**Official Game-Day Thread** Texans at Patriots, Sunday Sept 24, 2017!!

[Texas Jake]

And that was a bogus call as well. The Quarterback (Tom Brady was basically on the ground) so that should've been intentional grounding and lost of down.

There were two challenges were the ruling on the field was not changed when the replay clearly showed they were the wrong call: this one and the automatic review for the touchdown were the receivers knee was down when the ball was at the half-yard mark. The Patriot TD reception at the end, one angle showed the ball come out right before the receiver hit the ground, but that one wasn't clear enough to overrule the call.

 

[HOU-TEX]

Running Miller up the middle on 3rd and 1 instead of Foreman was moronic. Foreman is the obvious choice for short yardage. Then not going for the 4th and one to all but put the game away was dumb too. Leaving the game in the hands of the best QB ever is a great idea, BOB! Asshat

 

[Mangler]

I'm proud of the Houston Texans right now. Today was the most fun I had watching a game since 2011.

Same here. That was one hell of a game!

 

[Texas Jake]

And that was a bogus call as well. The Quarterback (Tom Brady was basically on the ground) so that should've been intentional grounding and lost of down.

There were two challenges were the ruling on the field was not changed when the replay clearly showed they were the wrong call: this one and the automatic review for the touchdown were the receivers knee was down when the ball was at the half-yard mark. The Patriot TD reception at the end, one angle showed the ball come out right before the receiver hit the ground, but that one wasn't clear enough to overrule the call.

Running Miller up the middle on 3rd and 1 instead of Foreman was moronic. Foreman is the obvious choice for short yardage. Then not going for the 4th and one to all but put the game away was dumb too. Leaving the game in the hands of the best QB ever is a great idea, BOB! Asshat

If he would have went for it on 4th and 1 and missed, the uproar here of how stupid that decision was would have been huge. Personally, I can see both sides of the argument of going/not going for it on 4th and 1 and don't have a problem with either decision (punt or go fit), especially with the historic ineptness of our short-yardage offense. Things have changed with the addition of Watson, but we haven't seen enough at this point really quantify that change. I would have liked to see Foreman in the game, but Miller wasn't having a bad game and BoB may have been reluctant to use the rookie in that situation late game. I can understand that decision, don't necessarily agree with it, but understand the reasoning. There is a lot we still don't know about Foreman at this point. We do not know how well he protects the ball in this kind of situation and a lost fumble here would have been huge.

Regardless, the defense needs to come through it that situation, unfortunately our depleted backfield really hurt us. I am disappointed with the loss, but at the same time, excited that we took them to the end with a chance to win this, that is something we haven't been able to do since the Good Schaub days. The performance gives me hope that we may have a good season this year after all.

 

[adama51]

Brady looks old and tired

I don't think we were looking at the same Brady

 

[Seegara]

Running Miller up the middle on 3rd and 1 instead of Foreman was moronic. Foreman is the obvious choice for short yardage. Then not going for the 4th and one to all but put the game away was dumb too. Leaving the game in the hands of the best QB ever is a great idea, BOB! Asshat

And it was crazy to run out of that formation. But the subsequent FG was dumber. With 4th and half a yard they should have gone for it with a tight formation and a QB sneak.

 

[Seegara]

New rules question: If we had intercepted the pass for the 2-point conversion and run it back for 2 points and the lead, which team would have kicked off?

 

[TxnsJuggernaut]

Sure you have a few unjustified shootings, but that happens against every race, but it is only actual news if it is a black person it happens to.

Very little politics is taking place when the national anthem plays. These players are playing their sports after taking a silent stand for their cause. I am sure there are many people who are in the military who are quite alright with the way in which some athletes have chosen to protest.

For a short time athletes take their silent stand. The fact that we know what they are taking a stand against doesn't matter because they are not getting on their soap box in between games. We know what they are protesting and that should make us all a little more aware of the injustices that are taking place.

I can almost guarantee that if an African American cop or cops was/were recorded beating and/or killing a white person in the way white cops have done to African Americans than that/those cop/cops would face justice.

