What was the good, bad, and ugly from the Texans come from behind win?
The Houston Texans victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sundays comes with a wide range of emotions. Obviously, the last minute drive was thrilling and gave everyone a shot of adrenaline. Yet, there were so many things throughout the game that just boggle the imagination and have to concern you. There is one winless team in the NFL right now and the Texans had to squeak by.
We will get to all of that in the normal course of what we do each week when we look at the good, bad, and ugly. I should reference the typical coach speak we get from all 32 head coaches. It is hard to win in the NFL. It’s an 8-8 league (harken back to the days of 16 game schedules). You have to play complimentary football. Suddenly, I am getting PTSD as I hear Bill O’Brien’s voice ringing in my head. Let’s move on.
The Numbers
Total Yards: Texans 68/435, Jaguars: 58/313
Rushing Yards: Texans 26/101. Jaguars 24/158
Passing Yards: Texans 42/334, Jaguars 34/155
Sacks: Texans 1, Jaguars 2
Turnover: Texans 1, Jaguars 0
Penalties: Texans 12/93, Jaguars 6/45
Time of Possession: Texans 33:17, Jaguars 26:43
I’m not going to give away the punch line, but one of the things we are noticing is that the Texans are outgaining their opponents (in general) by a fairly wide margin and they aren’t beating teams by a wide margin. I was thinking that last night as I listened to the Lions score 45 points with essentially the same number of yards.
The Good
The defense essentially gave up 13 points. I don’t care who the opponent is. When you surrender only 13 points it is a pretty damn good day. Obviously, the performance was uneven. They weren’t able to pressure Trevor Lawrence as much as they would have liked, but he was largely ineffective. That might be more of a commentary on him, but that’s a topic for the Jacksonville media.
The goal line stand in the second half along with two three and outs late were the main thing that stood between this team and a crushing defeat. Very few teams look like the 2000 Ravens or 1985 Bears. NFL offenses move the ball as a general rule. The question is whether you can make the plays when you need to make them to win the game. The defense did that on this day.
The Bad
The score was 24-20 and not 24-13 for one reason and because of one player. Steven Sims will likely try to find a hole in the locker room to bury himself in. The muffed punt actually doesn’t bother me as much as the personal foul penalty in the second half. It is all a part of a bigger issue we will get to shortly. This team has beaten two two win teams and a winless team. They beat them because they are vastly superior to them. When they matched up with a team that can see them eye to eye they got their butts beat.
You aren’t going to out-talent that many teams in the NFL. This isn’t the SEC matching up with the American Athletic Conference. Those guys get paid to play too and everyone has players capable of making plays. When you have obvious advantages you have to take advantage of them. This team isn’t going to go very far in the playoffs (assuming they get there) if they keep shooting themselves in the foot. They are beginning to run out of toes.
The Ugly
In the movie “Major League” Corbin Bernsen’s character (Roger Dorn) approaches the manager and tells him his contract doesn’t allow the team to force him to do any exercises he deems unnecessary. The manager pisses on the contract. I can picture Laremy Tunsil doing the same thing. Back in the good ole’ days we would have been running wind sprints until we puked or run stairs until the coach got tired. Maybe the good ole days weren’t really the good ole’ days.
Tunsil is the highest paid non-quarterback on the team. He is supposed to be the leader on the offensive line. He rarely practices and just doesn’t seem to care. Sure, that’s likely an unfair assessment. Maybe he is embarrassed deep down. However, when you public posture is that it is anyone else’s fault but your own and that you need to be pampered with more days off than the rest of the line that doesn’t set a good example.
I’ve had teams that were relatively successful and some that weren’t as a coach. The best ones had the best player leading by example. The worst ones were teams where the best player knew they were the best and didn’t do the work because they knew you couldn’t replace them. I’m rapidly getting to the point where I’d rather see Blake Fisher. Would the level pf play suffer? Absolutely. Fisher is likely not ready to be a big boy left tackle in the NFL. However, I know he won’t lead the league in penalties. I know he’ll show up and practice every single damn day. I know when he screws up he won’t blame the center or the officials. If I were the coach I would have a come to Jesus meeting with Tunsil. I would explain to him that his cavalier attitude is rapidly getting us to the point where we can lose with him or lose without him. Guess which one would be my pick,