Official Texans @ Cowboys Game Thread, 10/5/2014

[HPF Bob]

The lack of sacks is actually a credit to Fitzpatrick. How often have we seen him get the throw off a half second before getting flattened or had to run for his life to pick up yardage or throw the ball away?

The Texans aren't like the Broncos where their QB's jersey is clean and neatly pressed after 60 minutes. Fitz is taking hits. But part of that is a difference in release (all on the QB) and a lack of open receivers (all on the receivers) so the line isn't totally to blame but it's not like the lack of sacks is because our OL has been some impenetrable wall.

BTW, nice hold by Brandon Brooks to erase that key run late in the game. Nice "man downfield" penalty on Brown during that bubble screen.

[Joshua]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

The lack of sacks is actually a credit to Fitzpatrick. How often have we seen him get the throw off a half second before getting flattened or had to run for his life to pick up yardage or throw the ball away?

The Texans aren't like the Broncos where their QB's jersey is clean and neatly pressed after 60 minutes. Fitz is taking hits. But part of that is a difference in release (all on the QB) and a lack of open receivers (all on the receivers) so the line isn't totally to blame but it's not like the lack of sacks is because our OL has been some impenetrable wall.

BTW, nice hold by Brandon Brooks to erase that key run late in the game. Nice "man downfield" penalty on Brown during that bubble screen.

Come on, you can't give Fitzpatrick credit for avoiding sacks then turn around and downplay Peyton freakin' Manning's ability to do the same. Peyton is probably the best to ever play the game at getting rid of the ball. He's made countless pedestrian linemen look like hall of famers.

Agree with Barrett. It all depends on the QB. Get a good-to-great one and this team is good enough. Keep trotting out mediocre ones and you can fill in gaps till the cows come home but you'll likely never be more than first round fodder. Take last year, the 4 AFC teams playing on wildcard weekend were Indy, KC, Chargers and Bengals. Setting aside the QB position, which of these teams would you trade rosters with? I'm not sure I would trade with any of them.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

The lack of sacks is actually a credit to Fitzpatrick. How often have we seen him get the throw off a half second before getting flattened or had to run for his life to pick up yardage or throw the ball away?

The Texans aren't like the Broncos where their QB's jersey is clean and neatly pressed after 60 minutes. Fitz is taking hits. But part of that is a difference in release (all on the QB) and a lack of open receivers (all on the receivers) so the line isn't totally to blame but it's not like the lack of sacks is because our OL has been some impenetrable wall.

BTW, nice hold by Brandon Brooks to erase that key run late in the game. Nice "man downfield" penalty on Brown during that bubble screen.

You're right Bob. Why would I let facts get in the way of a gut feeling.

Even if you count the games without Foster we are 4th in the NFL for fewest sacks allowed and the 3 teams ahead of us have all played 1 less game. And we still run for 127 ypg even with those games. There is no way a team can be above average in every imaginable OL category and have a bad OL.

And if you want to insist that it's Fitzpatrick's greatness, the guy is being sacked half as often on this team as he has been in his career.

[Nconroe]

I'd agree if we had Luck or Rodgers or perhaps Wilson at QB this team would be good enough for playoffs and perhaps with a few lucky bounces to Super Bowl.

But I don't see any of top 4 QB drafted this past draft as being that good. But maybe, who knows 2 or 3 years from now.

And I like how scrappy Fitzpatrick is, he and team needs a lot more consistency if we are going to win games this year.

The salary cap is one reason lost many good drafted players the past 5 years,hoping that is under control for building the next several years.

[Arky]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

The lack of sacks is actually a credit to Fitzpatrick. How often have we seen him get the throw off a half second before getting flattened or had to run for his life to pick up yardage or throw the ball away?

The Texans aren't like the Broncos where their QB's jersey is clean and neatly pressed after 60 minutes. Fitz is taking hits. But part of that is a difference in release (all on the QB) and a lack of open receivers (all on the receivers) so the line isn't totally to blame but it's not like the lack of sacks is because our OL has been some impenetrable wall.

BTW, nice hold by Brandon Brooks to erase that key run late in the game. Nice "man downfield" penalty on Brown during that bubble screen.

If it makes you feel any better, Teddy Johnson of 610 radio agrees with you. The Texans had 5 penalties yesterday, all on the offense. The defense had a big goose egg.

So, what was the bone of contention again? The Texan OL: not very good or good?

IMHO, the OL is not the #1 problem with the offense but the whole group can be very dysfunctional at times...

[chuck]

Originally Posted by Arky

IMHO, the OL is not the #1 problem with the offense but the whole group can be very dysfunctional at times...

No, clearly the main problem with the offense is that we don't have an elite quarterback, or even a top-half quarterback. Again, I harp on the OL because this is an area of concern and the team has done a poor job trying to address it. The team obviously agrees with me that their interior line play sucks otherwise they wouldn't have drafted Disappear-O. Hell, the interior line play is so poor that we haven't even had time to bitch about Newton (who's been playing pretty well, actually).

[Arky]

Originally Posted by chuck

No, clearly the main problem with the offense is that we don't have an elite quarterback, or even a top-half quarterback. Again, I harp on the OL because this is an area of concern and the team has done a poor job trying to address it. The team obviously agrees with me that their interior line play sucks otherwise they wouldn't have drafted Disappear-O. Hell, the interior line play is so poor that we haven't even had time to bitch about Newton (who's been playing pretty well, actually).

I thought that is what I suggested (no QB).

Re: OL, in pass protection you may have a point but Foster is one of only two RB's that's averaging 100+yds/gm. They're doing something right.

Who's your gripe against specifically on the OL? Brown, Myers and Newton (these days) are usually steady. B Jones? B Brooks?

[Nconroe]

Maybe I'm wrong but I think Duane Brown has the most penalties this year with either 7 or 8.

[nunusguy]

Foster got > 150 yards and Fitzgerald was not sacked a single time, so that's not a shabby performance by the OLine by anybodies definition.
But our QB obviously has limited passing skills, but if he and Foster were just on the same page when it came to passing plays to Foster, that could have been the difference in the game on two very critical plays.

[popanot]

95% of the time Fitzpatrick's throws are off target. It's hard for me to even recall maybe 2 or 3 passes where he actually lead the WR in stride. The worst part about him is he has played just well enough to stay on the field.

I'm fairly certain Mallett isn't the long-term answer, but it sure would be nice to see him get some snaps just to see if he's any better and to see what we have in him.