What were the good, bad, and ugly from the Texans victory?
Preseason football presents quite the conundrum. On the one hand, the final results are meaningless. They don’t count in the standings, teams play players that won’t play for them on Sundays, and they only show a fraction of what they will show in the regular season. On the other hand, it matters quite a lot to those guys battling for the final few slots on the roster.
The “by the numbers” feature is something I run every week in the regular season. It means a great deal then because the wins and losses matter a great deal then. In this case, the totals don’t matter in so much as looking at the quality of the teams involved, but in a study of what matters for winning and losing. So, I present the numbers with that idea in mind.
Team Numbers
Total Yards: Houston Texans 255, Pittsburgh Steelers 344
Rushing Yards: Texans 27/80, Steelers 25/109
Passing Yards: Texans 34/175, Steelers 32/235
Sacks: Texans 3, Steelers 3
Turnovers: Texans 0, Steelers 2
Penalties: Texans 3/10, Steelers 6/59
Time of Possession: Texans 28:28, Steelers 31:32
As it turns out, the venerable and enfeebled old ball coach David Culley was right about one thing. The team that commits the most turnovers usually loses. The Steelers outgained the Texans by a considerable margin. They were more successful running the ball and passing the ball. The Texans averaged a little more than five yards per drop back and less than three yards per carry. The Steelers averaged more than four yards per carry and seven yards per drop back.
Yet, the Texans won the game handily. It normally would have been 23-12 without a missed chip shot field goal. The outcome of the game was never in doubt despite the discrepancy in success in gaining positive yards. Of course, the penalty yards for the Steelers didn’t help their cause either. Normally, we would chalk this up to one team playing their second preseason game in lieu of their first. However, these numbers do provide a nice study of why teams win and why they lose.
The Good
It was good to see the first units out there in what likely will be their only playing time in the preseason. In particular, the touchdown pass to Tank Dell demonstrated any number of things Texans fans can get excited about. The offensive line kept the pocket perfect on the play, Stroud delivered a perfect ball to Dell in stride, and Dell made some Steeler defensive backs look foolish in their attempts to bring him down.
On defense, Danielle Hunter demonstrated why he got the big contract. They didn’t even have Will Anderson out there, so the idea of both of those guys getting after the quarterback is exciting. Granted, the Steelers didn’t have Russell Wilson and some other key guys, so we should tamp the brakes on getting carried away, but both the first team offense and defense showed some good things while they shake off the rust.
The Bad
The Achilles heel of the team going into the season was on full display early in that game. The Texans surrendered three sacks and were inconsistent in the running game. The good news is that neither starting tackle played, so there is some reason for optimism in general. Still, both tackles have shown a propensity to be injury prone, so it is paramount for the backups to demonstrate that they can hold down the job.
The important camp battles are in the interior of the offensive line. In particular, watching Kenyon Green and Juice Scruggs work will be an ongoing point of interest throughout the preseason. Clearly, the Texans have the skill position talent to do special things, but the offensive line will have to hold up their end of the bargain.
The Ugly
Before I go into this I am going to give this general disclaimer. First, the preseason is not a great time to make far reaching conclusions about any team, unit, or individual player. These are just impressions. So, hopefully everyone takes them in the spirit they are intended. Plus, these are two guys I am personally rooting for because they are good guys that fans should root for.
Having said all of that I am really worried about John Metchie. This is two consecutive preseason games where he hasn’t looked good and that is coming off a season where he didn’t look good. Dameon Pierce is not in nearly as desperate a position given the limited time, but neither performance makes you feel good about them or their future with the Texans.
This is flat out a numbers thing at this point. Robert Woods showed out in this particular game and showed he might have something left in the tank. Xavier Hutchinson showed out last week and had a solid running play in Friday’s game. With the surprise performance from Cam Akers, the versatility of Dare Ogunbowale, and the development of Jawhar Jordan there might not be a ton of room for Pierce to get a ton of work.
The same is true of Metchie. Steven Sims has the ability to return kicks and punts. Noah Brown hasn’t even made an appearance, but he will be reckoned with at some point, plus some of the other lesser know candidates have shown more on the field. I’m just not sure there is space for either guy right now. From a team perspective this isn’t a life or death thing. They have depth at both slots. For these two guys it could be really bad news. They have time to show us something, but time is slipping away.