Official Texans vs. Raiders Playoff Game Thread, 1/07/2017

[Arky]

Ervin brings the poochy kickoff back to the Texan 26. Texan's ball.

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L Miller for 1.

Delay to L Miller goes for no gain. 3rd and 9 coming up.

Oz's pass is deflected but falls inc. Texans will have to punt.

Nice tackle by D Jones on the punt. Ball at the Raider 19. Raider's ball.

6:34 left in the game.

Need one more hold, defense.....

[chuck]

This dumbass is eleven feet tall and he can't get the ball over the head of a DL that is engaged with an OL. God, he sucks. Mirage, apparently.

[Arky]

Pass to Cooper good for 9.

Pass to Walford goes to the Raider 37, 1st down.

Pass to Holmes gets about 13. Ball at midfield.

Cook pressured, throws inc to the flat. 2nd and 10 coming up.

Pass to Cooper off the mark, inc. 3rd and 10 coming up.

Cook's pass is tipped and INT'ed by Moore! Texan's ball at their 46!

4:32 left in the game.

[Arky]

Flags presnap. False start Mancz, -5. 1st and 15 coming up.

L Miller for 2. 2nd and 13 coming up.

L Miller for 4. 3rd and 9 coming up. Raiders use a timeout (#1).

Grimes powers for 10 and the 1st down!

L Miller for about 2. 3:04 left in the game. 2nd and 8 coming up.

L Miller for no gain. Raiders use their final timeout. 2:59 left in the game. 3rd and 8 coming up.

Grimes for 6......4th and 2 coming up.

Texans take the delay of game penalty as they prepare to punt.

Punt is fair caught at the Raider 7. Raider's ball, 2:06 left in the game.

[Arky]

Screen to Roberts in the flat gets 1.

2 minute warning.

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On 2nd and 9, checkdown to Rivera gets 4. 3rd and 5 coming up.

Pass down the sideline can't find a home, inc. 4th and 5 and the Raiders going for it...

Pass over the middle to Rivera gets 6 and the 1st down.

Pass to Rivera gets 11.

Pass to Rivera is juggled and dropped, inc. 32 seconds left in the game.

Cook's pass can't find a home, inc. 3rd and 10 coming up.

Pass over the middle to Holton goes inc. 4th and 10 coming up.

Bouye INT's! 15 seconds left in the game! Ball at the Raider 38.

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Texans kneeling it.

Final score:

Texans 27, Raiders 14

Next!

[popanot]

One thing is clear to me... The Texans need to do everything in their power to re-sign Bouye. It's a shame they didn't sign him earlier because he's likely as good as gone now.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by chuck

That third down draw was about as bad as it gets. I would love to know if Godsey called it or if BO audibled into it at the LOS. Either way it was shockingly stupid.

It was such a gutless playcall after a series of gutless playcalls. The consensus I saw and heard seemed to indicate that it was likely Godsey's call and O'Brien immediately afterward was really unhappy with it.

Regardless, buck stops with O'Brien, so hopefully he rectifies this in the offseason by hiring a legit OC.

[chuck]

Originally Posted by Keith

It was such a gutless playcall after a series of gutless playcalls. The consensus I saw and heard seemed to indicate that it was likely Godsey's call and O'Brien immediately afterward was really unhappy with it.

Regardless, buck stops with O'Brien, so hopefully he rectifies this in the offseason by hiring a legit OC.

I assume you were at the game but on tv BOB was going apeshit after the play. It was hard to tell if he was upset at the play call or the lack of execution or what. Both, maybe. But again, who knows if the draw was Godsey's call or something BO called the team into at the LOS. I'll just leave it to the crack reporters covering the Texans beat to suss that out.

[Keith]

Yeah, I was there... ya miss some things without the TV feed.

Originally Posted by chuck

I'll just leave it to the crack reporters covering the Texans beat to suss that out.