I am a white person who hates the Antifa and Black Lives matter protesters due to their taking things too far. However I am all for the silent and peaceful protest by a few athletes. It is a minor distraction that does nothing to interfere with the sports the athletes perform in.

I was once on your side of the argument but as time has gone on I have much less of an issue with the way our athletes have chosen to protest.

 

[Rich Schmidt]

New England, the team making the TD kicks

 

[Malloy]

I have read through this thread and I did not see one time where anybody complained about not calling a time out the second the receiver went down, leaving us 12 seconds on the clock. Yes, I did see Watson attempt to call a TO with 6 seconds left (it was not granted), but why in the heck did BOB not call it the very second the receiver hit the ground?!?!?! That's 12 seconds to play with, a couple quick outs and kick the long FG. Is this not why we kept Fairbairn?!?!? Send it to OT and we still have a chance.

BOB's clock management is some of the worst I have ever seen in the NFL. Unacceptable!!!

yeah, this is pretty much what I screamed at the wife last night

 

[PapaL]

New rules question: If we had intercepted the pass for the 2-point conversion and run it back for 2 points and the lead, which team would have kicked off?

We would have had the lead and they would have kicked off.

 

[PapaL]

Refocused: New England Patriots 36, Houston Texans 33
https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-refocused-new-england-patriots-36-houston-texans-33

Top 5 Grades:
DE J.J. Watt, 89.5 overall grade

S Marcus Gilchrist, 88.3 overall grade

LT Chris Clark, 86.0 overall grade

OLB Jadeveon Clowney, 81.2 overall grade

RT Breno Giacomini, 80.9 overall grade

Performances of Note:
QB Deshaun Watson, 74.5 overall grade
Another enigma of a performance from Watson, who showed glimpses of brilliance but was again culpable for some of the pressure he brought upon himself. Watson was responsible for more pressure (1 sack, 2 hits, 2 hurries) than any of his individual offensive linemen were charged with but when he was under pressure he evaded it and kept plays alive superbly. Still far from polished but this was another huge step in the right direction from Watson and so very nearly a signature win early in his career. Watson complete 11/19 passes aimed 10+ yards downfield and is trending upwards with his performances very quickly.

WR DeAndre Hopkins, 79.3 overall grade
The Clemson connection between Hopkins and Watson will be crucial this season for the Texans. Both inside and outside of structure, the Texans’ duo was in sync this week with Watson hitting Hopkins on three intermediate passes after mostly finding Hopkins on short passes a week ago in Cincinnati. The rest of the offense showed up this week for Houston and if a big game from Watson and Hopkins sparks the Houston offense, they may just take off yet.

DI J.J. Watt, 89.5 overall grade
Watt got off to a fast start in this game, racking up his three stops (2 tackles for loss and a tackle for no gain) on the Patriots’ first four defensive snaps. The impact on the stat sheet from there may not have matched that but his impact went beyond the box score, even setting up Jadeveon Clowney’s second sack by running through LT Nate Solder to knock him down and allow Clowney to turn the corner for the sack.

S Corey Moore, 76.8 overall grade
You have to take your chances when you get them against the Patriots, and in spite of a strong showing, competing with Rob Gronkowski in the end zone and breaking up the penultimate defensive play of the game, this will ultimately be a game of missed opportunities for Moore. He failed to bring in the interception on that pass breakup as he rose above Brandin Cooks and then on the decisive play of the game he was just boxed out as he worked over to the sideline for the game winning score. On such fine margins are games won and lost.

 

[PapaL]

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/pag...easons-changed-23-minutes-madness-week-3-2017

New England Patriots 36, Houston Texans 33

Excitement Index: 6.77

The Texans nearly became the first team to win as underdogs of 13.5 points or more since 2012, when the Cardinals got off to a 2-0 start by upsetting these very same Patriots in Foxborough 20-18. Those Cardinals nearly fumbled the game away by giving up the ball with 1:10 to go, only to be bailed out when Stephen Gostkowski missed a would-be game-winning 42-yard field goal at the end.

