I was right that we own Dalton. I was wrong that we would get beat. I didn't account for TJ Yates.

3 things I've learned that I already knew about this defense...LOL

1. The defense is better without Clowney
2. KJohnson is better than KJack
3. Charles James is better than expected

All true. James is a real football player who makes a positive difference all over the field. And we know who didn't want him initially. My thoughts on Rick Smith are well known (and not too divergent from the consensus) but BOB is obviously no genius with personnel decisions.

It is incredible that the Texans (or any other team) can win with 80 yards rushing and its "feature" back averaging fewer than two yards per carry.

Frankly, it's amazing any time the Texans win, period. I would say that at this point in the season it's amazing for the Texans to knock off a previously undefeated team but let's be serious, we're talking about the Bengals. And the Bengals suddenly found themselves confronting the indomitable TJ YATES.

Mercilous is much better than Clowney. It's been obvious in every game Clowney didn't play. If Clowney wasn't a 1st round pick he'd be gone already because his play does not justify him having a job, let alone starting.

Honestly, he may drag down the rest of the D. Football is an emotional sport, especially defense. These guys really convince themselves they are going to war together (they are not by the way). When a guy is getting playing time who doesn't deserve it, it messes with the emotions of the team. You can't go out and play for each other when a guy is getting special treatment. That's what happened with Kaepernick in SF the last few weeks.

You are advocating dismissing a first overall pick. Incredible. And what's even more incredible, you may not be wrong.

Good thing they nailed it with Sua-Filo; takes the sting out of missing on the number one overall (again).

I'm not saying cut him, I'm saying if there were no names on the back of the jerseys he'd already be cut.

We can't cut him because of what we spent on him, so instead we will force him into the lineup and try to pretend we didn't screw up.

The Sua-Filo/Carr decision is somehow worse than drafting the worst #1 overall ever. Those are two franchise killing decisions in the same weekend by a guy who is still employed and making decisions for us.

And even though I know that about Smith and McNair, and I know our franchise is doomed while those two remain, a game like tonight has me caring again what happens in the next 7 weeks.

And one final comment, it was a good weekend for backup QBs in the city of Houston. Go Coogs!

Seems we got no. 1 draft pick right this year.

And our record tied with Colts, so who knows , maybe Texans have turned the corner. Defense looks very good.

Dude.

The funny thing is the team will make a run at the playoffs. They might well win the division. And if they don't they could quite possibly find themselves in the wild card hunt. The Texans could very well be a playoff team this year. (Let that sink in for a second...)

And once the year's over the team will resolve the conflict between BOB and Smith. And anyone who's payed attention to the Texans for more than fifteen minutes knows who's going to win that skirmish.

So 2016 will come around with no quarterback, no running back, fk, I'm not going to go into the team's deficiencies, we all know them - but no quarterback and no head coach. The Texans are going to go into 2016 with no quarterback and no head coach.

For the record, it was Quentin Demps that forced the game-clinching funble and then dove back to make the recovery. K-John just was there to wrap up the receiver.

We were actually getting stops on 3rd down tonight (the broadcasters kept bringing that up) and I attribute that to K-Jack not being on the field. Now if we can find an upgrade for Eddie Unpleasant, we might finish a game with less than 10 penalties and 10 blown coverages.

But, overall, you have to say the T.J. Yates jinx bit Cincy again. The Steelers should be calling Smith shortly. If they would toss Landry Jones into the deal, I would be ecstatic.

There is speculation that the concussion protocol observer is the one who yanked Hoyer from the game, not somebody on the Texans and you could see Hoyer arguing with the assistant coaches that he was fine as he was walking off the field. There was nothing after that last possession that suggested Hoyer was any more loopy than he usually is.

Which brings us to another discussion - would the concussion protocol observer do that if it were Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers? Or were the Texans simply dissed again by the NFL as Houston QBs are the most abused quarterbacks in the league, from Carr to Schaub to Hoyer without ever drawing flags for the hits they take.

I know exactly what Belichick would do if Brady were removed like that - he'd bring Garofolo back into the locker room and make them switch jerseys so Brady could still play.

That concussion observer might be the true MVP tonight.

LOL at Bob getting indignant over a perceived (by him) slight in a Texans win. Fme, he's worse than I am.

AND he's a federal employee. So if there was ever any confusion now there's none. Bob is a ludicrous hypocrite.

Oye, Berto, como se siente ser un payaso tan risible, cha? K bulto ere mopri, webao.

C'mon now the Chuckster should be giving it up for those Rick Smith Drafts this morning. That great defensive effort and performance last night was led by this years top 2 picks, Kevin Johnson and Bernard McKinney. And the X-man not only started last nights game, I think he may have taken every snap at LG. And even TE Fido caught a couple passes.
I'm thrilled that we still have a 2015 season because I thought it was all over before last night in Cinci. Of course Indy will still probably win the division again, but after last night I'm given us a punchers chance. We got something to root for now and another big game Sunday when the Jets come to town. First place Houston Texans !

Just an all around fine effort by defense. Demps knocking the ball out of AJ Green's hands and then diving for the fumble showed some want-to that has been sorely missing.

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If you watch the replay of the deep pass INT by JJo, you'll see Demps in the area, KJo arriving shortly and then Cushing is the next player to show up....

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I had my doubts, but McKinney is starting to look like a keeper...

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Loved TJ's guts for taking over the offense with minimum training but got to admit some of his passes had me a little nervous..... Hoping that Hoyer's concussion is a misdiagnosis and he will be ready to go against the Jets....

