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Texans vs Jaguars AAR

T

TheRealJoker V2

Veteran
This was as ugly as it gets. It came down to the final 30 seconds but the Texans beat the Jags. I am no longer confident we have a bonafide Super Bowl contender. I hope they make adjustments but if Buffalo were playing us today it would’ve been ugly.

What went well:

1) The Stroud to Nico connection.
Nico Collins is ascending into a bonafide top 5 WR this season. Leads the league in receiving yards so far and made it look easy the first drive.

Reminds me of Julio Jones in his heyday. 6’4” 200+ 4.4 speed and a physical runner after the catch. Led league in yac last season.

2) Defensive stand at the 1. Sure they shouldn’t have allowed the big play in the first place to get there but they held up when it counted. DeMeco has said previously, “Don’t quit on a play, just give us a blade of grass to stand on and we have a chance.” And the defense held up when it counted most.

What did not go well:

1) Penalties! 12 penalties 93 yards today. It’s time for accountability on Kirby. Players need to be benched or cut. Coaches need to be fired or demoted. Something needs to change or this team will be left with an apple and a roadmap when the playoffs start.

2) Defensive miscues. Trevor Lawrence bailed out the defense several times today airmailing it to wide open WRs. We wont be playing him every week. It has to get cleaned up.

3) Offensive line. When they’re not blocking they are committing penalties. The highest paid unit on the team is the weakest link. If we had an OL that did their job as well as our lunch pail defensive tackles playing on minimal salary then we would be celebrating another blowout victory! But these guys are overpaid and underperforming. Slowik needs to make adjustments and it might start with getting rid of Strausser or demoting him.
 
I think we need to find a way to love the team as it is instead of pretending it's something it's not. They showed us last year we have a good QB & a solid foundation to build on. Nick did his part & made solid additions to the team.

They don't look to have put it all together yet for whatever reason.

That's a coaching issue. But we love our coaches, don't we?

Were not there yet, but I think we have all the pieces & the coaches to get it done.
 
It’s too early to write this team off. Some things have to change though. Texans shouldn’t have been in a game winning drive situation with our offense against a starless defense seeing Josh Allen left early. This isn’t a win to celebrate.

What’s going on? Demeco said we would fix the penalties but it seems as if we racked up more this game than last week embarrassing lost. Do we have a first time OL coach? We need to stop being that organization that gives coaching jobs to unproven personnel.

Last point I want to touch is the play calling. The common theme throughout the game was running the ball on first down. I’m pretty sure our ypc was under 3 yards. Stop waiting until half time and the 4th qtr to take the training wheels off Cj Stroud. 28 other teams would love to have him. Cj shouldn’t be put in 3rd down and long situations every possession. Your job as the oc is to make the game easier for him rather than hard. Multiple times where you run the ball on 1st and 2nd down, now Stroud has to work his magic on 3rd and long. That’s bs man, get it together.


I will remain optimistic but 4th week in a row where our supposedly unstoppable offense hasn’t touched 30. Good thing we play some of the tougher teams later on in the season, my god…
 
So my main gripe outside of the penalties is the run game. With Mixon out we’ve obviously struggled running it and we should be good once he and Pierce get back. But I think there’s a lot of yardage being left out there b/c of how these guys run that we’re having to rely on; specifically Akers..he’s trying to bounce it too much instead of just getting north and south. All of them like to bounce it too much actually and in this scheme that’s not optimal. 1 cut and get up field. I think it’s kinda contributing to some of these holding penalties on the o-line too. Trying to bounce it all the time, these o-linemen are getting caught trying to hold blocks for longer than they should have to on run plays when they’re trying to get outside. You hear it all the time from O-linemen..they prefer going forward for run plays than sitting back b/c it allows them to get physical and wear down a defensive lineman. We’re the direct opposite right now asking CJ to drop back 30+ times a game.

So I don’t wanna see Akers starting anymore. Not only does he try to bounce it too much, he also doesn't have that short area quickness to get to the spots and holes… which in just watching things today, there are more than a few there. He’s just not seeing them b/c his vision is trash. He also doesn’t run hard enough imo. Goes down a little too easy imo.

