A WEEKLY REVIEW OF CRENNEL'S COACHING

Now my job: Texans suffer crushing loss to Colts

Now my job: Texans suffer crushing loss to Colts
Crennel made some questionable decisions. Photo by Getty Images.

Now my job: Crushing loss to the Colts

Division games are always tougher and take on more meaning. This is a team you play twice a year and tend to have familiarity with their players, staffs, playing style, and so on. When that division game is against a team that has ruled the roost for so many years and has made your stadium a second home, you'd think you'd come to play with a next level of focus and intensity. The Texans seemed to do that, and still came up short in their 26-20 loss to the Colts.

The Texans went three and out on their opening drive for the sixth time this year and punted for the 11th time on their opening possession. Colts receiver T.Y. Hilton has seemingly made NRG Stadium his second home over the years. On their opening drive, he had two receptions for 39 yards and a touchdown. This of course led to immediate thoughts of games past against the Colts in which they jump out to a lead and boat race the Texans while Hilton has a big game. However, Deshaun Watson would not be denied. After Zach Fulton almost got Watson's head taken off, Watson proceeded to: scramble for seven yards, escape another potential sack and find Keke Coutee for a 64-yard gain, then kept an option run for an 11-yard touchdown run to tie the game at seven.

When Coutee is your number two receiver behind Brandin Cooks, followed by Chad Hansen, Steven Mitchell Jr, and Isaiah Coulter, it wouldn't have been a surprise to see the offense struggle. That wasn't the case. Tim Kelly didn't take his usual designed deep shots, but his play calling didn't appear to be disrupted by the lack of experience at receiver. Watson showed a connection with Coutee and Hansen as the duo combined for 13 catches for 242 yards. Funny because Hansen has been on the practice squad, and wasn't Coutee in O'Brien's dog house?

The first half saw the Colts take a 24-20 lead behind the defense being all Texany. Lots of bad angles and missed tackles, as well as blown coverages. The most egregious was the 4th&4 play that resulted in a touchdown when I believe A.J. Moore Jr blitzed and Philip Rivers found Jonathan Taylor running up the sideline for a 39-yard touchdown. I've seen other teams blitz and cause pressure. When the Texans blitz, they hardly ever get pressure, much less a sack! Their run blitzes don't even have the desired effect on stopping the run. This is the result of not being able to cover and piss poor tackling. Knowing this, why not scheme differently? Too many times I saw these defensive backs get beat in man coverage. Hell, they don't communicate effectively enough in zone either so I guess Anthony Weaver and Romeo Crennel are throwing pasta at the wall to see what sticks at this point. One other thing that pissed me off was calling a timeout before the Colts attempted a field goal with 1:15 left before halftime. That timeout could've been used to help them score a touchdown instead of settling for a field goal before halftime.

The second half was pretty boring outside of the safety the Colts got because Fulton must hate Watson. It got interesting on the Texans' final possession. They took over with 2:43 left in the game. Watson worked his magic to get the ball to the Colts' six yard line. Alas, their $33 million dollar center (Nick Martin) totally screwed up the snap, Watson couldn't get ahold of it, the Colts recover, and the game was over. Kelly and Watson were simpatico again this game and had a chance to win it, but Martin couldn't let Fulton take all the blame for poor offensive line play this game.

At 4-8, any hope of making a magical run to the seventh seed has died. The only thing they can do is play to make the next head coach and general manager attracted to the core group of players that'll be here next season.

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The Texans will look to get back on track this Sunday against the Colts. Composite Getty Image.

C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans are looking for answers after their passing game couldn’t get going in a loss to the Green Bay Packers.

Houston’s passing attack had been a strength all season, and the Texans ranked fifth in yards passing per game through their first six games. But on Sunday at Lambeau Field, Stroud was limited to a career-low 86 yards in the 24-22 loss, which snapped a three-game winning streak.

Stroud was 10 of 21 and didn’t have a touchdown pass for the first time this season. The second-year player was under duress for much of the day and was sacked four times and hit seven other times.

“We have to go back to the drawing board and see what those issues were,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “As we watch the film, we’ll see what happened, starting for me the communication and just guys being on the details of the job.”

The Texans scored a season-high 41 points in a win over New England a week earlier in which Stroud threw a season-best three touchdown passes despite being without star receiver Nico Collins.

They were unable to replicate that success Sunday with Collins out for the second of at least four games after a hamstring injury landed him on injured reserve.

Stefon Diggs led the team with five receptions against the Packers, but they only amounted to 23 yards. Tank Dell, who the Texans expected to step up with Collins out, was targeted four times but didn’t have a catch.

Stroud discussed the importance of getting Dell more involved in the offense.

“We have to find a way to try and get him the rock early and often and then go from there,” he said. “It has to be a focus for us, not only just him, but the whole offense clicking early. That is really my job to get the ball out on time and to where it is supposed to go. So yeah, that definitely has to be fixed.”

Ryans spoke about his confidence is getting Dell going.

What's working

The Texans have forced seven turnovers combined in their last two games after they hadn’t caused any in their previous three games.

Houston scored 16 points off three turnovers Sunday. The Texans had two interceptions and recovered a fumble on a punt. In their win over the Patriots, they scored 17 points off a season-high four turnovers.

What needs help

The Texans won’t get to where they want to be this season if Stroud doesn’t get back on track. Before Sunday, last year’s AP Offensive Rookie of the Year was averaging more than 262 yards passing a game, giving the team confidence that the problems in the passing game are fixable.

Ryans knows the line must give Stroud more time to throw and said the coaching staff will focus on improving in that area this week.

Stock up

RB Joe Mixon continued to shine Sunday in his second game back after missing three games with an ankle injury. Mixon, who is in his first season in Houston after a trade from Cincinnati, had 25 carries for 115 yards and two touchdowns against Green Bay.

Mixon is confident the Texans will rebound this week if they quit making mistakes.

“Does it look I’m worried? I’m not worried at all,” he said. “Like I said, we got a ... good football team. At the end of the day, we are our own worst enemy.”

Stock down

Dell was unable to help Stroud get the passing game going. The second-year player had a solid rookie season with 709 yards receiving and seven touchdowns in 11 games before breaking his leg. But he hasn’t been able to build on that success this year and has just 194 yards receiving with one score in six games.

Injuries

LB Azeez Al-Shaair (knee), LB Henry To’oTo’o (concussion), CB Kamari Lassiter (shoulder) and S Jimmie Ward (groin) all missed Sunday’s game and it’s unclear if any of these starters can return this week.

Key number

3 — Safety Calen Bullock had his third interception Sunday to tie Dunta Robinson and Jumal Rolle for most interceptions by a rookie in franchise history through the first seven games. He leads NFL rookies in interceptions this season and is tied for third-most among all players.

Next steps

The AFC South-leading Texans (5-2) return to division play Sunday when they host the second-place Colts (4-3), who have won two in a row and four of five.

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