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Texans Offensive Line

sprtsfanatic said:
wow, when did the giants get those uniforms?!?!?

Why dont you post the game against the giants, which is the game I referenced and watch it for yourself...again...they didnt play long but while he was in everything I stated IS A FACT AND TRUE. But dont let my lying eyes lie to only me...why dont you go have a watch and see here the pressure and the collapsed pocket comes from and who it begins with.
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Ignore his entire body of work and focus on a meaningless pre-season game. Weird flex but OK.

Of all the problems that this Oline had last season, Mason was not one of them.
 
sandman said:
Ignore his entire body of work and focus on a meaningless pre-season game. Weird flex but OK.

Of all the problems that this Oline had last season, Mason was not one of them.
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Last years in the past....if we only went on the past...things would be so much different....so by your premise Kenyon Green doesnt deserve a shot, no matter how much he has impressed this year and how much he's out played Mason THIS YEAR in the same game against the same D....

dont tell me your one of those people...."weird".....really?!?! LMAO
 
There is noreason to suspect that Mason would take a large step back from past performances. One small sample in a preseason game isn’t exactly cause for panic. I’d say Mason is the least of our worries personally - if it’s proven otherwise over a number of weeks…I’m sure coach will have a reasonable solution.
 
Porky said:
There is noreason to suspect that Mason would take a large step back from past performances. One small sample in a preseason game isn’t exactly cause for panic. I’d say Mason is the least of our worries personally - if it’s proven otherwise over a number of weeks…I’m sure coach will have a reasonable solution.
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I really hope he steps his game up and does better than he did against the giants line when he was in...He's only 30 so age shouldnt be a thing and I havent heard of any injury he's battling through...but Im still searching for a beast of a RG in the draft to shape, mold, and bring along to solidify another position on that line.
 
sprtsfanatic said:
Last years in the past....if we only went on the past...things would be so much different....so by your premise Kenyon Green doesnt deserve a shot, no matter how much he has impressed this year and how much he's out played Mason THIS YEAR in the same game against the same D....

dont tell me your one of those people...."weird".....really?!?! LMAO
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I think you are asking me if I have expectations of performance for Mason based on an entire season and playoffs last year, compared to setting those expectations based on one pre-season game this year? If so, the answer is yes.

And "weird flex but OK" has been an internet meme since 2018.
 
I was absolutely & completely wrong about our OL. All preseason I've been saying they're going to make it difficult for Mixon to average 4.1 ypc... But they did a fine, fine job.

I guess it helps knowing you don't need to hold a block forever & being rewarded for those 2nd level blocks.

& I was mad... Still mad Akers was a healthy scratch, but I do want to see more Pierce in real game situations.
 
thunderkyss said:
I was absolutely & completely wrong about our OL. All preseason I've been saying they're going to make it difficult for Mixon to average 4.1 ypc... But they did a fine, fine job.

I guess it helps knowing you don't need to hold a block forever & being rewarded for those 2nd level blocks.

& I was mad... Still mad Akers was a healthy scratch, but I do want to see more Pierce in real game situations.
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Yeah I was wrong as well. Mixon was excellent, beyond what I could have hoped for.

Obviously early season teams are still shaking off rust but I can't see it (the run game) taking a big nosedive from here. I actually think we might legitimately have a great run game to rely on!
 
thunderkyss said:
I was absolutely & completely wrong about our OL. All preseason I've been saying they're going to make it difficult for Mixon to average 4.1 ypc... But they did a fine, fine job.

I guess it helps knowing you don't need to hold a block forever & being rewarded for those 2nd level blocks.

& I was mad... Still mad Akers was a healthy scratch, but I do want to see more Pierce in real game situations.
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At least you didn’t start him in your fantasy league like I did :brickwall:
 
Marcus said:
I’d say.the Bears coaching staff is gonna be looking at some interesting film this week. They’ll be like “the Colts just figured that CJ’s passing was all they needed to worry about.” lol:
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Bear's DC is going to be burning midnight oil and taking plenty of Ibuprofen trying to figure out how to stop the run Sunday night.
And Caleb Williams needs more time yet too.
DeMeco and co will have fun designing plays to confuse him.
 
