Official Texans vs. Bills Game Thread, 9/28/2014

[Arky]

Manning brings the ensuing kickoff back to the Texan 35. Texan's ball.

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Pass to Blue goes for 12. Ball at the Texan 48.

Short pass to Blue inc. 2nd and 10 coming up.

Blue for 6. Brings up 3rd and 4.

Fitz scrambles for just enough for the 1st down.

Pass to Martin goes for nice gainer but flag is down. PI on Hopkins, -10. Makes it 1st and 20.

Reverse/end around to D Johnson goes for 8. 2nd and 12 coming up.

Pass to Hopkins gets 10. 3rd and 2 coming up.

Screen to Foster goes inc. Texans to go for the FG.

Bullock's 50-yarder is good!

Texans 23, Bill 17

4:49 left in the game.

C'mon defense!

[Arky]

Spiller brings the ensuing kickoff back to the 20 yard line. Bills' ball.

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Short pass to Williams goes for 4.

Manuel's pass to Chandler goes inc. 3rd and 6 coming up.

Manuel's deep pass down the sideline sails inc. Bills will punt.

K Martin fair catches the punt at the Texan 32. Texan's ball.

[Arky]

Blue for no gain. About 3 minutes left in the game.

Fitz's pass to Prosch off the mark, inc. 3rd and 10 coming up.

Pass to Foster goes for 10. Smart by Foster to roll for the 1st down.

Blue caught in the backfield for loss of 4. Bills use a timeout w/2:07 left.

Blue goes right side for 2. 3rd and 12 coming up.

2 minute warning.

[Arky]

On 3rd and 12, screen to Foster loses 2. Texans will punt on 4th and 14.

Bill bring the punt back to their 28. Bills' ball.

[Arky]

Manuel can't find a receiver and scrambles for 3.

Manuel pressured by Mohammed throws it away, inc. 3rd and 7 coming up.

Screen to Jackson goes for 13 and the 1st down. 1:21 left in the game.

Pass to Wood good for 12. Ball at the Texan 41.

Manuel's pass is INT'ed by Morris! Whew! Texan's ball.

[Arky]

Texans kneeling it out.

Final score:

Texans 23, Bills 17

3-1 baby!

[Nconroe]

That Morris kid with the INT has been pretty active today. and a game saver.

[Keith]

Watt is having his best season ever, imo better than 2012. I think he tallied 9 QB hits today, not to mention the game-changing pick 6. High-stepping the final yards Deion-style was pretty sweet too.

Three wins against RG3, Derek Carr, and E.J. Manuel... eh, I'll take it. KC had their turnaround last year beating up the bottom half of the league's QBs, too.

Next three will be tougher though with Romo, Luck, and Roethlisberger. The run game will need to step it up to help keep those offenses off the field. The Texans D played great today, but TOP was a huge negative for most of the game. These guys will be gassed if they have to be out there this much in the next three games.

[HPF Bob]

The talking head on NFL Red Zone said teams who begin the year 3-1 make the playoffs 63% of the time. Still, I'm skeptical.

[HPF Bob]

When you amass more wins in one month than you had all of last season, it is hard to complain. The defense still has some run issues but they are fairly good, at least against mediocre or worse offenses. J.J. Watt was everywhere on defense today. I can only imagine what we can do when we get Clowney back. Cushing has been quietly solid so far as well which has been a big help.

Special teams: Lechler and Bullock are both above average. Still not impressed with our kick returning but the rest of the units have definitely earned their keep and we haven't seen nearly the penalties on special teams that we saw under Marciano.

The offense? Oy vey! Fitzpatrick sometimes looks like a 10-year veteran and sometimes he looks like a 10-week veteran. Makes too many bad throws, especially on the run or to receivers out in the flat. The run game looked great for two weeks and then got stuffed these last two weeks which apparently turns Fitz from being a decent quarterback to one who takes unnecessary risks.

I'd like to see them work some screens to the backs into the offense to slow down the pass rush. Until we have a dependable quarterback, what we have seen so far is really the only script that can win for us - solid defense, solid special teams and a really iffy offense.

With the AFC South still on their schedule, they have a chance to sneak into the playoffs as a 9-7 team if they catch some breaks but, more likely, they will come in between 6-10 and 8-8 and get a 12-18 draft choice in the first round.

[barrett]

3 wins are nice, but none of it matters until we get a QB. We can sneak our way to 10-6 every year by winning the turnover battle and getting JJ Watt miracles, but without a QB we can never really go anywhere.

On that note, Teddy Bridgewater sure looked good today. I was not a fan of drafting him, but getting no QB at all almost ensured that we will get second guessed if any of those guys play well.