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Game 4...What To Expect?...Indianapolis Colts!

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JamTex

JamTex

Hall Of Fame Texans Fan!
On Sunday, September 30th at 12 noon CST, The Texans will travel to Indianapolis to take on the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. The game will be aired on TV on CBS 11 and on radio on SportsTalk 610.

Our faith in the Texans is waning. This team needs to get us back and field a better product. We know Watson can be better, but so far, he has been less than expected. O'brien has been less then stellar in his play calling, as a matter of fact, he has been abysmal. What we have been watching has been painful and quite frankly, boring and infuriating. The penalties have been inexcusable. The play calling has been more then questionable. Watson's decisions on the field have been mind melting. The O-line play has been ok very little of the time and a complete melt down at critical moments. The secondary is shaky and ineffective. This has got to change.

Here are the teams.

Your Houston Texans.
Offense:
WR DeAndre Hopkins Vyncint Smith
LT Martinas Rankin Roderick Johnson
LG Senio Kelemete
C Nick Martin Greg Mancz
RG Zach Fulton
RT Julie'n Davenport Kendall Lamm
TE Ryan Griffin Jordan Akins Jordan Thomas
WR Bruce Ellington Keke Coutee
WR Will Fuller V Sammie Coates Jr.
QB Deshaun Watson Brandon Weeden Joe Webb III
RB Lamar Miller Alfred Blue Tyler Ervin Buddy Howell

Defense:
DE J.J. Watt Carlos Watkins
NT D.J. Reader Brandon Dunn
DE Christian Covington Angelo Blackson Joel Heath
SAM Whitney Mercilus Brennan Scarlett Peter Kalambayi
MIKE Benardrick McKinney Brian Peters
WILL Zach Cunningham Dylan Cole
JACK Jadeveon Clowney Duke Ejiofor
CB Johnathan Joseph Kayvon Webster Johnson Bademosi
CB Aaron Colvin Shareece Wright
S Tyrann Mathieu Natrell Jamerson A.J. Moore
S Kareem Jackson Justin Reid

Special Teams:
K Ka'imi Fairbairn
P Trevor Daniel
LS Jon Weeks
KR Tyler Ervin Bruce Ellington Keke Coutee
PR Tyler Ervin Bruce Ellington Keke Coutee
H Trevor Daniel

The Indianapolis Colts.

Offense:
WR Ryan Grant Zach Pascal Marcus Johnson
LT Anthony Castonzo Le'Raven Clark
LG Quenton Nelson Mark Glowinski
C Ryan Kelly Joe Haeg
RG Matt Slauson Braden Smith
RT Joe Haeg Denzelle Good
TE Jack Doyle Ryan Hewitt
WR T.Y. Hilton Chester Rogers
QB Andrew Luck Jacoby Brissett
TE Eric Ebron
RB Marlon Mack Jordan Wilkins Nyheim Hines

Defense:
DE Jabaal Sheard Kemoko Turay
NT Al Woods Grover Stewart
UT Denico Autry Hassan Ridgeway Jihad Ward
DE Margus Hunt Tarell Basham Al-Quadin Muhammad
WLB Darius Leonard Matthew Adams
MLB Anthony Walker Skai Moore
SAM Najee Goode Zaire Franklin
CB Kenny Moore II Quincy Wilson Chris Milton
FS Malik Hooker George Odum Corey Moore
SS Clayton Geathers Matthias Farley
CB Nate Hairston Pierre Desir Lenzy Pipkins

Special Teams:
P Rigoberto Sanchez
PK Adam Vinatieri
H Rigoberto Sanchez
LS Luke Rhodes
KR Zach Pascal Chester Rogers Nyheim Hines
PR Chester Rogers Zach Pascal T.Y. Hilton

