Keep Texans Talk Google Ad Free!
Venmo Tip Jar | Paypal Tip Jar
Thanks for your support! 🍺😎👍

Texans vs Chargers AAR

Just like a suspect line and OC can make a difference in QB growth/performance.

But so many on here said "EXCUSES!!"

Either we are going to acknowledge valid reasons for losing a game and falling off or we are going to be hard nosed "No excuses" and demand nothing less than the best from everyone.

IF two teams can do it.... then... no excuses and demand it from your team... refs and all.

I for one am not saying the refs cant have an impact. I just think that if we are going to be the no excuses team... no excuses. IF you want to blame refs before a game is played... maybe give grace to a second year "kid" that is going to have growing pains.
Dude. You're on a message board. There will always be excuses, bitching, and moaning.
I'm more concerned with the pre-snap penalties that the Texans shoot themselves in the foot with far too many times a game than the couple a game that biased refs might call. Clean up the false starts, holding, illegal formations, motion penalties, neutral zone infractions. Those are self-inflicted momentum killers.
 
Lazy reporting. Stats weren't a thing until 1982. Deacon Jones coined the phrase.

The Chargers have played a Houston pro football team 4 times in the postseason, including 2 AFL Championship games. In those 4 games, all Houston wins, the Chargers QBs have thrown 15 INT and been sacked 15 times, according to Pro Football Reference box scores.
 
Lazy reporting. Stats weren't a thing until 1982. Deacon Jones coined the phrase.

BTW, here’s a snippet from Pro Football Reference about including sacks back to 1960.

In the case of sacks, thanks to decades of research by John Turney and Nick Webster, we have a very thorough accounting of the statistic all the way back to 1960. Given that accounting for these 'unofficial' statistics allows us to paint a richer picture of the history of the game, we think it is a no-brainer to present them on Pro Football Reference, allowing fans to gain a deeper appreciation of some of football's biggest stars in the 1960s and 1970s.
 
Last edited:
Dude. You're on a message board. There will always be excuses, bitching, and moaning.
I'm more concerned with the pre-snap penalties that the Texans shoot themselves in the foot with far too many times a game than the couple a game that biased refs might call. Clean up the false starts, holding, illegal formations, motion penalties, neutral zone infractions. Those are self-inflicted momentum killers.
As I said in another post. Just want people to be consistent.
 
I slightly took offense with Earl34 but then… here you pop up.

Stroud balled like a CHAMPION with the world watching. I don’t care if he snorted a line that sparked him… the point is… he was SPARKED. Fumble… picked it up… rolled out… FIRST DOWN TO HUTCHINGSON!!! That’s what I’m gonna remember. The first half? WTF?

I see your point. My apologies, Earl34.
Can’t even admit he didn’t play well in the first half. You can give credit and criticize at the same time. Or maybe you can’t walk and chew gum at the same time.

The DEFENSE balled like a champ.

Stroud played well in the second half. That doesn’t negate his first half. He is still throwing terrible interceptions. That won’t work against the Chiefs.
 
And that also applies to Slowik. Every negative offensive play seems to always be his fault, like the fumble by Mixon. But every positive play, no credit to Slowik. I am so sick and tired of all the negative posts on Slowik. I want him gone after this year but stop beating a dead horse. I give him credit for making some adjustments like all of the quick hitters he called.
This
 
The Queefs are beatable, but they have the horseshoe up their ass and constantly skate.

Really hoping that's not the case next week.

**** Kelce. Most hated player in the league since even before their success and Swift ****. Dirty scumbag *****. Don't mind the rest of the team.

We have to play a clean game. Do not beat ourselves, do not give KC any extra help. Any hit on Mahomes will have extra scrutiny, etc. No false starts or other crap. Don't do anything to get positive plays negated, etc.
If they are going to hit Mahomes every hit needs to the hardest hit possible.
 
Can’t even admit he didn’t play well in the first half. You can give credit and criticize at the same time. Or maybe you can’t walk and chew gum at the same time.

The DEFENSE balled like a champ.

Stroud played well in the second half. That doesn’t negate his first half. He is still throwing terrible interceptions. That won’t work against the Chiefs.
If you don’t think Stroud’s fumble, recovery, roll out, for a first down sparked our defense into a turnover frenzy then I don’t know what to tell you. Our defense was rock solid in the first half… and they BALLED in the second. Stroud’s play was easily the catalyst for all that, IMO.
 
Way to stave off the firing squad for another week, Bobby! Keep up the good work…or else.

I heard Andre Ware say something positive about Slowik after the game.

He said that this is the first game he has seen all season that the Texans attacked a weakness of the other team. They were throwing it to Fulton’s side more. The ex-Titan/Oiler.

He also said most of the plays were ones that it didn’t take a long time for a play to develop so Stroud could get rid of the ball quicker and not get sacked.

Good job Slowik. It only took you an entire regular season.
 
