Texans film room: How porous pass protection vs. Dolphins disrupted Tyrod Taylor
Brooks Kubena, Staff writer
Nov. 9, 2021
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Welcome to Film Room, where we’ll break down significant portions from the Texans’ most recent football game. Have a seat. Set the phone aside. Let’s dive in.
Dolphins 17, Texans 9: How it happened
Miami’s pass rush turned up the heat: The Texans played to win
by starting Tyrod Taylor against the 1-7 Dolphins, and the commonly conservative quarterback made unusual errors in one of the worst starts of his 11-year NFL career while facing constant pressure from a blitz-heavy Miami defense.
Some blunders were uncharacteristic. Taylor tried to fling the ball away while running out of bounds just before halftime, but the toss he later called “careless” hung along the sideline and was intercepted by linebacker Jerome Baker. The pick
produced a Dolphins touchdown. Taylor’s second-half misfire of Danny Amendola on a wide-open wheel route also cost the Texans points.
“It’s up to me to execute,” said Taylor, whose three interceptions tied a career-high. “Obviously, it’s a team sport. But I’m the one who touches the ball every play, and I have to be better next time.”
It was candid accountability from Taylor, and, although his mistakes contributed to the Texans’ eighth straight loss, spotty protection that included
an injury-riddled offensive line certainly didn’t help. Taylor was sacked five times, matching the season-high the rebuilding franchise surrendered last week during rookie Davis Mills’ start in a 38-22 loss to the Rams.
Taylor made most of his mistakes when the Dolphins rushed five defenders or more. Miami overwhelmed the Houston offense with unpredictable blitzes, sometimes spreading up to eight pass rushers along the line of scrimmage, and, depending on the play, rushed a different number of defenders while the others dropped in coverage.
Coach David Culley said the Texans were prepared for Miami’s blitz-heavy scheme, a defense that often sent “zero” blitzes — when a defense sends six or more defenders while the rest play man-to-man coverage — particularly once the offense entered Dolphins territory.
“They got us a couple times,” Culley said. “We didn’t get the ball out when we needed to get the ball out. We knew it was coming. We were prepared for it. We just didn’t execute very well.”
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