**Official Game-Day Thread** Texans at Jets Saturday Dec 15th, 2018!!

[amazing80]

Great job with the pics. Would you happen to have the presnap look before this snap?

I'm wondering why Kelemente is pulling to block no one. Maybe to sell the play action. But because of that pull, Davenport has to block down, leaving Griffen woefully overmatched.

We have 7 guys there to block 5

8 if you count the RB.

They came out and lined up in this position and never moved. No fake blitz or anything. Watson lined up and called out 56 as the Mike and snapped the ball.

No idea why they pulled Kelemente. Must be some of that Genius level game planning we don't know anything about lol

 

[amazing80]

Again, would be nice to see the presnap shot of this one as well. Looks like we've got three guys blocking two on the right side. Was that a stunt? Then Griffin totally whiffed on the wham block... then picks Davenport off his man.

I'd really love to know what Watson is thinking protection wise & what he's communicating to his line. Is he seeing it wrong, being fooled, saying it wrong, or are the linemen hearing him wrong?

Here is this play pre-snap. Again, no movement (other than #41 following Carter to the far side as he came in motion). Watson didn't really bark anything out pre-snap.

The pass rush came out straight up, not stunts to start. Only 3 rushed initially as the ROLB #50 held back playing the run fake. Griffin cut across the line to block that side backer, but totally whiffed

Blue pushed #50 to the ride side while the other defender #96 looped around causing Davenport to lose him. Griffin is still chasing the guy rather than helping out Davenport.

Then all hell breaks loose (photo below). Blue blocks his guy into Kelemente and Martin freeing up #51. by that time #96 was already at Watson flushing him up. They all ended up converging on Watson at the same time for the sack.

 

[amazing80]

Here is where they start to realize the corner blitz isn't being picked up. I think this play was supposed to be a quick pass to Thomas or some sort of run. The way Hopkins doesn't fire off the ball and the way Blue reacts makes me think it was a run, but Watson was so quick to try to fire it in to Thomas (but Thomas doesn't look quick enough and Watson bails on the throw) before the defender reached him

Watson ended up scrambling for a couple of yards, but this was the turning point in the way the Jets defense adjusted.

 

[amazing80]

Here is an example of the terrible feel for the game on OB's part. We lost momentum, the run game is failing, and you are struggling to move the ball.

So let's run a WR screen and expect J. Thomas to somehow get in front of the LB before he reached D. Thomas.

Obviously, J. Thomas couldn't do that (Griffin should have been the one to crack down and make that block while J. Thomas should have looped around and become a lead blocker for D. Thomas. This play went for no gain.

 

[amazing80]

Here is where they start to bring crowd the line and bring blitzers. They only rush 5 though.

Again 6 in coverage and only 3 people out in routes. I have no idea what Griffin does, he doesn't really go into a route, but he doesn't really block either.

3rd and 6 with extra rushers and not a single person runs a quick slant or hitch, or any other quick route to give Watson a release option. Not a single guy ready for the ball as Watson is hit. He does get it off to Griffin for a one-yard loss.

 

[amazing80]

They disguise this blitz well. Show nothing pre-snap.

They actually only bring 4 here, but it's a quick route combination and Watson nails it for a big gain.

Carter catches and runs for a gain of about 50 yards.

 

[Uncle Rico]

I like the slot receiver calling out the blitzing man on the second series of images. YOu know what .. Maybe Ryan Griffin isnt the best candidate to stay home to block among the TE group? Dude is God awful at pass blocking, I mean horrendous. I'd rather they bring in an extra lineman like Indy did against us than to rely on Griffin to protect Watson.

 

[amazing80]

At this point in the drive, we have been very effective going 5 wide and airing it out. Although we do continue with first down runs and first down WR screens.

This time they line up to bring the house. And they do. This was the play that I started yelling for a quick slant. it's obvious to me that the middle of the field is open.

I believe this is the play I took a picture of during the game and posted it. Where the hell is Watson supposed to go here? Just a terrible design.

 

[Uncle Rico]

They disguise this blitz well. Show nothing pre-snap.

They actually only bring 4 here, but it's a quick route combination and Watson nails it for a big gain.

Carter catches and runs for a gain of about 50 yards.

the Carter catch was the only blitz beater that I saw and most of it was on Carter finding the soft zone, he pulled out of his route it would seem once he recognized it. Add to that the blitz identifying ability as a slot guy and I would want Carter to play more .. .ALOT MORE.

 

[amazing80]

On the last drive, we went 5 wide 6 out of the 8 passing plays. Of those 6 plays, 5 were completions for positive yards with 1 incompletion. 0 sacks. By limiting the passing routes to "protect Watson" you actually do the exact opposite. You limit his options to throw the ball and when those 2 or 3 guys are covered he has nowhere to go. And because we still can't protect him with that many blockers he ends up getting sacked at a high rate. Stop over thinking things and just be aggressive. Spread teams out and let him rip it.