If you don’t think Stroud’s fumble, recovery, roll out, for a first down sparked our defense into a turnover frenzy then I don’t know what to tell you. Our defense was rock solid in the first half… and they BALLED in the second. Stroud’s play was easily the catalyst for all that, IMO.
Who kept them in the game for that spark to matter? The Chargers scored 7 quick. Then the defense held them to that. THEN, the defense’s pick 6 sparked the rest of the team.
 
I heard Andre Ware say something positive about Slowik after the game.

He said that this is the first game he has seen all season that the Texans attacked a weakness of the other team. They were throwing it to Fulton’s side more. The ex-Titan/Oiler.

He also said most of the plays were ones that it didn’t take a long time for a play to develop so Stroud could get rid of the ball quicker and not get sacked.

Good job Slowik. It only took you an entire regular season.
Bobby game planned well for when it mattered most. Period. Stroud decided to take what the defense gives him instead of going for the home run each pass. There’s the difference.
 
I heard Andre Ware say something positive about Slowik after the game.

He said that this is the first game he has seen all season that the Texans attacked a weakness of the other team. They were throwing it to Fulton’s side more. The ex-Titan/Oiler.

He also said most of the plays were ones that it didn’t take a long time for a play to develop so Stroud could get rid of the ball quicker and not get sacked.

Good job Slowik. It only took you an entire regular season.
It is very possible that Andre Ware is correct in his assessment. But truthfully how would he know?

After watching many highlights & amateur analysis I'm seeing a lot of throws Cj didn't take for one reason or another. Maybe he didn't get to it in his progression. Maybe he was moved off his spot & had to adjust. Maybe he saw a match up he liked elsewhere.

We don't know what play was called. We don't know how it was called & we don't know the play design. Even if we did the nuances of every play changes depending on how the defense lines up. If there's one safety in the middle of the field & there's no blitz Cj's progression will go one way. If there's a blitz he'll progress through his reads differently. If there are two safeties his progression is different & if there's a matchup Cj likes, or a weakness he recognizes he will read & react differently.

Another thing, Tytus Howard looks to be taking a lot more pride in his role as a Guard in the run game. A lot of the run plays that didn't work early in the game led to huge gains later. The way Slowik called them may not have changed much at all.

Slowik deserves credit, sure. Or just like he's been saying all year, like DeMeco's been saying, it's execution.

All I'm saying is what I've been saying since last year. We see everything as it's filtered through the players, Cj specifically.
 
Bobby game planned well for when it mattered most. Period. Stroud decided to take what the defense gives him instead of going for the home run each pass. There’s the difference.
I think the difference was that he decided not to settle for what the defense gave him. Like DeMeco said, he put the team on his shoulder & decided to make something happen, at least 5 times I can think of off the top of my head.
 
Who kept them in the game for that spark to matter? The Chargers scored 7 quick. Then the defense held them to that. THEN, the defense’s pick 6 sparked the rest of the team.

Dumbass Bobby Slowik ruined our momentum coming out of the half trying to get cute with Mixon throwing the ball. After seeing Mixon shred the Chargers with his running why the **** would you call that play? He should have kept running it down their throats and kill time.

That play call led to a fumble and could have lost the game. It deflated the team.

Luckily, like I said before the game, all the offense has to do is put together a couple of long drives to give the defense rest so they are fresh. Don’t be great. Just average. And the defense balled out in spite of that stupid play call.
 
I think the difference was that he decided not to settle for what the defense gave him. Like DeMeco said, he put the team on his shoulder & decided to make something happen, at least 5 times I can think of off the top of my head.

I think everyone can agree that we saw a different Stroud play after the botched snap.

It woke him up. It was a different player similar to the one we saw last year.

Stroud just needs to be average and we will win games. No big throws with quick TDs all the time. Burn the clock so the defense can rest.

He played better. And it showed in the defense and the points.
 
Dumbass Bobby Slowik ruined our momentum coming out of the half trying to get cute with Mixon throwing the ball. After seeing Mixon shred the Chargers with his running why the **** would you call that play? He should have kept running it down their throats and kill time.

That play call led to a fumble and could have lost the game. It deflated the team.

Luckily, like I said before the game, all the offense has to do is put together a couple of long drives to give the defense rest so they are fresh. Don’t be great. Just average. And the defense balled out in spite of that stupid play call.
Going into the half Mixon wasn't cutting anyone up with his running. & on that play Mixon had the option to pull it down & run, which he did. Had Mixon kept three points of contact, like he's taught since pop Warner, he wouldn't have fumbled the ball.
 
Going into the half Mixon wasn't cutting anyone up with his running. & on that play Mixon had the option to pull it down & run, which he did. Had Mixon kept three points of contact, like he's taught since pop Warner, he wouldn't have fumbled the ball.

You got me I over embellished on his running that series. He had one run for 5 yards. One for no gain.

However - the next offensive series Mixon had 12 yard and 15 yard runs. And then another for 12 yards called back for a penalty.

But again - why would you call for the option for your running back to throw the ball when you have momentum and only up by 4 points? Throwing to Nico and running was working. It was dumb. Wrong time.
 
