One last workout before the Texans head to Green Bay

11 observations from Texans training camp, Aug. 3

Cody Stoots
Aug 3, 2019, 1:00 pm
Eddie Clarke

If you have missed any of the previous looks at the Texans observations you can find them here

Light day but work day

The Texans are deep into working against themselves and with the work against the Packers a couple of days away the team didn't hit it super hard. They got some really solid work in though. Plenty of situational work and even some goal line work. I would say the offense and the defense each had elements of they day they could be proud of Saturday.

Stout. Just stout. 

Texans defensive line at Texans Training Camp 2019

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I am not sure who will be scoring on the Texans defensive line. They have rarely been pushed by the Texans offensive line on the ground. When Watt and Reader are leading the pack they just smash people. I can't wait to see them work against other teams and better offensive lines. Green Bay could be a fun test. If you want to score on the Texans in the red area you better throw.

Picking on Roby

The Texans offense picked on Bradley Roby a bunch today. He got a couple of wins but DeAndre Hopkins is a tough cover for him. Lamar Miller also put a nice move on him in the open field to score a few more yards. The Texans have to have Roby play well if they are going to succeed this season.

Surprising find

Jahleel Addae has been a real camp standout. The safety has spent the last few years with the Chargers and he's easily one of the best safeties on the team with Justin Reid and Tashaun Gipson. He earned some praise from Bill O'Brien after the workout as well. The Texans' defense has always relied on a third safety to a large degree and Addae has been a really nice find by the Texans staff.

Tytus and Thomas down

Jordan Thomas at Texans Training Camp 2019

Eddie Clarke

Tytus Howard didn't work out again today despite Bill O'Brien hinting earlier in the week he expected the first round pick to be ready today. If it is nothing too serious I would expect him to work against the Packers next week. If he misses those workouts there will be cause for concern. Jordan Thomas has been down but again, if he works out against Green Bay he hasn't missed a ton.

Pass blocking woes

The running backs had a decent day against the safeties earlier in camp but they worked against the linebackers today and it wasn't pretty. Lamar Miller has the absolute best rep, as he should he's the expert on the team, stuffing Benardrick McKinney. D'Onta Foreman had a solid rep too but the rest of the backs struggled.

Watt vs the world

J.J. Watt showed off for his parents at practice today working over just about everyone he faced. I feel bad for the Packers linemen. Watt bull rushed Matt Kalil almost into Deshaun Watson on one play. He has looked great in camp and frankly needs some days off so the offense can actually work. Kalil looked solid on his other reps. He's had a nice camp.

Baseball Watson

Deshaun Watson

Eddie Clarke

This may sound weird but I bet Deshaun Watson would have been one hell of a baseball player. His lower body moves like a shortstop sometimes and his ability to get the ball out from angles reminds me of a middle infielder. He's smooth and it is apparent he knows so much more than previous years. He makes it look easy.

Fairbairn's first miss is no issue

Texans kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn missed the first kick I saw him miss in camp. He hit the upright and it bounced back. Again, this was the first miss I have seen in camp. Later when the A.J. McCarron led Texans offense stalled out Fairbairn hit what would have been a kick good from it seemed like 60-plus yards.

Play of the day

It felt like the first goal line rep of the day and the Texans defense was fired up after forcing a fumble. It looked like a few different defenders ended up contributing to the play. On offense, Keke Coutee kept moving when Deshaun Watson extended a play and extended out to make a great snag.

Quote of the day

Bill O'Brien

Cody Stoots/SportsMap

"Greg Mancz has done a good job, but we need Nick back out there. From a leadership standpoint, from the whole deal. Taking nothing away from Greg Mancz. We think very highly of Greg Mancz, it's just from a depth standpoint and getting Nick back out there, for Nick, it's important."

Texans Head Coach Bill O'Brien on his injured center Nick Martin. Martin will go to Green Bay with the team hoping to practice.