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Early bird line has the Jets as 2.5 pt favorites over the Texans.

Not sure how my employment became part of the discussion or why it is relevant. Technically, I'm a contractor who works for the federal government so I guess I could be labelled a psuedofed. I didn't want to be one but it's the place God led me to after a year's unemployment.

Yo soy el humilde servidor de mi Salvador por lo que, naturalmente, se me acusa de ser un hipócrita y necio , así como mi Salvador fue a la gente de su tiempo.

I was happy with 2 things:

I wanted to stay up and watch the 4th quarter.
The D played as I thought they would this year.

Hope both trends continue for the last 7 games.

I had to go to Wikipedia to look up what the hell a Tight End is.

My next wish is to see the Oline play up to my expectations.

That's a pretty good one. Also think the RB's are making them look crappier than they are. One thing that made Foster special was his vision and ability to see the cutback lanes. Don't think our current guys do that with much consistency. When a RB runs straight into a pile, easy to blame OL for lack of a hole. When a RB bounces thru a cutback, easy to give too much credit to the OL.

Maybe Blue is a better blocker on blitz pickup than Grimes or Polk because I can't think of another reason why he gets more snaps than they do ? Polk and Grimes both hit the hole with more authority and quickness than Blue.
As far as the OLine, I'm anxious to see if Su'a-Filo can show some improvement this weekend vs the Jets over Monday nights game when he took every offensive snap at LG. He screwed up on some plays, but he had some solid plays when he looked like an NFL offensive lineman.

I don't know why Blue gets any snaps at all. He's done nothing to merit starting and getting the majority of the snaps. He hits the hole weaker than Steve Urkel. I'd probably be OK with Polk/Grimes as the main guys for now, but I'm surprised the Texans haven't worked out someone like Dri Archer to try to infuse some speed into the offensive backfield. Not saying he, or someone like him, is the complete answer, but some speed from time to time would be nice.

I know I just mentioned adding speed, but I'd like to see Strong get on the field some. Other than Hopkins, we are getting nothing from the other guys (speed, catches, production, etc, etc) so why not add some height and maybe someone who can go up and get a pass or two? Sooner or later teams are going to shut down Hopkins, then what? Try something different whether it's only 10-15 snaps a game.

I think Blue is best when he manages to find a hole and get a head of steam going - it just doesn't happen often enough due to mostly his poor vision and OL problems. Arian was so good at spotting a logjam and bouncing outside or diving into a "minihole" to salvage something out of the run. I agree Polk and Grimes are better suited for the current state of affairs.....

One other thing that has been on my mind lately is how much our QB's, all three who've seen action, go "Hop-hunting". Hopkins is currently #1 in the NFL with 124 targets. That's almost 14 targets/game.... He's good and deserves his share of looks but goodness, spread the ball around a little.... Griffin and Fido had 8 targets (5 catches) in the Cincinnati game so, maybe they're trying......

I am/was a fan of the Kubiakian rollout - having the QB sprint out left or right of the pocket to get clear passing lanes.... For a smallish guy like Hoyer who has good legs, wish they would do this a few more times per game..... As long as the DE is sealed, it's a great way to beat pressure....

Good thoughts on pass pro. Didn't really think about that, but I'd guess that's a factor.

Definitely agree on the speed factor. As gimmicky as it sounds, I wouldn't hate the idea of throwing Charles James back there on a sweep or two.

I noticed when the Texans had a hail mary situation before the half that Strong was not out there. I hope he was on the inactive list, otherwise that was dumb not sending him out there. The Bengals have a lot of fast corners so perhaps O'Brien wanted fast receivers to run against them.

I noticed a lot more Kubiak-style play calls once Yates got into the game - bootlegs and rollouts. Remember Yates ran the WCO in college and much of his pro career was in WCO offenses. Any Texans with 2+ years experience would already know what he was going to run.

I'm curious who is taking first-team snaps during this short practice week.

Totally agree with this. During the game and after seeing Hoyer get crushed in the pocket multiple times, I was barking to myself "How about trying a freaking rollout or two??!!". Those Kubiak misdirection boots and TE screens over the middle used to just kill overly aggressive defenses. I'm not sure why OB doesn't run more of that stuff considering the injuries and overall lack of talent at the skill positions we currently have on O.

It's funny to see people pining for Kubiak's offense.

Hopefully we aren't all wishing Ryan Fitzpatrick was our QB this Sunday.

Saying you like Hoyer better than Fitzy ?

Isn't it? Ask the folks in Denver how well it's going up there.

I absolutely do not. I just hope Sunday isn't a day I am prompted to wish I had Fitzpatrick.

Me neither. I just wish O'Brien would have kept him and not gone thru all of these gyrations and the drama and wasted energy/focus with Hoyer & Mallet that the taem and city have over the last year or so.

I don't think anyone's "pining" for Kubiak's complete offense. Just certain elements of it from time to time. How many times did Hoyer get hurried, crushed, or move up right into a sack standing in the pocket? Roll out or run some misdirection pass plays (no, not run plays - LOL) once in awhile.

As for it not working Denver, is anyone surprised? Kubiak isn't running his offense, he's running some funky hybrid of it because of a weak-armed, slower-than-Schuab, over the hill HOF QB that he's paying his respect to. I doubt Osweiler is the answer, but it will be interesting to see if/how Kubiak changes up that offense and if they can get it going. Personally, I felt the league caught up to Kubiak's offense, but it might have been more due to crappy QB play. There's no denying, when it's on, it's an efficient and effective offense. Flacco and Forsett did pretty well with in BALT.