You can make a case that the Texans lost through a self-inflicted mistake of another kind. Facing fourth-and-inches on the Patriots' 18-yard line with 2:24 to go and a two-point lead, coach Bill O'Brien elected to send out kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn to attempt a 36-yard field goal to go up five, handing the ball back to Tom Brady while trusting the defense to come up with a stop. The alternative option, of course, would have been to trust Deshaun Watson to find a half-yard and move the chains, even if it meant the downside of turning the ball over to Brady with the Pats only in need of a field goal to win.

Should the Texans have gone for it? I think so. Their running game had been effective in the second half against a thin Patriots defense; while Lamar Miller had been stuffed for no gain on the third-and-1 before O'Brien's call, it was the first time in 18 second-half tries that Houston's rushing attack had been stopped for no gain or a loss. The Patriots had just used their two timeouts, but their defense also had faced 36 plays during the second half and looked worse for wear.

A successful conversion wouldn't have won the game for the Texans, but it would have put them well on their way to victory. With 2:28 and one timeout left for the Patriots, a Houston first down would have allowed the Texans to run the clock down to about 32 seconds before attempting a field goal that would have put them up five. Brady still would have had a shot, and the Texans could have missed the field goal, but after making hyper-conservative decisions as a huge underdog against New England in the playoffs last season, it's disheartening to see O'Brien make the same mistakes in Foxborough yet again.

I think O'Brien should have gone for it, but in terms of how the game actually played out, I don't think his decision cost the Texans the game by any stretch of the imagination. Fairbairn hit the field goal. The Texans' defense eventually cracked, but it took some miraculous conversions and a bit of luck. The Patriots had to convert on one series from a second-and-20 and then, on the next series, from a third-and-18. The pass rush drew one holding penalty and stripsacked Brady later in the drive, only for the Patriots to recover. On the next play, Brady nearly threw a game-ending interception to Corey Moore, but the Texans safety dropped what would have been his first career pick. Brady then found a leaping Danny Amendola for 27 yards on third-and-18. On the next play, Moore would be a step slow to get over to the sideline from what looked to be a two-deep look and Brady found Brandin Cooks for the game-winning touchdown.

As crushing as the loss has to be for the Texans, there are positives to take away from what was by far their best performance of the season. Their pass rush finally woke up; after going sackless through the first two games of the season, their big three of Jadeveon Clowney, Whitney Mercilus and J.J. Watt combined for three sacks, seven tackles for loss and six quarterback knockdowns. It helped that the Patriots were down starting right tackle Marcus Cannon and didn't appear to have a full-strength Nate Solder all game on the left side.

Watson also appears to have sprung the Houston offense to life, although the fact that O'Brien opted to start Tom Savage over Watson after the preseason has to make Texans fans wonder what exactly the former Patriots offensive coordinator was watching. Watson's ability as a runner has forced opposing linebackers to hesitate and created running lanes for what has been a moribund Houston running game under Miller, with D'Onta Foreman helping shoulder some of the load as both a runner and checkdown receiver.

The rookie first-rounder isn't consistent yet, and turnovers are a concern -- Watson fumbled twice and threw an ugly interception off his back foot before adding another pick on a Hail Mary at the end of the game -- but he offers infinitely more upside compared to Savage. The 35-yard pass Watson completed to Ryan Griffin across his body from the numbers on one side of the field to the other on second-and-22 was one of the most impressive passes of the day.

As for the Patriots, the concern has to be that several of their stars aren't playing very well this season. Devin McCourty, the leader of what was supposed to be one of the best secondaries in football, has been a mess and was victimized for at least one touchdown pass on Sunday. Solder has been out of sorts all season. You have to assume they'll figure things out, given that the Patriots always do over the course of a campaign, but this isn't the Pats team people expected might flirt with a 16-0 record.

 

[Uncle Rico]

At least we didn't **** the bed and #4 sent a resounding message to his critics. This loss goes to the defense. If the rook can put up 20+ points of offense that should be enough. D ran out of gas late. 3rd and 18 and NE receivers just running wild down the field. Mortal football sin late in a game. Vrabel continues to leave me unimpressed. O'Brien on the other hand called a decent game, but he nutted up at the end in typical O'Brien fashion. Poor clock management and situational awareness. Fun game though.