I think the difference was that he decided not to settle for what the defense gave him. Like DeMeco said, he put the team on his shoulder & decided to make something happen, at least 5 times I can think of off the top of my head.
Those lanes were there. There have been other games where a lane has been open to scramble and he had not. Thankfully he decided to. It shows other teams he CAN run.
 
Dumbass Bobby Slowik ruined our momentum coming out of the half trying to get cute with Mixon throwing the ball.
Was not a fan of that call. Stroud was feeling it. No time to get cute.
And the defense balled out in spite of that stupid play call.
That's going to be the theme of this postseason as the Texans advance. And I'm OK with that.
 
I bet Mixon fumbling was the last thing on anybodies mind. That was Mixon's first fumble since 2021. In Mixon's whole career he has had 7 fumbles & lost only 5 out of 1,947 carries including playoff games. He turns the ball over approximately once every 390 carries. He also had 346 receptions during this period. For a total of 7 fumbles out of 2,293 touches. Anyway you figure it that is pretty damn good.
 
Last edited:
That's the way it works. It's genius if it works, you're a moron if it doesn't.

That applies to certain plays. Like going when Bobby Slowik and the Bills threw the ball 3 times and gave the ball back to the opposing team and lost the game. It happened this season.

If it worked it would have been dumb luck. Dumb either way.

IMHO of course.

We can agree to disagree.
 
If you don’t think Stroud’s fumble, recovery, roll out, for a first down sparked our defense into a turnover frenzy then I don’t know what to tell you. Our defense was rock solid in the first half… and they BALLED in the second. Stroud’s play was easily the catalyst for all that, IMO.
True, Stroud playing better allowed the defense to be well rested in the 2nd half. No kudos for Slowik's playcalling in the 2nd half?
 
I heard Andre Ware say something positive about Slowik after the game.

He said that this is the first game he has seen all season that the Texans attacked a weakness of the other team. They were throwing it to Fulton’s side more. The ex-Titan/Oiler.

He also said most of the plays were ones that it didn’t take a long time for a play to develop so Stroud could get rid of the ball quicker and not get sacked.

Good job Slowik. It only took you an entire regular season.
Did Ware tell us why Stroud sucked in the 1st half?
 
Bobby game planned well for when it mattered most. Period. Stroud decided to take what the defense gives him instead of going for the home run each pass. There’s the difference.
CJ taking what the defense was giving was the key in the 2nd half.
 
Jim Harbaugh: We didn’t put Justin Herbert in position to be successful against Texans
By Josh Alper
Published January 15, 2025 06:01 PM

Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh was effusive in his praise of quarterback Justin Herbert throughout the regular season and that isn’t changing in the aftermath of the team’s playoff loss to the Texans.

Herbert threw four interceptions in the 32-12 loss after throwing three interceptions all season and the defeat dropped him to 0-2 in the playoffs in his career. That has sparked some criticism of his performances in the biggest games on the schedule, but Harbaugh doesn’t think any of it is justified.

“Completely unfair,” Harbaugh said at a press conference. “I wouldn’t spend two more seconds thinking about what happened in that game. It didn’t go good, and that’s on me, that’s my responsibility, that’s my accountability. I really felt going into that tournament that we were as good as the best teams in the playoffs. Not just as good as any team, but as good as the best teams in the playoffs. That day, we were not the better team that day. That’s my responsibility. We did not play complementary football well enough. My responsibility. We weren’t our best when our best was needed. . . . We did him a disservice and didn’t put him in the positions to be successful enough, but he played like a beast.”

General Manager Joe Hortiz noted Peyton Manning started his career 0-3 in the playoffs while calling it “absurd” to hang a narrative around Herbert’s neck after two playoff appearances. Others would be less forgiving and it will be a while before any more data points are entered into the conversation.
 
Jim Harbaugh: We didn’t put Justin Herbert in position to be successful against Texans
By Josh Alper
Published January 15, 2025 06:01 PM

Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh was effusive in his praise of quarterback Justin Herbert throughout the regular season and that isn’t changing in the aftermath of the team’s playoff loss to the Texans.

Herbert threw four interceptions in the 32-12 loss after throwing three interceptions all season and the defeat dropped him to 0-2 in the playoffs in his career. That has sparked some criticism of his performances in the biggest games on the schedule, but Harbaugh doesn’t think any of it is justified.

“Completely unfair,” Harbaugh said at a press conference. “I wouldn’t spend two more seconds thinking about what happened in that game. It didn’t go good, and that’s on me, that’s my responsibility, that’s my accountability. I really felt going into that tournament that we were as good as the best teams in the playoffs. Not just as good as any team, but as good as the best teams in the playoffs. That day, we were not the better team that day. That’s my responsibility. We did not play complementary football well enough. My responsibility. We weren’t our best when our best was needed. . . . We did him a disservice and didn’t put him in the positions to be successful enough, but he played like a beast.”

General Manager Joe Hortiz noted Peyton Manning started his career 0-3 in the playoffs while calling it “absurd” to hang a narrative around Herbert’s neck after two playoff appearances. Others would be less forgiving and it will be a while before any more data points are entered into the conversation.
Lol! Ryan's defense may have had something to do with that also.
 
Back
Top