I think Dare needs to be the guy going forward until Mixon and/or Pierce get back. He runs hard & packs a little punch, he also knows the system for blocking purposes and as we saw in the last drive, he has good enough hands out of the backfield.
 
Positives:

1. C.J. is still C.J.
2. Nico is a top tier WR
3. Dare showed up big in the 4th
4. The D held up well on the last few drives

Negatives:

1. The defense allowing wide open deep balls
2. Virtually no pass rush
3. Poor halftime adjustments
4. Poor run game
5. Numerous O-line penalties
6. Stevin Sims
 
Mr teX said:
So I don’t wanna see Akers starting anymore. Not only does he try to bounce it too much, he also doesn't have that short area quickness to get to the spots and holes… which in just watching things today, there are more than a few there. He’s just not seeing them b/c his vision is trash. He also doesn’t run hard enough imo. Goes down a little too easy imo.

I think Dare needs to be the guy going forward until Mixon and/or Pierce get back. He runs hard & packs a little punch, he also knows the system for blocking purposes and as we saw in the last drive, he has good enough hands out of the backfield.
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And that's the result of his 2 Achilles injuries and unfortunately is why he should be a RB3 no matter what flashes he shows.

I don't know if I want Dare temporarily in the lead role either, I think he's the perfect fit where he is but I do realize we may not have a choice.
 
Tex made a very strong point in the game day thread. They started off like this last season and we were able to clean up a lot of mistakes/mishaps. So I’m not going to jump off the Super Bowl bandwagon just yet. Reason being, I’ve seen so many Super Bowl winners catch fire 🔥 at the right time.

Steel B also make a strong point, this is like the preseason for a lot of teams. With that being said I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. Now if they’re making these same mistakes deeper into the season. Then I’ll wave the panic flag.

Good win nonetheless ladies and gentlemen.
 
It's still early in the season, and there are definitely areas that need improvement. One concern I've noticed is the number of plays where our receivers are tightly covered. While attending the games, I often focus on the receivers during pass plays rather than just following the ball. It seems that at least 25% of completions occur when the route is broken off, not to mention the incompletions or sacks that result from tight coverage.
 
KoolAid Sipper said:
And that's the result of his 2 Achilles injuries and unfortunately is why he should be a RB3 no matter what flashes he shows.

I don't know if I want Dare temporarily in the lead role either, I think he's the perfect fit where he is but I do realize we may not have a choice.
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I’d be fine if they just released Akers honestly. He’s just not bringing much to the table over the other guys behind him. And Of the healthy backs, Dare has the most positives right now. I think he’d be able to get to holes that Akers just can’t get to, he’s a vet, he knows the system having been here last year and he’s got good enough hands to where teams couldn’t key on him to determine if it’s a pass or run.

I think u sprinkle in Carries from Brooks and Taylor.
 
Important note;

Christian Harris and Kurt Hinish are eligible to return from IR this week. If they are ready to return, who gets cut?

I think Sims made a strong case for giving up his roster spot for one of them today. 7 WRs is a luxury and if you’re only playing ST you can’t hurt the team once… much less twice. But i’m not sure who else they would cut. Maybe they can get Jamal Hill to the PS? He’s been a healthy scratch so far this season.
 
Texansballer74 said:
Akers has some good runs today as well. And the way that line is getting manhandled, not too many runnng backs will be successful.
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I think it’s 2-fold. these guys are just trying too hard to make something out of not a whole lot….if it’s only 2 yards there, stop trying to turn it into a 50 yd run by bouncing it, just take the 2 yards b/c they’re doing more harm than good with runs for loss and/or penalties.

The 2nd thing is, I think Slowik could be better in how he’s choosing to get these guys the ball. He had a couple of nice call today in how he got them the ball, but too often he’s running it on obvious run downs.
 
The Texans were average today. Other than the blowout loss, the Texans have looked average this year. Points For 79, points against 94. Texans next opponent, PF 112, PA 49. I believe the Bills will win big over the Texans. I wrote after last week's game that if the Texans didn't clean things up, they would struggle against Jacksonville and get crushed by Buffalo. The Texans cleaned up nothing. The offensive line played terrible and the DB's overall looked bad. They were fortunate today that Lawrence sailed a few passes over his wide-open receivers.