 

[bah007]

I have read through this thread and I did not see one time where anybody complained about not calling a time out the second the receiver went down, leaving us 12 seconds on the clock. Yes, I did see Watson attempt to call a TO with 6 seconds left (it was not granted), but why in the heck did BOB not call it the very second the receiver hit the ground?!?!?! That's 12 seconds to play with, a couple quick outs and kick the long FG. Is this not why we kept Fairbairn?!?!? Send it to OT and we still have a chance.

BOB's clock management is some of the worst I have ever seen in the NFL. Unacceptable!!!

OB was actually standing right next to an official the entire time and never asked for a TO. He seriously thought we had time to get up there and spike it, and run another play, and then call the timeout.

I swear he had Penn St flashbacks and thought the clock was pausing so the chains could move. Only explanation.

 

[TexansBull]

And it was crazy to run out of that formation. But the subsequent FG was dumber. With 4th and half a yard they should have gone for it with a tight formation and a QB sneak.

No QB sneaks please. Everytime we do it a QB breaks a foot or gets a concussion.

 

[Thorn]

I hate my drunk laptop

And how old is that laptop you just got drunk? We could be talking a criminal offense here!

 

[zshawn10]

Deepi Sidhu

✔@DeepSlant
Will Fuller V could return Sunday vs. #Titans. O'Brien says he is "hearing good things" about Fuller's prognosis. #Texans

11:39 AM - Sep 25, 2017

Aaron Wilson @AaronWilson_NFL
Bill O'Brien on offensive pass interference interpretation: 'If I knew, I'd be able to coach it better'

11:41 AM - Sep 25, 2017

Brian T. Smith

✔@ChronBrianSmith
Asked if there was conversation with refs about timeout after Hopkins reception and before Hail Mary attempt, O'Brien declined to answer.

11:41 AM - Sep 25, 2017

 

[Texansballer74]

The big brother vs the little brother syndrome applies.
Or
Young father(35-45) vs son ( 10-19) syndrome applies.

I love coming home and playing my three sons ( 13, 14, & 19) in basketball. All three of the jokers love to say, " I'm going to win next time". Sometimes they come oh so close but little simple mistakes tends to cause them to lose over and over again. Missed layups, missed freethrows and turnovers in crucial times of the game. That's the Texans vs Patriots

 

[CloakNNNdagger]

Patriots apologized for charging for tap water during hot Sunday at Gillette Stadium Sunday’s game between the Texans and Patriots where temperatures reached 86 degrees fans were charged $4.50 for a cup of tap water.

FROM
This is an excerpt of a story from BostonGlobe.com. Don't have a Globe subscription? Boston.com readers get a free two-week trial.

When bottled water ran out, Gillette Stadium charged fans $4.50 for tap water

By

The Boston Globe

September 25, 2017

The New England Patriots found themselves in hot water this Sunday after fans complained that they were asked to pay $4.50 for tap water at Gillette Stadium.


Workers at Gillette Stadium had prepared for hot September day — temperatures hit 86 degrees in Foxborough — by doubling their inventory of water bottles. However, the demand far exceeded what they were able to hold in their concession stands and was almost four times the inventory they would have had for an average game.


As different concession stands ran out of water bottles throughout the course of the day, fans asked for cups of tap water instead. Gillette concession stands don’t have the smaller complimentary water cups you may find at other restaurants, so concessionaires resorted to selling tap water in soda cups for $4.50.

 

[santo]

86 degrees is hot?!

 

[CloakNNNdagger]

86 degrees is hot?!

It's just like NRG with its poor orientation. When it's 86 degrees outside, during a noon game, in the stands it can get to 10 degrees hotter. ........and the direct sun while you're just sitting there can fry you. BTW, the sunny side at Gillette Stadium is the Patriots side.

 

[76Texan]

The big brother vs the little brother syndrome applies.
Or
Young father(35-45) vs son ( 10-19) syndrome applies.

