiak is as big a part of the half time adjustments as anyone. no doubt that is something that he could improve on. there's alot of factors though.

with so much injury issues we may have been a bit handcuffed as far as what kind of adjustments we could make. (but that's wishful thinking at best)

[adam]

Originally Posted by GP

I wonder if Sherman was given the reins a little more than Kubiak would have liked to have allowed, and Sherman's the reason behind our offense failing to adjust at halftime?

I am hoping that Shanny Jr. is going to correct this problem and hopefully be sharp enough to see what we need to do from one half to the next.

3rd Quarter was pure hell. Period.

I'm sure Sherman had something of a hand in the atrocious half time adjustments, but it would be silly to suggest that the problem is now solved with his departure. Then again, as both a UT and Texans fan...it would be quite convenient were that the case.

[ObsiWan]

Originally Posted by HOU-TEX

K.C. - Mario's TD return. Offense turned it over their first possession (TO).
Car - Touchdown
Ind - Interception (TO)
Atl - FG
Mia - FG
J-ville - Recovered a fumble after 3 and out punt, which ended with a FG
Tenn - Interception (TO)
SD - Decent drive with nothing to show. This game sucked.
Oak - FG attempt blocked
N.O. - 3 and out. Fatty couldn't get 1 yd on 4th down
Cle - 3 and out. Next possession = (TO)
Tenn - 3 and out
TB - AD return for TD. First offensive possession = 3 and out
Den - Touchdown
Ind - Interception (TO)
J-Ville - AD return for TD. First offensive possession = TD

It appears turnovers are the primary reason for our opening 3rd quarter failures.

Good research.

[False Start]

Very good research ! I always dreaded the 3rd quarter last year .

[HOU-TEX]

Originally Posted by ObsiWan

Good research.

Thanks, I was curious because I actually thought we got better as the season progressed. Obviously that wasn't the case.

So we began the 3rd with a TO on offense 5 times.

4 ended in FG attempts. One being blocked.

4 ended in 3 and outs

And only 3 ended in TD's.

IMO, correct the turnover situation and this would more than likely be a non-issue.

[El Tejano]

How many times were we leading at half time?

[HOU-TEX]

Originally Posted by El Tejano

How many times were we leading at half time?

Okay, you talked me into it. lol
______________________________________
Half Final
K.C. - 10-0 20-3 W
Car - 17-14 34-21 W
Ind - 14-10 24-30 L
Atl - 10-20 16-26 L
Mia - 10-16 22-19 W
Jac - 6-10 17-37 L
Ten - 7-22 36-38 L
SD - 3-35 10-35 L
Oak - 17-0 24-17 W
NO - 17-10 23-10 W
Cle - 10-14 17-27 L
Ten - 10-7 20-28 L
TB - 14-7 28-14 W
Den - 10-6 31-13 W
Ind - 7-24 15-38 L
Jac- 21-14 42-28 W

We were ahead at the half every game we won except Miami. The 1st Indy game and the second titans game were the only 2 we lost when leading at halftime.

We were blown out 3 times this past season.

We only lost 1 game by 3 or less.

Only 2 losses were 7 or lower

The remaining 6 games were lost by an average of 16 points.

Of those 6 games we had 18 turnovers vs. our opponents 6

+12 TO ratio in 6 games = Pathetic!

[Hooston Texan]

Originally Posted by HOU-TEX

Okay, you talked me into it. lol
______________________________________
Half Final
K.C. - 10-0 20-3 W
Car - 17-14 34-21 W
Ind - 10-1424-30 L
Atl - 10-20 16-26 L
Mia - 10-16 22-19 W
Jac - 6-10 17-37 L
Ten - 7-22 36-38 L
SD - 3-35 10-35 L
Oak - 17-0 24-17 W
NO - 17-10 23-10 W
Cle - 10-14 17-27 L
Ten - 10-7 20-28 L
TB - 14-7 28-14 W
Den - 10-6 31-13 W
Ind - 7-24 15-38 L
Jac- 21-14 42-28 W

We were ahead at the half every game we won except Miami. The 1st Indy game and the second titans game were the only 2 we lost when leading at halftime.

We were blown out 3 times this past season.

We only lost 1 game by 3 or less.

Only 2 losses were 7 or lower

The remaining 6 games were lost by an average of 16 points.

Of those 6 games we had 18 turnovers vs. our opponents 6

+12 TO ratio in 6 games = Pathetic!

We trailed the first Indy game at halftime, 14-10, so the only blown halftime lead was the second Tennessee game.

[HOU-TEX]

Originally Posted by Hooston Texan

We trailed the first Indy game at halftime, 14-10, so the only blown halftime lead was the second Tennessee game.

Ah, had them backwards. Thanks

[disaacks3]

Going just off the TO allowed & the number of 3 & outs (which constitutes the vast majority of these) - it looks like we're: A) Too predictable, and B) Flat. I'm wondering in how many of those games the opposing offense had long time-consuming drives as well.

This sounds like a coaching issue for Kubes & the crew to get worked out. Hey, everybody has to have SOMETHING to focus on!

[Double Barrel]

Good topic, Thunderkyss. I remember the same feeling about the 3rd quarter last season. We always hoped for the best, but they'd always come out flat and looking like no viable adjustments were being made at the half.

[Rex King]

I was going to hypothesize that having no running game contributed, but that doesn't really hold up. If anything, it would be the coaches' lack of confidence in the running game. Incomplete passes on 1st or 2nd down. A lot of 3rd and longs. Kubes admitted a couple of times they got away from running the ball, but can you blame him?

Or maybe they're just not eating their orange slices.

[edo783]

Originally Posted by HOU-TEX

Of those 6 games we had 18 turnovers vs. our opponents 6

+12 TO ratio in 6 games = Pathetic!

That ratio pretty much gaurantees losses. This is why they are emphasising turnover in OTA'a and TC. Don't trun it over and get turn overs. That will make a huge difference.

[76Texan]

Nice topic and good posts!

Also, were the miss-tackles a problem in the third?
I wonder how much posession time we had in the third?

[NBT]

I think the "Droughts" were the result of 1) not enough depth, 2) Inconsistant halftime adjustments, 3) Not enough talent on defense, especially in run defense. We were playing too tentative, IMO., & 4) defensive coaching (Smith). I still don't like our defensive coordinator.