As excited and happy as I am to see the progress of the interior OL (especially Green, who appeared to be blowing people completely off the line), I have to be a bit of a debbie downer. It could be "rust" or whatever you want to call it, but Howard was getting pushed back a little too much for my liking. I wouldn't want to put Fisher into action if we didn't have to (would rather we let him learn and develop more), we may have to put him at RT sooner than later if this is the rule and not the exception.

I hope I'm overreacting, because ideally I would like to see Howard be the guy at RT until he's not.

Regardless, great showing today and it's pretty cool if we finally fixed interior OL. It's been years since it was solid.
 
House of Pain said:
As excited and happy as I am to see the progress of the interior OL (especially Green, who appeared to be blowing people completely off the line), I have to be a bit of a debbie downer. It could be "rust" or whatever you want to call it, but Howard was getting pushed back a little too much for my liking. I wouldn't want to put Fisher into action if we didn't have to (would rather we let him learn and develop more), we may have to put him at RT sooner than later if this is the rule and not the exception.

I hope I'm overreacting, because ideally I would like to see Howard be the guy at RT until he's not.

Regardless, great showing today and it's pretty cool if we finally fixed interior OL. It's been years since it was solid.
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Howard was the dim spot on that line, IMO. Everybody says Green and Tunsil but it’s Howard who’s tearing apart that interior with his sub-par play.
 
House of Pain said:
As excited and happy as I am to see the progress of the interior OL (especially Green, who appeared to be blowing people completely off the line), I have to be a bit of a debbie downer. It could be "rust" or whatever you want to call it, but Howard was getting pushed back a little too much for my liking. I wouldn't want to put Fisher into action if we didn't have to (would rather we let him learn and develop more), we may have to put him at RT sooner than later if this is the rule and not the exception.

I hope I'm overreacting, because ideally I would like to see Howard be the guy at RT until he's not.

Regardless, great showing today and it's pretty cool if we finally fixed interior OL. It's been years since it was solid.
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It just goes to show different people will see the same thing and have a completely different take. DaleMurphy wondered if Kenyon Green has a mental problem. I asked him to elaborate and he says…”He seemed to be often confused with the communication regarding the silent snap, especially from shotgun... It appeared to cause considerable frustration by Stroud. At first, I thought it was an issue with Scruggs... Throughout the game, it just seemed that Green was often confused and/or slow regarding his get off and his assignment in pass pro.... The focus of the Colts defense appeared to be primarily to attack the A gap between green and Scruggs. It also appeared they were able to read one of them to time the snap and also to read run or pass.”

That wasn’t my observation, and I’ll leave it at that, other than I was kinda surprised.
 
Marcus said:
It just goes to show different people will see the same thing and have a completely different take. DaleMurphy wondered if Kenyon Green has a mental problem. I asked him to elaborate and he says…”He seemed to be often confused with the communication regarding the silent snap, especially from shotgun... It appeared to cause considerable frustration by Stroud. At first, I thought it was an issue with Scruggs... Throughout the game, it just seemed that Green was often confused and/or slow regarding his get off and his assignment in pass pro.... The focus of the Colts defense appeared to be primarily to attack the A gap between green and Scruggs. It also appeared they were able to read one of them to time the snap and also to read run or pass.”

That wasn’t my observation, and I’ll leave it at that, other than I was kinda surprised.
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Very interesting. I don't watch film. I don't watch the All 22. I don't claim to know much about football other than what I've observed as a fan over the years. Green's issue was he would get pushed around and that looks like that's not happening anymore. I would rather see if someone can overcome a "mental" issue with more practice and reps than if they can become a more physically impressive player. Just my take.
 
House of Pain said:
As excited and happy as I am to see the progress of the interior OL (especially Green, who appeared to be blowing people completely off the line), I have to be a bit of a debbie downer. It could be "rust" or whatever you want to call it, but Howard was getting pushed back a little too much for my liking. I wouldn't want to put Fisher into action if we didn't have to (would rather we let him learn and develop more), we may have to put him at RT sooner than later if this is the rule and not the exception.

I hope I'm overreacting, because ideally I would like to see Howard be the guy at RT until he's not.