 

[JB]

I like the slot receiver calling out the blitzing man on the second series of images. YOu know what .. Maybe Ryan Griffin isnt the best candidate to stay home to block among the TE group? Dude is God awful at pass blocking, I mean horrendous. I'd rather they bring in an extra lineman like Indy did against us than to rely on Griffin to protect Watson.

They did that quite a bit last year to mixed results

 

[Max]

Griffin cut across the line to block that side backer, but totally whiffed

Blue pushed #50 to the ride side while the other defender #96 looped around causing Davenport to lose him. Griffin is still chasing the guy rather than helping out Davenport.

Then all hell breaks loose

Griffin might very well be worse in pass pro than Davenport and could be the key to fixing the blitz/hot read problems. Doesn't do any good staying in and protecting if you're not blocking the right guy or not blocking well. If they're going to keep him in the game, I'd rather see him chip and get into the slot or flats as the hot read.

 

[Uncle Rico]

They did that quite a bit last year to mixed results

would you say last years linemen were better/worse/same as this years?

 

[JB]

would you say last years linemen were better/worse/same as this years?

sorry, I'm not in a position to rate suckitude...

They both have failed in so many ways

 

[idymoe]

Here is this play pre-snap. Again, no movement (other than #41 following Carter to the far side as he came in motion). Watson didn't really bark anything out pre-snap.

The pass rush came out straight up, not stunts to start. Only 3 rushed initially as the ROLB #50 held back playing the run fake. Griffin cut across the line to block that side backer, but totally whiffed

Blue pushed #50 to the ride side while the other defender #96 looped around causing Davenport to lose him. Griffin is still chasing the guy rather than helping out Davenport.

Then all hell breaks loose (photo below). Blue blocks his guy into Kelemente and Martin freeing up #51. by that time #96 was already at Watson flushing him up. They all ended up converging on Watson at the same time for the sack.

If you run the play, you will see that Griffin actually knocked Davenport off his block.

 

[Jadmakaveli]

Also what gets me is if he did throw the ball away if there wasn't anywhere to pass which seems to happen a lot of the time. People would start complaining about his passing % saying he's inaccurate. Almost like its a lose lose.

On the last drive, we went 5 wide 6 out of the 8 passing plays. Of those 6 plays, 5 were completions for positive yards with 1 incompletion. 0 sacks. By limiting the passing routes to "protect Watson" you actually do the exact opposite. You limit his options to throw the ball and when those 2 or 3 guys are covered he has nowhere to go. And because we still can't protect him with that many blockers he ends up getting sacked at a high rate. Stop over thinking things and just be aggressive. Spread teams out and let him rip it.

Exactly what needs to be said. Deshaun DOES SOOO MUCH BETTER when we spread things out and let him play. But I promise you he's gonna hold onto the ball to make a play when we only have 2-3 people going out to run routes against 6 man coverage.

 

[idymoe]

Great job with the pics. Would you happen to have the presnap look before this snap?

I'm wondering why Kelemente is pulling to block no one. Maybe to sell the play action. But because of that pull, Davenport has to block down, leaving Griffen woefully overmatched.

We have 7 guys there to block 5

8 if you count the RB.

If you read Matt Weston's article, "Texans-Jets Review: Shallow Thoughts", posted yesterday on battleredblog.com, he has Watson's sacks on videos with a good job of explaining what was happening. I think his game reviews and insights are the best.

 

[steelbtexan]

I like the slot receiver calling out the blitzing man on the second series of images. YOu know what .. Maybe Ryan Griffin isnt the best candidate to stay home to block among the TE group? Dude is God awful at pass blocking, I mean horrendous. I'd rather they bring in an extra lineman like Indy did against us than to rely on Griffin to protect Watson.

Why is Griffin on the team?

Poor blocker, avg at best receiver?

There's bound to be a better blocking TE on the WW/PS of some team.

 

[bigmck]

I don’t think he’s doing a “lousy” job but I do have qualms on whether or not if he can be consistent over the years. You know... I’m just a regular Joe who loves to watch football. I don’t know anything about it like these coaches yet I scratch my head at some of the stuff that BO’b does. At the end of the day though... -we- are 10-4 and I’m pretty effin’ optimistic with that.

I agree. It is hard to believe that we are having to "Sell" the season to some of the guys here. BOB is not your Flamboyant Coach. He is a winning coach. If he would get an OC, I think it would improve the team but I don't think "Firing" is the answer either. Just think about the early years with Capers. We were happy to win a game, JUST ONE. We are the Number Two Seed. I am thinking positive and looking forward to the game. We have TWO LEFT. I want everyone to close their eyes and at exactly Noon Sunday, think Ten Times "We Will Get the Bye." == OK you have your assignment.