Speaking of, I've been rambling on the ItB twitter timeline tonight because the ESPN report during the game indicated J.J. Watt had been cleared last week for football activities. I had not heard that, maybe I missed it. Or maybe the Texans beat didn't do much to report it.

And maybe that's because it doesn't matter (Brian, AFC South champs, Brian). The Texans already burned their IR-DFR status on Brennan Scarlett. But interestlingly, they only burned the status on Scarlett in mid-December, fairly recently. No knock intended on Scarlett - with Simon's status still iffy, the extra LB is great and Scarlett has some potential - but having Watt available to dress and maybe even play a couple snaps in a deep playoff run might have been really, really helpful.

This is only the third time in franchise history the team has made it this deep. Us cynical posters can say this team has no shot at winning - because we've watched this team for 18 weeks now - but nothing should be taken for granted. Any given Sunday stuff.

But Watt won't be playing next week. And if miracles occur, he won't play the conference championship or the Super Bowl, which btw is in Houston. Look, again, Scarlett's great to have back, but we're talking about the former DPOY here... even if Watt has lost muscle and is not 100%, even if it is just a couple key downs, even if it was something of a decoy, having Watt on the field each successive week from here on out probably has a bigger impact than having Scarlett doing the same.

[chuck]

Watt can play TE. Can Scarlett play TE?

I didn't think so.

But can Watt lay the wood on ST and then watch as the guy he just hit runs for 40 more yards? Probably not.

Let's call it a wash.

I've said it all along, this team's IR decisions are unassailable.

[HPF Bob]

Barrett's right. Osweiler looked like garbage today. They should have started Weeden. They should cut him now. How a guy that's 6-8 sneaks out there and muffs two punt returns in a row, I don't understand but it was definitely Osweiler's fault. What the heck was he doing throwing a deep pass on target? Does he think he's Aaron Rodgers? O'Brien taught him you should only throw short of the first down marker on third downs and expect your receiver to pick up the rest of the yards. Throwing long just guarantees a turnover.

Wanna win at New England? Here's the only hope. Texans send an all-out blitz on the first play and pretend they never heard the whistle because it was so frickin' cold they have cotton stuffed in their ears. Mercilus goes for the knees. Clowney goes for the head. One way or another, Brady's done for the game. Belicheat gets angry and swears revenge, but how? If he knocks out Osweiler, the Texans replace him with a better QB.

Then it's on to Pissburgh.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

Barrett's right. Osweiler looked like garbage today. They should have started Weeden. They should cut him now. How a guy that's 6-8 sneaks out there and muffs two punt returns in a row, I don't understand but it was definitely Osweiler's fault. What the heck was he doing throwing a deep pass on target? Does he think he's Aaron Rodgers? O'Brien taught him you should only throw short of the first down marker on third downs and expect your receiver to pick up the rest of the yards. Throwing long just guarantees a turnover.

Wanna win at New England? Here's the only hope. Texans send an all-out blitz on the first play and pretend they never heard the whistle because it was so frickin' cold they have cotton stuffed in their ears. Mercilus goes for the knees. Clowney goes for the head. One way or another, Brady's done for the game. Belicheat gets angry and swears revenge, but how? If he knocks out Osweiler, the Texans replace him with a better QB.

Then it's on to Pissburgh.

Only Bob can read that post and come away feeling the need to defend Osweiller (a guy I never mentioned). The love affair continues.

[HPF Bob]

I was mocked when I suggested Osweiler might respond to the benching by stepping up his game and what did he do? Played turnover-free football within the confines of the ultra-conservative gameplan. On the opening drive, the Texans marched inside the Oakland 40 and had a 4th-and-3. At least 75% of the teams in the league would have gone for it on 4th down but not this one - just punt the ball away, knowing their FG kicker can't hit a 55-yarder.