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NFL Playoffs: Conference Championship

NFL Playoffs: Conference Championship good, bad and ugly

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The NFL Conference Championship Weekend is their Final Four. You don't get the games played in the same place, but there is a buzz in both stadiums because each team knows theyarethisclose to a Super Bowl. Here are my observations:

The Good

-Chiefs' quarterback Patrick Mahomes is the real deal. We gawk at his arm strength and ability to make throws in spaces and from angles that'll challenge physics. But his athleticism and escapability are underrated. Prime example was his 27-yard touchdown run right before halftime. Not only did he evade the rush and scramble to the outside, but he tightroped along the sideline, cut back inside, then carried a couple defenders across the goalline. He led the Chiefs in rushing yards with 56.

-49ers running back Raheem Mostert has played on five different teams in his five year career. In his second stint with the 49ers, he's turned himself into an valuable piece of that offense. Although they use a stable of backs, it was Mostert who set a new team postseason rushing record with 196 yards and there was still almost 20 minutes of football left to play!

-We will have a great matchup of coaches in the Super Bowl. Head Coaches/Playcallers: Chiefs' Andy Reid vs 49er's Kyle Shanahan; defensive coordinators: Chiefs' Steve Spagnuolo vs 49er's Robert Saleh. The meeting of the minds with two weeks to prepare should give us a good game. Key word: should. Please guys, no blowouts.

The Bad

-Derrick Henry was dubbed "King Henry" after his recent rushing performances. He was unceremoniously removed from his throne by the Chiefs' defense. 69 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown with a long run of 13 backed up the tough talk from Chiefs' defensive end Frank Clark who said earlier in the week leading up to the game that Henry wasn't hard to tackle.

-Packers' quarterback Aaron Rodgers looked a little off. He missed a few key throws, including an interception that ended any hope they had of coming back because it led to the 49ers having a short field and going up by four scores instead of the Packers being down by two scores. It was a minute before halftime, but the way the 49ers were running the ball, that pick was a backbreaker.

-The NFL fined Chiefs' offensive lineman Eric Fisher $14,037 for an unsportsmanlike conduct for his double-fist beer touchdown celebration during last week's win over the Texans. I thought they turned the corner when they started allowing more touchdown celebrations. So let me get this straight: you can choreograph a dance routine with the whole team, but can't pretend to chug beer from a league sponsor? Talk about hypocrisy.

The Ugly

-With the score 28-17 Chiefs with 7:44 left in the game, 3rd&6 on the Chiefs' 40-yard line. Titans' corner Tramaine Brock Sr. fell down and was called for a holding penalty on Sammy Watkins as he was falling. The worst part of that play: Watkins broke open and Mahomes found him for a 60-yard touchdown. Later when they were down by 11 with 3:59 left, Brock was called for a 41-yard pass interference on 3rd&10 with the Chiefs on their own 19-yard line. Those plays sealed the deal for the Titans.

-49ers running back Tevin Coleman was carted off the field in the 2nd quarter with an injury to his right elbow. An arm injury must be pretty damn bad if you're carted off. Thoughts and prayers to the running back I thought the Texans should've signed. Major props to him wanting to come back to the sidelines to be with his teammates wearing a sling.

-The 49ers outrushed the Packers 185 to 51...IN THE FIRST HALF! They were up 27-0 and had "only" passed for 40 yards. That's all they needed since the Packers couldn't stop the run. Mind you, they ran the ball 22 times to get the 185 yards. Packers defense looked like wet brown grocery bags trying to hold two gallons of milk.

And then there were two. Through all the strife and struggle, we have our Super Bowl 54 will be a matchup of arguably the best on their respective sides of the ball: 49ers and their defense vs the Chiefs high octane offense. However, don't sleep on the 49ers' ability to score, or how well the Chiefs' defense has been playing as of late. Ultimately, I have the sads. We only have one meaningful football game left. Hopefully the 49ers and Chiefs give us something to talk about. I won't mind seeing a 24-21 or 31-27 game. As long as we don't get a multiple score blowout, I'm good. Props to the Titans and Packers for putting up a good fight. It just wasn't good enough. From 32 to two. And there will only be one.

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