Texans will try the onsides kick...

Tomlin uses a timeout right when the kick is attempted....

Dang.... they shoulda had it.... Steelers recover.....

Steelers kneeling it out.

Final Score:

Steelers 30, Texans 23

---------------------------------

Turnovers: Texans 3, Steelers 1

Nice onsides kick attempt, exciting, but no cigars.

Just lost turnovers at bad time at end of first half was main issue.

Several opportunities for someone to make a PLAY...but no one steps up...

Just trade AJ. If you're going to piss around with Fitzpatrick as your QB, show the man some respect and trade him to an organization that gives a shite.

For the Steelers if Heyward-Bey is on your hands team you need to fire your special teams coach. That guy has never caught anything.

For Houston, I don't know how you give up 24 points in 3 minutes. The turnovers and especially the fumble issues are bad. We are not very good offensively and we aren't going to overcome that.

At least Mercilous was able to build off of last week. I hope he stays on the field when Clowney is back.

Also, it is really sad watching Cushing be half the player he was. He so clearly loved football in the past and played with so much emotion, but now there is none of that.

It's sad wTching Cushing. He has no wheels left. I just hope it's one of those 2-years to recover things, but it's not looking good. Not looking good for our cap either.

Ya, it reminds me of that year DeMeco was "recovering". He was an unproductive slug that year but no one was going to get him (DeMeco) out of the line-up. He insisted on playing and no one was going to tell him different. I hated that. Being a leader only goes so far - you gotta produce.....

I think Texans will be fine on the cap next year, most likely, even keeping Cushing. Quite a few already coming off the books next year plus cap is going up now.

Cushing - I hope makes it back but he certainly doesn't have the body control and strength we are used to seeing for now.

AJ obviously loves the Texans, but if he wants to find a competitive team and good trade for Texans let him do it.

Rick Smith or whoever was in charge took Cushing over Clay Matthews. Once again, they were picking a position of need (when you have so many needs annually you can do this pretty much every year...) and once again they made the wrong choice.

Both guys have been injured at various times, and both are impact players at various times.

Productivity this week likely not related to draft position several years ago.

Might be interesting how LBs line up once Clowney comes back.

Did Cushing have injury red flags coming out? I honestly have no idea. If he did then it's on Smith.

If he didn't then I won't blame Smith for picking an amazing player who was destroyed by the harsh reality of injuries in NFL football. When Cushing was healthy in 2011-2013 he flew around the field and changed everything about how both teams played. Everyone had to be aware of him. One of my favorite Texans to watch when he was right. That's what makes it so sad to see him out there as a shell of himself with none of the fire he used to have. He obviously knows how limited he is and does not have much fun being mediocre.

Same old Oilers.

Can't blame it on Bud Adams. Can't blame it on some Indian curse supposedly haunting the Astrodome. Can't blame it on Capers or Kubiak.

But dang does this city never get tired of producing teams that lose in exceptionally gut-jerking ways. I was really hoping this franchise would be different than the rest of them but they have become just as adept at losing in unexpected ways as the old Astros and Rockets did (unlike the new Astros who just lose and then tell everyome how smart they are).

Iirc, he was basically healthy enough to play his final season at USC, but prior to that, he had various knee and ankle problems, not to mention the myriad of steroid rumors.

Cushing's speed is gonzo. As I've said in earlier game threads this season, it is really sad seeing this version of him on the field. The comparison to DeMeco's decline is a good one, though DeMeco had nowhere near the ceiling Cushing had pre-injury.

As for the game... obviously, the meltdown in the final 2 mins before halftime cost the game. Bad teams do that. Good teams do not. And this wasn't the first time this team has had a meltdown. Time for BOB to adjust. I figure he will, but he will be hamstrung until this team has a real franchise QB.

- Daniel Manning... WTH is he still returning kicks in the 2nd half?? So much for accountability.
- Following that 4th Q fumble, DeAndre Hopkins isn't going to shed that tag he started earning after failing to go after that loose ball at the end of the Colts game.
- Arian Foster had a bad fumble, which I can excuse since it is pretty rare despite how cavalier he carries the football in space sometimes. His vision is unique. There is and has been a serious dropoff in talent when someone else is toting the rock in his place.
- TE play is really sub-par in the passing game, which is a little surprising. Maybe these are still TE types for the Kubiak system and Fido is just a rook. Something to address in the offseason even if Fido improves.
- Not sure if it's D.J. or Cush or what, but there is some leadership missing in the middle of that defense. It's still a pretty solid D mind you - there's like 17 points in this game that are basically the fault of the offense - but there's some miscommunication going on back there.
- Icing the kicker before a FG may be a good idea, but giving him a second shot at an onsides kick is dumb. And the Steelers' decision to throw the ball on 2nd (and really 3rd) down late in this game was even dumber.

I hear the Seahawks might be looking for a WR, could we get their 2015 3rd round pick for him ? Doubt they'd take on that contract, and besides AJ is hardly the type of receiver that stretches the field the way Harvin does and he did 4 or 5 years ago. AJ is much more like a Boldin these days.
Games like last night night should accelerate O'briens decision to put Mallet on the field, as the ESPN crew said O'Brien plans to get him out there with a little more grooming.

But you are still hanging in there, suffering with the rest of us, right Chuck ?

Harvin is the least field stretching WR in the NFL. He does not even run deep routes. He has 22 catches for 130 yards (a bad YPC for a RB). He is incredibly fast, but they deploy that speed to horizontally stretch the defense. I cannot recall seeing him actually go deep, and he really didn't for Minnesota either.

But AJ does not fit what Seattle does. They don't like to traditional drop back pass. AJ needs to be with a QB that takes his drop and puts the ball where AJ will catch it. Not a guy who throws screens, read option hot routes, wheel routes, and scramble drill balls.

Send AJ to Indy, I don't care. Send him to PHL, KC, CAR, CLE, PIT, BAL, NE...anywhere that still has a chance. I don't even care what round pick they get in return. Give him up for the stupid pick they gave away to NE for Mallett. What a useless trade that was. Send him to BAL for Arthur Brown. Ravens aren't using him and lord knows he can't be any worse than our current MLBs. AJ deserves better than this BS.

Interesting comment.

Why?

I know I've been on Fitz (a lot), but let me just say, I don't blame that loss on him. That was a total team collapse. But one of the things that bothers me is it takes a monster game from JJ, a monster game from Foster, a monster game from anyone else, and basically a zero turnover game to overcome Fitz's limitations. Whether his limitations are talent-based, coaching induced or both, I don't know. We've had 2 or 3 games now where they've gotten a monster game from JJ or Foster or both and they've still lost. But I think the thing that bothers me most with this whole situation and with Fitz et.al, is that the franchise is choosing to stay in Neutral.

They are not choosing to win (since they aren't), they're not trying to lose (obviously), and they are not evaluating talent. Neutral and neutered. I know this post will likely get picked apart, but I'm frustrated by being stuck in Neutral. It's basically a season lost, IMO, and the Texans are choosing it to be this way. I didn't (and don't) expect a bunch of W's and I don't want a bunch of L's, but I'd rather see L's with a young QB/WR/RB/OL/you-name-it being evaluated rather than L's or limbo with players you know have no future with this franchise.

Because he's put his time into this mess of a franchise. Sure he's gotten paid well, but IMO, he deserves better and they should look at moving him out of respect. Look at it like SF trading Montana. Yes, SF had Young, and there were various reasons behind it, but they moved Montana mostly out of respect.

As for what to do with AJ's WR position, put in Posey and see what you have. Not that any QB on the roster could get him the ball consistently...