It worked out because Novak was able to hit from 50 on the next possession but it shows how little confidence O'Brien has in the offense convert for first downs. The second half was entirely Woody Hayes football. Given that, a 14-for-25 day with no picks isn't such a bad day. It won't beat the Patriots but the one thing Houston will have on their side is that there's no way the Patriots will be motivated to play us. They can't possibly think less of us than they already do so let's take some gambles and hope for a James "Busted" Douglas type of result.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

I was mocked when I suggested Osweiler might respond to the benching by stepping up his game and what did he do? Played turnover-free football within the confines of the ultra-conservative gameplan. On the opening drive, the Texans marched inside the Oakland 40 and had a 4th-and-3. At least 75% of the teams in the league would have gone for it on 4th down but not this one - just punt the ball away, knowing their FG kicker can't hit a 55-yarder.

It worked out because Novak was able to hit from 50 on the next possession but it shows how little confidence O'Brien has in the offense convert for first downs. The second half was entirely Woody Hayes football. Given that, a 14-for-25 day with no picks isn't such a bad day. It won't beat the Patriots but the one thing Houston will have on their side is that there's no way the Patriots will be motivated to play us. They can't possibly think less of us than they already do so let's take some gambles and hope for a James "Busted" Douglas type of result.

Bob you weren't mocked for saying Brock could play an average football game under perfect circumstances.

You were mocked for saying he deserved another year as a starter because he hadn't yet gotten a fair chance here and he was being asked to be a savior here.

I'm happy for Brock. He isn't the one who offered the contract. He's done nothing but try. It's not his fault he can't play high level NFL QB (only about a dozen guys in the world can).

And finally...

14/25, 156, TD, 0 INT, team win
11/20, 159, TD, 0 INT, team win

One of those lines is Brock's. Can you tell me who and when the other one is?

[HPF Bob]

Of course. TJ Yates in the 2011 playoff win over Cincy. Now who had these stats?

13/23, 141, 0 TD, 1 INT, team win?

[barrett]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

Of course. TJ Yates in the 2011 playoff win over Cincy. Now who had these stats?

13/23, 141, 0 TD, 1 INT, team win?

You know your Texans if you can recognize that without looking it up.

I don't know on that line but if it's a playoff game I'm guessing old Manning or young Brady.

[barrett]

And my initial post about us not winning a shootout was no knock on Osweiller. We are a bad offense. Our best skill guy (Hopkins) has mailed it in since the middle of the season. Our OL is average at best. Our RB is dangerous at times but also tries to bounce everything and thus creates holding penalties and tackles for loss our offense can't overcome. Our play calling is bad. And our QB play is bad.

And oh yeah, like I said in the first post, nobody wins playoff shootouts with the Patriots. They win ugly football games with the Patriots if they ever win at all.

If we have any chance to win (and we don't have much), it's in an ugly low scoring game where our guys hit Tom Brady a lot.

[popanot]

Originally Posted by Keith

Speaking of, I've been rambling on the ItB twitter timeline tonight because the ESPN report during the game indicated J.J. Watt had been cleared last week for football activities. I had not heard that, maybe I missed it. Or maybe the Texans beat didn't do much to report it.

I heard this report, but ESPN stating "football activities" is a huge stretch. They showed a short clip during the game of him working out and running (well jogging) a cone-drill and he looked stiff and laboring. I wish I could find the clip.

[HPF Bob]

Originally Posted by barrett

And my initial post about us not winning a shootout was no knock on Osweiller. We are a bad offense. Our best skill guy (Hopkins) has mailed it in since the middle of the season. Our OL is average at best. Our RB is dangerous at times but also tries to bounce everything and thus creates holding penalties and tackles for loss our offense can't overcome. Our play calling is bad. And our QB play is bad.

And oh yeah, like I said in the first post, nobody wins playoff shootouts with the Patriots. They win ugly football games with the Patriots if they ever win at all.

If we have any chance to win (and we don't have much), it's in an ugly low scoring game where our guys hit Tom Brady a lot.

I agree with practically all of this.

BTW, the stat line I cited was Peyton Manning's in the last Super Bowl. Add the turnovers and it was worse than TJ or Brock, but he still won.