Regardless, great showing today and it's pretty cool if we finally fixed interior OL. It's been years since it was solid.
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FYI: According to Football Focus, Howard graded out higher than Mason, Tunsil, and Green, for his blocking. Only Sruggs had a slightly higher blocking grade than Howard did in the Colts game. FF gave Howard a very solid grade for the game.
 
AggiebyMarriage said:
FYI: According to Football Focus, Howard graded out higher than Mason, Tunsil, and Green, for his blocking. Only Sruggs had a slightly higher blocking grade than Howard did in the Colts game. FF gave Howard a very solid grade for the game.
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I wasnt happy with Mason's play...seemed he was getting pushed around and man handled all day...but I'll have to go back and rewatch and have a 2nd look.
 
AggiebyMarriage said:
FYI: According to Football Focus, Howard graded out higher than Mason, Tunsil, and Green, for his blocking. Only Sruggs had a slightly higher blocking grade than Howard did in the Colts game. FF gave Howard a very solid grade for the game.
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I don't want to go off on a rant, but I watched a PFF video on the Texans/Colts game where they gave the Colts OL great grades across the board. This is the same line that Jonathan Taylor ran behind for a 3.0 average. Yes, Richardson had time to throw most of the game. That's because the pass rushers were staying in their lanes for the most part and keeping there eyes on the QB. That was the defensive scheme, not dominant performances by the Colts OL.

Counter that with the Texans O-line that were working against a defensive front that had their ears pinned back to get to the QB. But that same scheme made the Texans o-line's job easier in run blocking, as the Colts ran out of their gap assignments.

One offense had 114 more total yards, 12 more 1st downs, and had a 2:1 time of possession ratio. And it wasn't the Colts. So, which offensive line played at a higher level? That has always been my issue with PFF grading. Their method of watching the game is granular. They aren't watching the game as a whole. They can't see the forest for the trees.
 
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Flowers to the entire o-line in the Colts game. Rusty in pass pro. Even Tunsil had some issues. I expect rapid improvement in pass pro. But wow wow wow on run blocking. I’ve been waiting for a very long time for a performance like that. Yes Mixon did great, but any decent RB would have run for 100+ with the way the blocking was. Stover was also a beast BTW - unreal with him mostly at FB. I can’t remember the last time Tunsil was consistently downfield taking out dudes on the 2nd level. I hope that’s the new Tunsil. He was damn good in the run game. Kudos! Even the WR’s were dawgs. Just great all the way around.

Special shout-out to Kenyon Green. Dude was a man among men. Stand out performance in the run game. Not perfect…missed a couple but for the most part, he was truly outstanding. Pro-bowl performance by him in the run game. He looks like a new man and what we were hoping in the off-season came to fruition. He’s got pro-bowl potential this year.
 
Porky said:
Flowers to the entire o-line in the Colts game. Rusty in pass pro. Even Tunsil had some issues. I expect rapid improvement in pass pro. But wow wow wow on run blocking. I’ve been waiting for a very long time for a performance like that. Yes Mixon did great, but any decent RB would have run for 100+ with the way the blocking was. Stover was also a beast BTW - unreal with him mostly at FB. I can’t remember the last time Tunsil was consistently downfield taking out dudes on the 2nd level. I hope that’s the new Tunsil. He was damn good in the run game. Kudos! Even the WR’s were dawgs. Just great all the way around.

Special shout-out to Kenyon Green. Dude was a man among men. Stand out performance in the run game. Not perfect…missed a couple but for the most part, he was truly outstanding. Pro-bowl performance by him in the run game. He looks like a new man and what we were hoping in the off-season came to fruition. He’s got pro-bowl potential this year.
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Hehe, the worst play was when Tunsil and Kenyon had their DLmen tied up but they both tried to pass him off to get another block downfield, leaving the DT completely unblocked. That type of thing is going to be fixed with reps, as will the pass blocking. This is very typical of a zone-blocking line that hasn't gotten reps together. I remember back-in-the-day Eric Winston commenting that the line was so used to each other that they could communicate their blocking assignments with grunts. :)
 
Porky said:
Flowers to the entire o-line in the Colts game. Rusty in pass pro. Even Tunsil had some issues. I expect rapid improvement in pass pro. But wow wow wow on run blocking. I’ve been waiting for a very long time for a performance like that. Yes Mixon did great, but any decent RB would have run for 100+ with the way the blocking was. Stover was also a beast BTW - unreal with him mostly at FB. I can’t remember the last time Tunsil was consistently downfield taking out dudes on the 2nd level. I hope that’s the new Tunsil. He was damn good in the run game. Kudos! Even the WR’s were dawgs. Just great all the way around.

