We start off with the obvious: I cannot in good conscience run a good, bad, and ugly after a 20 point beatdown by the hometown eleven. So, we will go with the great, good, and bad instead. After all, I dont want to get the reputation of being a killjoy following one of the more impressive victories in franchise , there are always things to improve on and as you go up in weight class the number of errors you are allowed is minimized. So, we cant get out of here with some negatives, but we will try to keep that to a minimum as we finish going over the numbers from Saturdays 32-12 Houston Texans victory over the Los Angeles NumbersTotal Yards: Texans 70/429, Chargers 54/261Rushing Yards: Texans 34/168, Chargers 18/50Passing Yards: Texans 36/261, Chargers: 36/211Sacks: Texans 4, Chargers 3Turnovers: Texans 3, Chargers 4Penalties: Texans 8/86, Chargers 2/10Time of Possession: Texans 34:25, Chargers 25:35I love it when the basic numbers and score matches. The score said the Texans dominated the game and the basic numbers said the same thing. The Chargers only won the penalty battle. Everything else went the Texans way. In most games, there are subtle nuances that can only be seen while watching the game closely. In this one, you can see what you need to see when looking at the basic box includes the good and bad points that we will get to. The Kansas City Chiefs are king of the mountain and it will take a nearly perfect effort to beat them in Arrowhead this coming weekend. It seems like a daunting task, but there is always GreatI could look at individual performances and there are certainly quite a few notable performances on Saturday, but the game ball goes to DeMeco Ryans and the defensive staff. The talk on national sports talk following the game was the choke job by Justin Herbert. Anyone that calls that a choke job has not been paying attention to this Texans defense. I would conservatively say that half of the 18 quarterbacks had their worst game of the season against the Texans. I know that three quarterbacks played them twice. They may have had their worst two performances of the season. Sooner or later it is time to consider Ryans as a premier defensive mind. The offensive play callers around the league get the sexy coverage and certainly the Sean McVays and Kyle Shanahans deserve their due, but Ryans is quickly becoming that on the defensive in mind that Herbert threw three interceptions in the regular season. He threw four in three quarters on Saturday. Jared Goff and Josh Allen had horrific days that boggle the imagination. Lamar Jackson and Sam Darnold are really the only quarterbacks that played well against the Texans. Simply put, he has found a way to make opposing quarterbacks miserable. The GoodThe story of the Texans offense has been their collective struggles in the second half of games. Also, the offensive line has gotten more than its fair share of blame throughout the season https://www.texansfanapparel.com ... ristian-kirk-jersey
. They gave up three sacks, so it wasnt a great day for them, but it was good enough to win. Unlike all of those other games, they got better as the game went on https://www.texansfanapparel.com ... dner-johnson-jersey
. In particular, the run blocking in the second half was ten times better than it was in the first half. In the closing minutes, everyone knew what was coming and the Chargers defense still couldnt stop it. Those are the kinds of drives that make you feel all tingly. It gives this team some confidence going into the game of their probably describes C. J. Strouds performance more than any word. The interception is one of them and he probably should have had a second one, but this is one that saw him make plays with his legs. It was reminiscent of his effort in the national semifinal game at Ohio State. He will likely need to mix in just enough of that to Keep the Chiefs honest. A superhuman effort is what franchise quarterbacks BadYou cannot turn the ball over three times and win a playoff game from this point forward. Strouds performance was good, but he still isnt quite as crisp as he was last season. A lot of that is bad protection. Some of it is a lack of quality targets. Nico Collins is the only receiver getting separation, so his life is considerably more difficult. Still, two of the three turnovers werent his. John Metchies fumble could have been a back breaker had the defense not held the offense to a field goal. Joe Mixons formula wiped at least three points off the board at a time in the game when the issue was still very much in doubt. The Mixon play highlights an ongoing issue with play calling. It seems that Slowik is addicted to gadget plays when he gets in or close to the red zone. Sure, all plays are brilliant when they work and stupid when they dont, but when you are moving the football there really is no need for razzle dazzle. Saturdays win definitely gives Slowik a stay of execution, but considering that twelve points came directly off of interceptions and special teams plays, his head isnt off the chopping block. |
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