I figured the DB's would have a tough time this year, but I expected the o-line to be good. They're not.
 
TheRealJoker V2 said:
Important note;

Christian Harris and Kurt Hinish are eligible to return from IR this week. If they are ready to return, who gets cut?

I think Sims made a strong case for giving up his roster spot for one of them today. 7 WRs is a luxury and if you’re only playing ST you can’t hurt the team once… much less twice. But i’m not sure who else they would cut. Maybe they can get Jamal Hill to the PS? He’s been a healthy scratch so far this season.
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Sims is definitely catching that pink slip after today.

I’d go ahead and release Akers too.
 
Texansballer74 said:
Akers has some good runs today as well. And the way that line is getting manhandled, not too many runnng backs will be successful.
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It's not just getting manhandled... It’s like they're looking for the next guy before they block the first guy. Like someone else was supposed to get him.

Way too much penetration on run downs.
 
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Mr teX said:
That’s misleading. 1 of his carries went for like 20-25 yards which skews that ypg. Take that 1 carry away and he was terrible.
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That's the kind of back he is.. He can get stuffed and then break one, which is why I'd like to see them get him more touches in space in the passing game. Either way he's RB3.. and we have much larger problems then RB3. When Mixon comes back he'll go back to his intended role.
 
Mr teX said:
That’s misleading. 1 of his carries went for like 20-25 yards which skews that ypg. Take that 1 carry away and he was terrible.
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Majority of his runs was on 1st downs. Defenses eventually catch on. LT got hurt and our Oc consecutively ran to rookie left tackle Blake fisher side who was matched against Josh Allen
 
Carr Bombed said:
That's the kind of back he is.. He can get stuffed and then break one, which is why I'd like to see them get him more touches in space in the passing game. Either way he's RB3.. and we have much larger problems then RB3. When Mixon comes back he'll go back to his intended role.
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it’s just my opinion that he’s not putting enough pressure on the opposing defense when he runs..and too much pressure on the o-line b/c he’s back there dancing and trying to bounce it outside too much.

At this point we just need someone to keep the defense honest and dish out a little more punishment.
 
Mr teX said:
Too much bouncing.. has Reggie Bush syndrome. Also doesn’t run hard enough for me..i also dont see the burst anymore that i loved when he came out of FSU...not great vision either…i just feel like we could get the same production from Dare..which we kinda did in today’s game honestly.
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He wasn't doing that at all in the preseason which made him look better than he is
 
Mr teX said:
That’s misleading. 1 of his carries went for like 20-25 yards which skews that ypg. Take that 1 carry away and he was terrible.
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And on that long run, he had to work too hard for it because the offensive line isn’t winning in the trenches. Did you not see defenders in the backfield once he got those handoffs?

Most backs averages are skewed. That’s part of the game brother.
 
Texansballer74 said:
And on that long run, he had to work too hard for it because the offensive line isn’t winning in the trenches. Did you not see defenders in the backfield once he got those handoffs?

Most backs averages are skewed. That’s part of the game brother.
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Yeah, he only had 13 carries and you can’t convince me that on every single 1 of those carries there was someone in his face to where he had to bounce the ball to the outside. He doesn’t have that burst anymore to get to the hole before it closes so he trying to bounce it imo.

Him breaking 1 9-15 yarder a game ain’t enough to keep him in the starting lineup. Dare got half the touches and looks than Akers and made more of an impact. Plus I’d rather see these young guys like Brooks and Taylor get some run than watching Akers miss open cut back lanes.
 
Mr teX said:
Yeah, he only had 13 carries and you can’t convince me that on every single 1 of those carries there was someone in his face to where he had to bounce the ball to the outside. He doesn’t have that burst anymore to get to the hole before it closes so he trying to bounce it imo.

Him breaking 1 9-15 yarder a game ain’t enough to keep him in the starting lineup. Dare got half the touches and looks than Akers and made more of an impact. Plus I’d rather see these young guys like Brooks and Taylor get some run than watching Akers miss open cut back lanes.
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I’m not saying every carry but the majority of them the defense got great penetration on.

