With a resounding 34-17 win over the Tennessee Titans, the Houston Texans have now won eight in a row and have a commanding lead over everyone else in the division. In fact, they are the first team in NFL history to start 0-3 before landing at 8-3.
There were so many fans on Twitter feeding off on the proverbial flesh of Bill O’Brien and every offensive lineman early in the season….. and not without cause. The feeding has continued deep into the win streak but isn’t it getting a little unfocused and tiring at this point? Angry Twitter Finger guy may need to slow his roll on these popular narratives.
Bill O’Brien - Atrocious Play-Caller
Look, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that O’Brien is the most dynamic coordinator of an offense that I’ve ever seen, but I feel like this one gets overstated too much. To me, O’Brien’s biggest flaw as a coordinator of the offense is his approach near the redzone. O’Brien has even put blame on himself for his play-calling in that area. However, between the 20-yard lines, the Texans offense hasn’t been all that bad.
Being a good play-caller is about either picking at a defenses deficiencies, keeping the defense off-balance, or limiting your own exposure due to areas of concern with your own offense. While O’Brien has been up-and-down in all of these areas, Monday Night was not the night to come after him on Twitter and yet there was Angry Twitter Finger guy letting the hate flow.
The O-Line is GARBAGE
This unit had a 0% approval rate over the first 5 or 6 games of the year and rightfully so. They were ill-equipped to handle anyone’s pass rush and Bill O’Brien was doing them no favors, early on, with some of his game-planning. Then a magical thing happened. The Texans moved Julien Davenport from the right side back to his more natural left tackle spot and added the much-maligned Kendall Lamm back at right tackle.
That doesn’t sound like much, but it added an important level of consistency. Now “consistency” is a relative term, but by the standards set by last year’s unit and the one we saw early in the year, this iteration of the offensive line has been like a team of Pro-Bowlers. In all seriousness, I’m not delusional. I know this team will need new starters at no less than two and maybe three of those spots by next year. At least in a perfect world. With that said, they are fourth in the league in rushing and have done a much better job of protecting the quarterback. Is it perfect or even very good? No, but it’s good enough to lay off the Twitter Fingers and enjoy an 8-game winning streak.
