Carlos Hyde's huge day helps plus how right was O'Brien to go for it late?
O'Brien's best coaching job to date has Texans rolling
Oct 14, 2019, 11:53 am
Carlos Hyde's huge day helps plus how right was O'Brien to go for it late?
3 Headlines, 2 Questions, and 1 Bet after the Texans defeat the Chiefs and get ready for the Colts.
Frank Clark dominates the line of scrimmage and knocks the ball away from Carlos Hyde
— Hunter W (@HW_Report46) October 13, 2019
FUMBLE!! KC has the ball at Houston 20#Texans #ChiefsKingdom #Chiefs #KCChiefs #HOUvsKC #NFL #NFL100 #SundayFunday pic.twitter.com/UdDqMU9gfG
There is a time where the Texans would have lost Sunday by about 20 or 30 points. We no longer live in that time.
-A broken play touchdown allowed
-Fumble on first play
-Top two corners out for majority of game
-Wideout who had fixed drop problems has drop problems
-Wideout who never drops the ball drops a touchdown
-Quarterback throws two interceptions when he had thrown one all year
-Kicker misses extra points and field goal
That's just a smattering of the things that could have derailed the Texans. In the past, just one or two of these would have doomed them. Instead, they dominated the second half and beat the Chiefs.
It is one of the most impressive wins in Bill O'Brien's tenure. Sure. It is also one of the most resilient wins in franchise history.
The offensive gameplan was awesome and well executed for the most part. The use of timeouts and challenges made sense. The team never spiraled out of control most importantly. Kudos to O'Brien for the successful day with the headset.
#Texans HC Bill O’Brien earns AWS Decision of the Week honors in Week 6!
— PFF (@PFF) October 14, 2019
📰: https://t.co/vrcwUdQARV pic.twitter.com/Jy585ieDyo
I thought the field goal to go up 10 points in the fourth quarter was the right move for the Texans.
O'Brien laughs in the face of the weak-minded who prefer to trust a shaky kicker over one of the best quarterbacks in football.
The above stats paint the picture of how smart it was to go for it.
I loved the gumption to go for it and the "trust the defense" mentality if the Texans failed to convert. There wasn't a "lose" situation short of a turnover and the Texans on the short and easy stuff had done a great job taking care of the ball.
It was something from a couple of seasons ago where I believe O'Brien would have attempted the kick and lived with the result. I also have faith the Texans defense could have stopped the Chiefs from scoring the way they played in the second half.
“They can’t f——— stop us”
— Nick Bromberg (@NickBromberg) October 13, 2019
Tell us how you really feel, Carlos Hyde pic.twitter.com/hlVpZqOwX4
Carlos Hyde was a man on Sunday. He touched the ball 26 times after his fumble. He had 13 of those 26 touches go for at least four yards and six of those went for at least nine yards. He was a workhorse running back and a physical runner than punished the Chiefs.
I never could have seen this coming from him. He is the perfect back for what Bill O'Brien wants to do with his first running back. He's been very impressive and went over 100 yards rushing for the first time in two years.
As for his colorful language, Hyde knew he let it slip.
"With the offense clicking like that, it's so hard to stop us," he said. "I was caught up in the moment right there. I've got to watch my language though. But, I was just caught up in the moment.When our offense is moving the ball like that, things are clicking, it's just hard to stop us."
No sacks. Two quarterback hits. One tackle for a loss. Woo boy. What a showing from the Texans offensive line. They worked over the Chiefs for a good portion of the game.
Now, the offensive gameplan helped them. Getting the ball out quick helped a ton for the protection but even then, they did amazing in keeping Watson clean and keeping the lanes open for Hyde and later Duke Johnson.
There wasn't even a big drop off when Roderick Johnson came in for the injured Tytus Howard.
Howard is going to miss time, but his season is seemingly not over per Aaron Wilson.
This has been an incredible job by this group coming together and really playing well.
I made a compilation of all 3 dropped TDs today by Will Fuller.
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) October 13, 2019
Last week, he caught 3 TDs, today? dropped 3.pic.twitter.com/rRIl8wZe1a
Will Fuller didn't have the best day after an amazing one last week.
His first drop came in the end zone and led to the Texans settling for a field goal. It wasn't the easiest catch in the world but it hit his hands. In a close game, they could've used that to start the scoring.
The second drop came trailing by 14 points and again, wasn't an easy catch. I am giving him a pass on this one because it seems like it was a really hard catch to come down with. So, while he could have caught it, I am not sure he SHOULD have caught it.
The third one really hurt. The Texans led by six and had he reeled that one in, there's a chance the Texans blow the Chiefs out with plenty of breathing room on the scoreboard.
I am not worried about Fuller's drops. He had three all season before yesterday and had no drops last season. This seems like a hiccup more than an issue that could be popping up often.
When I asked Bill O'Brien about the offense and how they attack things quickly he mentioned the Panthers game. He was demonstrating they had bad second down situations that set them up for failure and called out their performance against Carolina by name.
While you can say the Saints and Jaguars games could have gone either way, the Texans absolutely should have beaten the Panthers. Kyle Allen didn't play well that day and the Texans offense has to be sick looking back on that performance. It was also the last time they looked bad on offense, so, if it got them going via fixing things, it is worth the headache.
The Houston Texans have a big challenge in store as they look to start the season with a win against the Colts this Sunday. When these two teams met in Week 2 last year, the Colts dominated the Texans, despite losing their QB Anthony Richardson to a concussion after the first quarter.
Keeping Richardson contained on Sunday will go a long way in increasing the Texans' chances of coming home with a win. The Texans defense will have their hands full containing the Colts backs and tight ends in the passing game.
Scoring touchdowns with their wide receivers could prove difficult, as the Texans allowed the second-fewest TDs (10) to the receiver position in 2023.
Limiting running back Jonathan Taylor will also be a top priority. While the Texans had an elite defense against the run last season, they struggled with Taylor in Week 18 as he almost rushed for 200 yards.
Houston's D allowed only four carries to running backs in 2023 that went for 20 or more yards. Two of which were to Taylor in the final game of the regular season.
Finally, DeMeco Ryans and company have to find a way to get pressure on the QB. They only had one QB hit and zero sacks on Richardson and Garner Minshew the first time they faced off last year.
On offense, the Texans have two big x-factors to watch for on Sunday. The offensive line that suited up to play the Colts in Week 2 last season is completely different from this year.
The o-line was ravaged with injuries to start the 2023 campaign, so we expect a big jump in productivity in the trenches this year.
Another big addition in 2024 is the presence of running back Joe Mixon. The running game only produced 2 yards per rush in Week 2 against Indy last year, so there's clearly room for improvement.
Be sure to watch the video above for our in-depth preview of Texans-Colts!
And catch Texans on Tap (a Texans podcast) live on our SportsMapTexans YouTube channel following every game this season!