Mixon will be back next week anyways, so of course he won’t. But hey go back and look at these last three games. That offensive line is getting worked in the trenches. Week 2 even Mixon struggled to find daylight behind that atrocious line.
 
Mixon barely played in the 2nd game..but at least with Mixon he’s dishing punishment and he’s tough to bring down both of which have practical implications for later in the game. Akers trying to run around guys is making it too easy for the defense. But I hear what you’re saying.
 
Mr teX said:
Mixon barely played in the 2nd game..but at least with Mixon he’s dishing punishment and he’s tough to bring down both of which have practical implications for later in the game. Akers trying to run around guys is making it too easy for the defense. But I hear what you’re saying.
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And when he played for that limited time he was getting stuffed. The point is the offensive line in the past three games haven’t been good in run pro. No running back is churning up the yards behind this line.
 
santo said:
Slowick needs to find more TD drives like he did on that last one.
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I've been thinking about that while watching the Bills-Ravens game. The Texans were going quick, not as much shifting in the last drive until they began to milk clock to burn the Jags TOs. Let's try that for the entire game.

Don't make the O-line have to hold their stance until the play clock is under 5. Less shifting means fewer flags for illegal formations or shifts. I realize the shifts are used to influence the defensive coverages. Are they working when you wait that late in the play clock to snap the ball? Speed it up and go right at the defense. Keep them on their heels.
 
TheRealJoker V2 said:
This was as ugly as it gets. It came down to the final 30 seconds but the Texans beat the Jags. I am no longer confident we have a bonafide Super Bowl contender. I hope they make adjustments but if Buffalo were playing us today it would’ve been ugly.

What went well:

1) The Stroud to Nico connection.
Nico Collins is ascending into a bonafide top 5 WR this season. Leads the league in receiving yards so far and made it look easy the first drive.

Reminds me of Julio Jones in his heyday. 6’4” 200+ 4.4 speed and a physical runner after the catch. Led league in yac last season.

2) Defensive stand at the 1. Sure they shouldn’t have allowed the big play in the first place to get there but they held up when it counted. DeMeco has said previously, “Don’t quit on a play, just give us a blade of grass to stand on and we have a chance.” And the defense held up when it counted most.

What did not go well:

1) Penalties! 12 penalties 93 yards today. It’s time for accountability on Kirby. Players need to be benched or cut. Coaches need to be fired or demoted. Something needs to change or this team will be left with an apple and a roadmap when the playoffs start.

2) Defensive miscues. Trevor Lawrence bailed out the defense several times today airmailing it to wide open WRs. We wont be playing him every week. It has to get cleaned up.

3) Offensive line. When they’re not blocking they are committing penalties. The highest paid unit on the team is the weakest link. If we had an OL that did their job as well as our lunch pail defensive tackles playing on minimal salary then we would be celebrating another blowout victory! But these guys are overpaid and underperforming. Slowik needs to make adjustments and it might start with getting rid of Strausser or demoting him.
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When the OL is blocking, it's just barely blocking. The penalties are my biggest issue. They are absolute drive killers and make Slowik's play calling predictable.

Slowik doesn't seem to have a great grasp on the Shannahan version of the WCO. It's heavily predicated on the use of a FB in both phases of the offense. The Texans rarely use one.

Pitre is a liability. He focuses on the run more than covering his man in coverage. Constantly getting caught looking inside and getting burned in coverage. Cover your man and let the front 7 focus on the run. We've got a shiny new version of P-Burnt.

Ryans, Burke and the DB coaches need to figure out what the players do well and quit forcing a system on them. Lawrence missed some wide open WRs today that would've completely changed the game.

The run game is a complete clusterfack. It's on both the OL, the RBs, and the play calling. Did Slowik find a copy of OBs playbook in the offseason?

It's shameful that 4 weeks into the season Ryans needs to have at least one practice devoted to fundamentals. WTF did they do in the offseason? Sit around reading about how great they are and are SB favorites? I put that directly on Ryans and the O & D coordinators.

WTF happened to Ross' ST unit? This was supposed to be strength of the team.
 
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