Special shout-out to Kenyon Green. Dude was a man among men. Stand out performance in the run game. Not perfect…missed a couple but for the most part, he was truly outstanding. Pro-bowl performance by him in the run game. He looks like a new man and what we were hoping in the off-season came to fruition. He’s got pro-bowl potential this year.
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The most important things: 1.) We got the win, 2.) The O line and run game successes look like they were by good play and a game plan and not a fluke or because the other team didn't have quality on the other side of the ball, and 3.) There is a real willingness and "want" to block and hit hard.

That the third one is something that has trickled down from Coach Ryans and the guys he brought in. That can't really be taught, players have to want to go all in. Which brings me to a smaller point that Porky brought up: Tunsil.

Tunsil is a man that thinks of business first. Based on his x/twitter posts, he's all about money. When we were bad, he didn't play and why would he want to? He has his money. Until this year, no one thought the Texans were going to do anything in the post season. Now? We are getting picked to be a dark horse to make it to the SB or the championship game. Why does this matter? Because I think that Tunsil knows that he wants to be the best T on the line so he gets his next market setting deal. That means getting up to the second level and doing the dirty work. I think there is so much more peer pressure on him, especially because we have star power in the building as well. I'm pretty sure that means we may see a better version of Tunsil than we are used to. Still good for 1-2 false starts a game. That's my Tunsil conspiracy theory.
 
One other thing about the line this year: having depth.

Should a T, G, or C be ineffective or get injured, we have at least one serviceable backup. That comes in the form of Fisher (at T), Patterson (at G or C), and potentially Kend. Green (at G, probably not C). And fortunately, they have been in the building for at least a year, had a full offseason, so we aren't scrambling to pull guys off the street to have them play against Micah Parsons or something like that. It's a real luxury.

You have to go back to the Kubes Texans to find a line that had quality depth like that, and even then, I would probably prefer the guys we have now.
 
JB said:
If only we had Coach Gibbs!
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I've got more chickens if someone wants to get in touch with him, anyone have Chris Strausser's phone number? Let's see one chicken per year, plus a couple more to get him back in an OL coach mode comes to 5... Okay I'm ready.
 
I know this thread is about the OL but it's pretty cool to see Mixon taking advantage of the holes and making quick, decisive cuts. He made them look a little better than they were. Pearce didn't look as good, but if he can get 5 ypc, I think we will all be "good" with that. I hope this is something that we can sustain for the whole year and it the new normal for this team.
 
cland said:
Hehe, the worst play was when Tunsil and Kenyon had their DLmen tied up but they both tried to pass him off to get another block downfield, leaving the DT completely unblocked. That type of thing is going to be fixed with reps, as will the pass blocking. This is very typical of a zone-blocking line that hasn't gotten reps together. I remember back-in-the-day Eric Winston commenting that the line was so used to each other that they could communicate their blocking assignments with grunts. :)
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I remember that play between Laramie tunsil and Kenyon. I yelled somebody block him and then had to laugh. Should not have been funny but it was. We know that Kenyon can hold up in the Run game now if he can just hold up on the field.

TE at FB looking good as it opens roster spot IMO. Don't know if British Bulldog can be RB but he can lower the boom.
Mario Edwards IIRC 3 tackles and a sack!
 
Lucky said:
I don't want to go off on a rant, but I watched a PFF video on the Texans/Colts game where they gave the Colts OL great grades across the board. This is the same line that Jonathan Taylor ran behind for a 3.0 average. Yes, Richardson had time to throw most of the game. That's because the pass rushers were staying in their lanes for the most part and keeping there eyes on the QB. That was the defensive scheme, not dominant performances by the Colts OL.

Counter that with the Texans O-line that were working against a defensive front that had their ears pinned back to get to the QB. But that same scheme made the Texans o-line's job easier in run blocking, as the Colts ran out of their gap assignments.