Last week, we saw JJ return to his former self and play a great game, but where was Clowney? Where was Mercilus? What happened to the great "coverage" line backer Cunningham? The secondary broke down in a bad way last week against the Giants. Backs were open out of the back field, Tight ends were open every where. Wide receivers ran rough shot over the corners and safeties. This cannot happen this week. Luck and Hilton will have a field day if that secondary and covering line backers can't stop the offensive passing game of the Colts.
Watson has got to step up and make better decisions. He has got to target his receivers better. The wide or short throws have got to get on target. For the Texans to have a chance, the offense has got to get on track.
The defense has got to step up and stop the embarrassment they have been so far. Get to the quarterback, stop the run and cover the receivers.
I don't see this game going well for the Texans this week in Indianapolis.
Unfortunately, we'll see the Texans go 0-4 after this one.
Prove me wrong and play a great game guys!

Texans 17
Colts 24

Go Texans!
 
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What to expect.
1 a slow start
2 lots of miller up the middle
3 penalties killing drives.
4 unimaginative play calling
5 OB changing game plan to catch up
6 late surge to catch up
7 OB getting conservative with play calling
8 the defense not holding to give the offense a last chance
9 another ass whooping that looks closer than it really was
10 despair !!!!
 
mussop said:
What to expect.
1 a slow start
2 lots of miller up the middle
3 penalties killing drives.
4 unimaginative play calling
5 OB changing game plan to catch up
6 late surge to catch up
7 OB getting conservative with play calling
8 the defense not holding to give the offense a last chance
9 another ass whooping that looks closer than it really was
10 despair !!!!
Click to expand...

Truth
 
Desperation and frustration, and lots of it, trying to reconcile how the same coach, same offense, and similar personnel can go from the offensive juggernaut it was last year (during Watson's short sample size) to what we are seeing now. Questioning why our franchise seems to experience more extreme ups and downs in such a short amount of time relative to other teams in the league. Lastly, continuing to use straw man arguments that place most of the blame on people who aren't even on the field.
 
Posted this in the NFL section. Luck's shoulder, as I would have expected, is limiting his passing distance significantly. Our D better be able to shut down the run and short passes because the reasonable area they will need to cover will be much more limited than usual.:
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&



Luck has completed only 2 of 9 passes 10 yds or longer.

*************************************************************************************

Concerns with Luck
The Colts are now 1-2 and somehow exceeding expectations: they had chances to beat the Bengals in Week 1, manhandled the Redskins on the road in Week 2 and hung tight with the Eagles in Week 3. But there are some red flags relating to the quarterback.

First, there's the matter of Andrew Luck not stretching the field at all. Here's his Next Gen Stats passing map from Week 3:

screen-shot-2018-09-23-at-9-36-28-pm.png

via NFL.com
Combine it with his throws in Weeks 1 and 2 and Luck now has a total of two completed passes more than 20 yards down the field this season. The Colts offense isn't asking him to stretch the field a ton -- Frank Reich's offense is clearly predicated on getting the ball out quick, and Luck should thank him for that. He only has eight attempts of more than 20 yards or more on the season.

Asked after the game if he was bothered by Brissett coming in, Luck said "no," because, via The Athletic's Stephen Holder, he thinks Brissett is stronger.


"Jacoby has a stronger arm than I do," Luck said. "It's sort of what I see in practice. And obviously coach Reich thinks that as well. I'll keep working on getting my arm to where maybe it can make an 80-yard throw from the minus-30 [yard line]. But I have no qualms with that decision."

This is a refreshing level of honesty from a quarterback in a league that does not value honesty. Luck admitted he didn't even know if he could make that throw before his surgery.

I'm sure this is going to become a "thing," even though I don't think it should be. Here's what Andrew Luck said re: Jacoby Brissett being asked to attempt the Hail Mary throw: pic.twitter.com/E3iv4SMgzL

— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) September 23, 2018
As someone who is holding a "Luck leads the league in passing yards" ticket and hoping it hits (30-1), this is very concerning. But here's a hot take: this was a smart move by Reich. Luck spent the offseason and preseason on a very strict and programmed strength plan building his arm back up. Going out and attempting an extremely low percentage throw -- that literally any strong human with a knowledge of how to hold a football could make -- does not make a ton of sense.