I love coming home and playing my three sons ( 13, 14, & 19) in basketball. All three of the jokers love to say, " I'm going to win next time". Sometimes they come oh so close but little simple mistakes tends to cause them to lose over and over again. Missed layups, missed freethrows and turnovers in crucial times of the game. That's the Texans vs Patriots

I bet you were the ref, too. J/k

 

[PapaL]

86 degrees is hot?!

This time of year in the NE; yes. We're at 90 in the DC area and this is way abnormal for this time of year. I miss my warm days and chilly nights/mornings.

 

[TxnsJuggernaut]

I wouldn't have gone into prevent mode.

Me neither tk.

 

[Texansballer74]

I bet you were the ref, too. J/k

Lol yep... would call travel real quick.

 

[76Texan]

Lol yep... would call travel real quick.

LOL, we don't have children, but I still remember playing with my friends' teenagers.
This particular guy was 16 at the time.
He broke my ankle and I fell down before I could call travel. LOL.

I'm not much, but I did play intramural basketball, and our team won it at Milby HS the year we had Rob Williams (Denver Nuggets), another guy that also got a scholarship to UH, and a couple more guys to smaller schools.
( Drexler was still a freshman at Sterling). I was a senior.
Noted: I was the 6th man, and I didn't score a single point during the whole tournament. I missed both free throws, LOL.

Our intramural team was in the championship at UH, too.
This time, I was a starter, and arguably the third option on offense.
We had a guy that was about 5'6, but he can shoot it from beyond the NBA 3-pt range, and he can take it to the hoop, too.
Back then, I think the average height of an American male was 5'10-5'11 and guys weren't so big.
If you watch old NBA games in the late 70s, most were as skinny as sticks.

 

[Texansballer74]

LOL, we don't have children, but I still remember playing with my friends' teenagers.
This particular guy was 16 at the time.
He broke my ankle and I fell down before I could call travel. LOL.

I'm not much, but I did play intramural basketball, and our team won it at Milby HS the year we had Rob Williams (Denver Nuggets), another guy that also got a scholarship to UH, and a couple more guys to smaller schools.
( Drexler was still a freshman at Sterling). I was a senior.
Noted: I was the 6th man, and I didn't score a single point during the whole tournament. I missed both free throws, LOL.

Our intramural team was in the championship at UH, too.
This time, I was a starter, and arguably the third option on offense.
We had a guy that was about 5'6, but he can shoot it from beyond the NBA 3-pt range, and he can take it to the hoop, too.
Back then, I think the average height of an American male was 5'10-5'11 and guys weren't so big.
If you watch old NBA games in the late 70s, most were as skinny as sticks.

I almost went to Milby after middle school. Coach Duff tried to recruit myself and a lot of my buddies from Lamar Flemimg MS.

My boys are getting up there in height now so im starting to workout more. But man they are quick and can handle the ball a lot better. So i have to utilize this 265lb weight on them. Lol Dream was my favorite player so I pretty much perfected his low post moves .

 

[Lucky]

NFL Network will air a replay of this game tomorrow night, 9/27, at 7pm. Just turn it off at the 2:24 mark of the 4th quarter. Makes it much more enjoyable.

 

[cuppacoffee]

At least we didn't **** the bed and #4 sent a resounding message to his critics. This loss goes to the defense. If the rook can put up 20+ points of offense that should be enough. D ran out of gas late. 3rd and 18 and NE receivers just running wild down the field. Mortal football sin late in a game. Vrabel continues to leave me unimpressed. O'Brien on the other hand called a decent game, but he nutted up at the end in typical O'Brien fashion. Poor clock management and situational awareness. Fun game though.

Can someone explain to me, what are the duties of an assistant head coach sitting in the press box?

I was under the impression that RAC was moved upstairs for the express purpose of overseeing the highlighed.

Doesn't he have a direct link to Obriens headset. I realize it is Obriens responsibility so what is RAC being paid to do?

Whatever it is, it ain't working. Typical Texans. Not seeing anything different with Vrabels defense so far.