 

[Uncle Rico]

Why is Griffin on the team?

Poor blocker, avg at best receiver?

There's bound to be a better blocking TE on the WW/PS of some team.

I thought Jordan Thomas was supposed to be the blocking tight end?

 

[bigmck]

Blue has had some good runs. Yes, I said that with a straight face. He can pop off a good one or two every year. He had a 30+ yd td carry called back due to a holding penalty against the Colts. Has Miller been ruled out for next Sunday? He can definitely gash a dime defense.

The Texans aren't exactly blowing teams away. Most of their wins are lucky flukes. Kickers missing FGs and PATs, etc. Scoring 29 points against cellar dwellers isn't making anyone go "ooh....ahh...". Quite the opposite. I do not think the OL is particularly talented. I also don't know what they would look like if it weren't for injuries to the unit. I hope they upgrade the T positions, especially LT.

I want them to play good football, but in every game there are "Lucky Flukes". One team "Gets the Breaks" or what ever we decide to call it. That is part of the game. It seems in years past, we never got any breaks. We have got some breaks this year, it's about time. Just because a team "Gets the Breaks" does not mean they didn't earn the Win.

 

[badboy]

Texans have played without super max blocking before with good results. Oline isn't getting worse per player but when both OGs are in and out quicker than a sixteen year old boy, that doesn't help unit. TEs and RBs still same just coaches calling stupid plays and wrong guys like Griffin in. He has to be cap savings next season. Let Watson do his thing vs Eagles as he cannot be in any more risk than he will be forcing him to look lost and holding ball. At least he has not turned ball over recently.

 

[DocBar]

I want them to play good football, but in every game there are "Lucky Flukes". One team "Gets the Breaks" or what ever we decide to call it. That is part of the game. It seems in years past, we never got any breaks. We have got some breaks this year, it's about time. Just because a team "Gets the Breaks" does not mean they didn't earn the Win.

I don't disagree. I'm just of the opinion that you can't count on getting those breaks. Eventually a team has to play 4 quarters of competent football to get a win. That is essential once the playoffs start. The Texans have won a lot of games while playing some bad football. Wins/losses in 1 score games seem to vary by year. In 2012, Houston got a bunch. In 2013, they got one in the 1st game and none the rest of the year. They found new ways to lose. The same goes for 2017. How many WTF moments were there last year? 2018? How many kickers have choked to get the Texans to 10-4? OB is keeping his job by these flukes and that irks me.

 

[steelbtexan]

I thought Jordan Thomas was supposed to be the blocking tight end?

He's a big converted WR that's learning how to block and he's still better than Griffin.

 

[Uncle Rico]

I don't disagree. I'm just of the opinion that you can't count on getting those breaks. Eventually a team has to play 4 quarters of competent football to get a win. That is essential once the playoffs start. The Texans have won a lot of games while playing some bad football. Wins/losses in 1 score games seem to vary by year. In 2012, Houston got a bunch. In 2013, they got one in the 1st game and none the rest of the year. They found new ways to lose. The same goes for 2017. How many WTF moments were there last year? 2018? How many kickers have choked to get the Texans to 10-4? OB is keeping his job by these flukes and that irks me.

What if I told you that the Texans had more wins vs + .500 teams than any other playoff team except the Patriots?

Texans have good wins also. At this point in the season I think the most constructive thing to do is look for consistency and balance in all 3 phases. I like the Texans even with all the warts because our primetime players are better when it's all on the line.

" 10 - 4 good buddy! "

 

[OptimisticTexan]

At this point in the drive, we have been very effective going 5 wide and airing it out. Although we do continue with first down runs and first down WR screens.

This time they line up to bring the house. And they do. This was the play that I started yelling for a quick slant. it's obvious to me that the middle of the field is open.

I believe this is the play I took a picture of during the game and posted it. Where the hell is Watson supposed to go here? Just a terrible design.

In the second photo, if the TE's and WR's saw this developing in front of them....whoever that is at the top on the 16 yard line...it would've been nice to see him break the pattern and curl just beyond the 1st down marker and in front of the zone coverage. Quick strike and move the chains.....we need more of this. Instead, it's another long developing play that Watson doesn't have the luxury of watching materialize.

 

[OptimisticTexan]

They did that quite a bit last year to mixed results

I don't think the mixed results were due to the offense but a defense that looked really bad last year. Watson and the offense were putting up the points.

 

[JB]

I don't think the mixed results were due to the offense but a defense that looked really bad last year. Watson and the offense were putting up the points.

I wasn't just talking about in the Watson games, but he did save the OL quite a few times. They used Davenport or Lamm as an extra blocker all season long and they both looked like crap as an extra TE. Perhaps that's why they drafted 2 TE, so they wouldn't have to go that route this year