The Colts have someone coaching their team more concerned with keeping their quarterback healthy for the long haul than trying to steal an early season victory. That's a net win for the Colts.
 
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I think it will be ugly. They almost beat Philly.

But who knows, maybe Crennel can dial up something on D and Watson can run for his life enough to make things happen.
 
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Very winnable game. Colts are at home but, quite frankly, just aren't very talented. They are down several key players too, and Luck is still working his way back.
 
Andrew Luck will first down us to death, and chew up the clock. Watt gets him another two sacks, Mercilus and a Clowney continue to be MIA, Mathieu gets an interception that we end up punting away because O’Brien keeps calling Miller to go crash into Martin’s butt cheeks. Low scoring game...

10-17 Colts
 
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The odds are greater that the first play will be Miller up the middle than the Texans winning.

Colts 31-10.
 
Dakota said:
Desperation and frustration, and lots of it, trying to reconcile how the same coach, same offense, and similar personnel can go from the offensive juggernaut it was last year (during Watson's short sample size) to what we are seeing now. Questioning why our franchise seems to experience more extreme ups and downs in such a short amount of time relative to other teams in the league. Lastly, continuing to use straw man arguments that place most of the blame on people who aren't even on the field.
Click to expand...

Well, see this season the coach has more input into what's happening on offense than he did during that 6 game stretch. He's got Watson's attention now and has had time to "coach him up" like he did Tom Savage. Last year, that was Watson making stuff happen when things fell apart. This year it's all being run "according to plan" and while the results aren't exactly what O'Brain intended it's only a matter of time before he coaches better and we start seeing some of those 21-17 wins as opposed to the 17-20 losses.
 
I will go with a big L until they prove anything. You know we suck when even JamTex does not have Kool Aid, rainbows, unicorns, magic dust and magic wands for us. Sad state of a franchise. I wonder if the Patriots would have released Davenport Monday after the game to send a message to the rest of the squad that his mental mistakes are unacceptable. We need real accountability, not going to get better and coach harder.
 
I expect an 0-4 record and 2-15 all time at Indy.
So I'm going to predict Colts 27, Texans 24
Andrew Luck with a game-winning drive to beat us.
And in his post-game presser, O'Brien says "I need to coach better!"
 
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santo said:
The odds are greater that the first play will be Miller up the middle than the Texans winning.

Colts 31-10.
Click to expand...
After we drop to 0-4 we can start focusing on the 2019 NFL mock drafts. We'll be in the driver's seat for the #1 overall selection.
 
Loss - Looks like Luck can only throw short quick passes, and with our penchant for playing 10 yard cushions on every receiver and having LB's covering the slot they will eat us up.
 
Hervoyel said:
....Again.
Click to expand...
There will be some good offensive linemen in this draft. Should we think about trading down if we end up with the #1 overall pick? We can likely end up with two or three instant starters and franchise cornerstones on that offensive line (automatic upgrades as rookies), along with a young stud at cornerback and running back, if we draft properly in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Not to mention we'll have a ton of salary cap space going into next off-season. Whatever needs we fail to target in the draft we can focus our free agency on.

The 2019 Texans will be in much better shape than 2018.

This season is a lost cause but the future could look bright.
 
Bulls on Parade said:
There will be some good offensive linemen in this draft. Should we think about trading down if we end up with the #1 overall pick? We can likely end up with two or three instant starters and franchise cornerstones on that offensive line (automatic upgrades as rookies), along with a young stud at cornerback and running back, if we draft properly in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Not to mention we'll have a ton of salary cap space going into next off-season. Whatever needs we fail to target in the draft we can focus our free agency on.

The 2019 Texans will be in much better shape than 2018.
Click to expand...
I hope a stud QB emerges if we are in poll position, we can demand a ransom to QB hungry teams to fix our holes in OL and CB.