 

[Texansballer74]

Can someone explain to me, what are the duties of an assistant head coach sitting in the press box?

I was under the impression that RAC was moved upstairs for the express purpose of overseeing the highlighed.

Doesn't he have a direct link to Obriens headset. I realize it is Obriens responsibility so what is RAC being paid to do?

Whatever it is, it ain't working. Typical Texans. Not seeing anything different with Vrabels defense so far.

Good questions.

Im thinking it was only to help Vrabel out if need be.

 

[TheRealJoker]

Good questions.

Im thinking it was only to help Vrabel out if need be.

Not sure how much Crennel or any assistant helps out with clock management. Those decisions literally have to be made in seconds so no input gathered... clock management is on OB.

Challenges I can see Crennel giving his 2 cents.

He has been in the press box even as a DC so no change there.

 

[infantrycak]

He has been in the press box even as a DC so no change there.

 

[cuppacoffee]

Wish I had the know how to go back and research what was said about the move at the time.

It is in the back of my pea brain that it was made to alleviate OB of some head coach on field "duties" so he could concentrate more on the offensive side of the ball.

No matter though, it all falls back on OBrien.

 

[Texansballer74]

Wish I had the know how to go back and research what was said about the move at the time.

It is in the back of my pea brain that it was made to alleviate OB of some head coach on field "duties" so he could concentrate more on the offensive side of the ball.

No matter though, it all falls back on OBrien.

http://www.houstonpress.com/news/houston-texans-promote-romeo-crennel-and-mike-vrabel-9120187


Big picture, it means that O'Brien maintains continuity within the staff of the one side of the ball that he can count on right now. Functionally, it probably means that Vrabel will be the "boss" of the defense, with Crennel as sort of a "consigliere" for him to lean on. That's my guess. It's probably also a sign that Crennel has retirement in the windshield sometime within the next season or two. The team didn't want to lose Vrabel because of his high future upside as a coordinator, but also didn't want to lose Crennel because he was so productive last season as the DC. So they found a way to keep them both and, presumably, keep both happy.


If Crennel's title change means he is fulfilling a bigger, more global role of truly assisting the head coach, obviously O'Brien believes that Crennel's presence frees him up to oversee and call plays for the offense, while Crennel works with Vrabel and the defense. O'Brien would be the play caller and de facto OC, and Ryan will work with the QBs. To be clear, I am not a fan of this. I thought O'Brien should hire a good, proven offensive coordinator and let that coach implement his system, and O'Brien should function as more of a CEO. O'Brien obviously doesn't have that "delegating gene" in him. As gummed up as it's looked for three seasons, O'Brien seems married to his unproven (in Houston, at least) system being the way.

 

[cuppacoffee]

http://www.houstonpress.com/news/houston-texans-promote-romeo-crennel-and-mike-vrabel-9120187


Big picture, it means that O'Brien maintains continuity within the staff of the one side of the ball that he can count on right now. Functionally, it probably means that Vrabel will be the "boss" of the defense, with Crennel as sort of a "consigliere" for him to lean on. That's my guess. It's probably also a sign that Crennel has retirement in the windshield sometime within the next season or two. The team didn't want to lose Vrabel because of his high future upside as a coordinator, but also didn't want to lose Crennel because he was so productive last season as the DC. So they found a way to keep them both and, presumably, keep both happy.


If Crennel's title change means he is fulfilling a bigger, more global role of truly assisting the head coach, obviously O'Brien believes that Crennel's presence frees him up to oversee and call plays for the offense, while Crennel works with Vrabel and the defense. O'Brien would be the play caller and de facto OC, and Ryan will work with the QBs. To be clear, I am not a fan of this. I thought O'Brien should hire a good, proven offensive coordinator and let that coach implement his system, and O'Brien should function as more of a CEO. O'Brien obviously doesn't have that "delegating gene" in him. As gummed up as it's looked for three seasons, O'Brien seems married to his unproven (in Houston, at least) system being the way.

Thanks TB 74.

Explains a lot.

Consigliere definition, "a member of a criminal organization or syndicate who serves as an adviser to the leader."

 

[PapaL]