One offense had 114 more total yards, 12 more 1st downs, and had a 2:1 ratio time of possession ratio. And it wasn't the Colts. So, which offensive line played at a higher level? That has always been my issue with PFF grading. Their method of watching the game is granular. They aren't watching the game as a whole. They can't see the forest for the trees.
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The whole grades barely made sense to me. The Colts for the most part graded out GREAT and the Texans good to flat out poor.

For example Mixon had a huge day. 159 yards at over a 5 yard per carry clip.

Was he graded great by PFF? Nope. Was just graded as good in the low 70s.

Oh. So then was the blocking really good and the Texans o-line graded really good? Again no. The Colts o-line had absolutely elite grades but the Texans grades were pretty meh.

Okay so then was it the Colts d-line that played super poor up front and allowed Mixon huge holes? No again. The Colts d-line was graded as quite good.

It's not even that the PFF grades aren't making sense to the eye test, they aren't even making sense for what literally happened. It's like Mixon got his results via literal magic. It's also not some situation where Mixon broke out one or two HUGE runs but they bottled him up for the other 28. His 5 yards a carry is basically exactly what happened.

According to PFF we basically bamboozled the Colts out of the game and I'm not sure how you can bamboozle a team out of the game when they literally can't stop your run plays and almost every run you call with any running back goes for about 5 yards.

Alec Pierce was also graded out as having a better day than Nico Collins.

PFF is good for stat collection and numbers and formations called but their overall player grades suck so hard.
 
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House of Pain said:
One other thing about the line this year: having depth.

Should a T, G, or C be ineffective or get injured, we have at least one serviceable backup. That comes in the form of Fisher (at T), Patterson (at G or C), and potentially Kend. Green (at G, probably not C). And fortunately, they have been in the building for at least a year, had a full offseason, so we aren't scrambling to pull guys off the street to have them play against Micah Parsons or something like that. It's a real luxury.

You have to go back to the Kubes Texans to find a line that had quality depth like that, and even then, I would probably prefer the guys we have now.
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Caserio has done a great job investing in our OL. We just got bombed by injuries last season so they need time still to gel.
 
Marcus said:
It just goes to show different people will see the same thing and have a completely different take. DaleMurphy wondered if Kenyon Green has a mental problem. I asked him to elaborate and he says…”He seemed to be often confused with the communication regarding the silent snap, especially from shotgun... It appeared to cause considerable frustration by Stroud. At first, I thought it was an issue with Scruggs... Throughout the game, it just seemed that Green was often confused and/or slow regarding his get off and his assignment in pass pro.... The focus of the Colts defense appeared to be primarily to attack the A gap between green and Scruggs. It also appeared they were able to read one of them to time the snap and also to read run or pass.”

That wasn’t my observation, and I’ll leave it at that, other than I was kinda surprised.
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Upon my re-watch, Green definitely looked good. I still think there was a significant communication issue with the silent count from shotgun, and I believe the heart of that issue was between Scruggs and Green. However, one of the blown pass blocking assignments that I thought were Green's, was actually Tunsil's blown assignment (early in the game, when Mixon stepped up and blocked a guy right before he sacked CJ, causing CJ to fall down). Two other big mistakes in pass pro in the first half that I thought may have been Green's was actually Scruggs on one and probably Mason on the other.
 
dalemurphy said:
Upon my re-watch, Green definitely looked good. I still think there was a significant communication issue with the silent count from shotgun, and I believe the heart of that issue was between Scruggs and Green. However, one of the blown pass blocking assignments that I thought were Green's, was actually Tunsil's blown assignment (early in the game, when Mixon stepped up and blocked a guy right before he sacked CJ, causing CJ to fall down). Two other big mistakes in pass pro in the first half that I thought may have been Green's was actually Scruggs on one and probably Mason on the other.
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Kenyon Green had some pancake blocks. That's nice to see. 🥞
 
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Lucky said:
Kenyon Green had some pancake blocks. That's nice to see.
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Kenyon Green's plays really highlighted the fact that for all his talk Zaire Franklin barely did anything and was rarely ever seen. The times I saw him was when an olineman was throwing him around - I know Seth Payne has highlighted the play where Green sent Zaire to the shadow realm. EJ Speed was okay though.
 
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