This is assuming DW4 survives the beatings in 2018

Good point on cap space, would be good to spend on FA. At this point, JDC needs to get going or I dont even tag him so deploy those dollars elsewhere
 
You bring up a good point with Clowney since it's unlikely we're going to break the bank to keep him. I would also shop Jadeveon Clowney before the October 30 NFL trading deadline this year (4 PM Eastern time).

We've got a little over a month to pursue a Clowney trade...

We can likely squeeze a few extra draft picks out of him. Maybe even a late first-round pick from a good team. Likely a second, third or fourth-round pick (some type of combination) from a bad team.

I doubt Jadeveon Clowney has great trade value...
He isn't going to generate two #1's like Khalil Mack.
So whatever we can get for him I'll be happy with.

We can be loaded with a ton of draft picks in the 2019 draft.
 
Bulls on Parade said:
There will be some good offensive linemen in this draft. Should we think about trading down if we end up with the #1 overall pick? We can likely end up with two or three instant starters and franchise cornerstones on that offensive line (automatic upgrades as rookies), along with a young stud at cornerback and running back, if we draft properly in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Not to mention we'll have a ton of salary cap space going into next off-season. Whatever needs we fail to target in the draft we can focus our free agency on.

The 2019 Texans will be in much better shape than 2018.

This season is a lost cause but the future could look bright.
Click to expand...

I think the act of trading down is sort of lost on the Texans, or at least it traditionally has been. That or anything approaching "outside the box thinking" (begging pardon for the cliche). If the football media says player "x" or "y" are who you take with the first overall pick the Texans have always seemingly confined their choices to those two players. There's nobody in our building with authority to look at the rest of the potential first rounders and say "That guy is my guy". They just seem (to me at least) to limit their thinking to the prospects for first overall that they're presented with and call it a day.

Should have played it safe with the pick that went to Clowney and chosen Jake Matthews. 64 games played so far at a position we are and were in perpetual need of help at. All while Clowney has been shut down off and on, not worth a crap half the time at a position we were fine at.

Mario Williams/Reggie Bush/Vince Young we probably got the best of the players the Texans would have been looking at I'll admit but back in 2002 Carr at first overall was idiotic "puppy love" from Uncle Bob.
 
That could be due to the fact that we are regressing .... not progressing. If we continue on our current path, this board will be calling for a lynching .... and rightly so .... righteous indignation .... or what they call it in East Texas .... Proper Indignant !
 
The Colts are a terrible team. Very few decent players, and Luck is broken. They should have a parade if they win 5 games.

Colts 47
Texans 13
 
Bulls on Parade said:
You bring up a good point with Clowney since it's unlikely we're going to break the bank to keep him. I would also shop Jadeveon Clowney before the October 30 NFL trading deadline this year (4 PM Eastern time).

We've got a little over a month to pursue a Clowney trade...

We can likely squeeze a few extra draft picks out of him. Maybe even a late first-round pick from a good team. Likely a second, third or fourth-round pick (some type of combination) from a bad team.

I doubt Jadeveon Clowney has great trade value...
He isn't going to generate two #1's like Khalil Mack.
So whatever we can get for him I'll be happy with.

We can be loaded with a ton of draft picks in the 2019 draft.
Click to expand...
You still place too high a value on Clowney. I am not sure you can get better than the compensatory pick for him. I do think a different team and coach that will not put up with his **** will be able to get more out of him than we are. Or maybe not he treated South Carolina the same way. Why the hell did we draft him knowing all that???
 
mussop said:
What to expect.
1 a slow start
2 lots of miller up the middle
3 penalties killing drives.
4 unimaginative play calling
5 OB changing game plan to catch up
6 late surge to catch up
7 OB getting conservative with play calling
8 the defense not holding to give the offense a last chance
9 another ass whooping that looks closer than it really was
10 despair !!!!
Click to expand...
Truth also
11 happiness since i won't be stuck watching the game in person and will be able to switch to the Ryder cup
Slow start due to BOB using his large brain to script first few plays.
12 Our defensive backfield getting burned/penalized on long balls
13 fieldgoals
14 short passes killing us on defense
15 Watson getting hit and running for his life
16BOB looking at his sheet(baby blanket) and fiddling with box on his hip
17Players looking like zombies on the sideline
18Clowney dancing before and after the snap of the ball
19Watt,DW, and Tyrann and a couple others playing hard
20 BOB after game BS
.
.
.
.
 
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Halfback draw from shotgun on 1st and 10 and then again on 2nd and 11, then wide receiver screens on 3rd and long.

Bill O'Brien is a quarterback whispering offensive guru and the most highly sought after coach on the market if we fire him, that's what I was told last year when I suggested moving on from him hahaha. Watching him call plays the last 5 years my hairline has gone from looking like Fabio to looking like Lance Henrickson, it's ridiculous.

Seriously though I hope he gets it together and turns it around. Looking at some of the schedules I think 9-7 or even 8-8 gets you a playoff spot in the AFC this year, as good as Jacksonville is they got a hell of a schedule, if this team can get it's **** together I can see them getting to 4-4 down the stretch, then possibly stealing the division from Jaguars at 9-7 or 10-6 even after losing to them twice(I think the Titans are a 5-11 team and Colts maybe 7-9 at best). It's par for the course of an NFL season, teams that stumble out of the gate turn it around and teams that come out world beaters fall apart. It can happen man, I can't totally give up on this team just yet, not with Watson at QB and JJ Watt back healthy.
 
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This team doesn't have the talent on the offensive line to reach 9-7 or 8-8. At this point they're absolute best record for 2018 is likely 6-10. Outside chance at 7-9. And that's if they can put it all together. More likely they won't and we'll end up with 5 wins or less. Which may be for the best because we need to draft an offensive tackle with a top five pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.
 
gafftop said:
You still place too high a value on Clowney. I am not sure you can get better than the compensatory pick for him. I do think a different team and coach that will not put up with his **** will be able to get more out of him than we are. Or maybe not he treated South Carolina the same way. Why the hell did we draft him knowing all that???
Click to expand...
I disagree with your assessment. Jadeveon Clowney can easily net us a second or third rounder for sure. And likely a late first rounder from a good team. He's just a year removed from a career high 9.5 sacks and Pro Bowl selection

But he's made some big plays the past two years, including being a beast on a #1 ranked defensive unit a couple years ago that had won a wild-card game over the Raiders. In which he set the tone in that playoff game with a huge turnover forced. They also held Tom Brady in check for 3.5 quarters in a divisional round playoff game.

There's quite a few teams that would love to have the talent of Clowney on their defense. And I still believe his best football is still ahead of him. He has to get over his injuries though.

Heck, Mario Williams left the Texans for the Bills and he immediately put up an incredible three-year stretch playing in Buffalo: 10.5 sacks in 2012, 13 sacks in 2013 and 14.5 sacks in 2014.

I could easily envision Jadeveon Clowney going down the same path of Mario Williams. In terms of putting up some excellent numbers elsewhere. Any good GM would try to maximize Clowney's trade value right now. Yes, he's off to a terrible start in 2018 but it's three games and he missed one with injury.

It's not rocket science. It's football! Clowney is a heck of a player.
And at 25 years old. Believe me, he has some trade value, IMO.

If he were 29 or 30 then I may agree with you.
 
Yeah I'd say we need new players at every position on the line, even Nick Martin at C has looked pretty weak, nowhere near as good as I thought he would be when we drafted him.
 
This is my weekend to work so I will be asleep during the game. Its almost better for my sanity not to watch and get pissed off at BOB's incompetence each game.

Colts 23
Texans 16
The 16 includes our customary garbage time score to make it closer than it really is.
 
whodknee said:
Who can a see a Hot Mess coming this weekend? Anybody? Bueller?
Click to expand...
If we lose to the Colts on Sunday that's ten losses in a row dating back to last year and an 0-4 record this season. We've become last year's Cleveland Browns! And the Browns have actually become a competitive team that's fun to watch.
 
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