Official Texans vs. Colts Game Thread, 10/16/2016

[Nconroe]

Woohoo, 4-2. Oswiler quite a 4th Q.
Excellent catch by Strong as well.

[chuck]

Hopefully this will be a turning point. Weird to say of a winning team, but we all know that this team has been underachieving. That was a hell of a win.

Clowney is a beast, by the way.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by chuck

Hopefully this will be a turning point. Weird to say of a winning team, but we all know that this team has been underachieving. That was a hell of a win.

Clowney is a beast, by the way.

Clowney finally is just playing forward. No more worries about gaps and responsibilities. It took him 2 years but he learned the defense, and now he just goes as hard as he can in every direction he goes.

Mercilous meanwhile has turned into a fantastic pass rusher. Edge speed, counter moves, hands, all of it.

[Arky]

Nice win, especially against the Colts. Prime time win. Come from behind win, something this franchise doesn't have a whole lot of....

Oz gets a reprieve.

The Colts suck but man, the Texans were sucking worse in the first 3 qtrs...

As mentioned, hopefully this is a confidence builder for the whole team...

[Keith]

Osweiler has his problems, I'm not blind. Heck, check the last ItB tweet. He played three sucky quarters tonight, and he was trash in Minny against a top quality D.

BUT...

Let's hit the reset on a few hot takezzz here:
- Osweiler ain't cheap, but he is something like the 17th highest paid QB in the league. It's not like the team is paying him a crippling-like salary that, say, the Colts are paying Andrew Luck (per the Indy GM even).
- Yes, Schaub was terrible his last season in Houston, but pre-Haynesworth, he was a pro bowl QB who did alright for himself for many seasons. I still believe the year fat Albert sat on his foot was the team's best chance for a Super Bowl run. Schaub's preceding 16 games to that injury were pretty dang good if someone wants to look that up.

[Keith]

By the way, not enough said about Lamar Miller's TD reception... that was nothing short of amazing. True turning point because I think it's fourth down if he doesn't dance his way through the over-pursuit of the Colts defenders for the score.

Like everyone else beforehand, really thought the INT thrown by Osweiler right after Mercilus got the big 4th down sack was the needle in the balloon. Osweiler needs to get out of his own head maybe.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by Keith

By the way, not enough said about Lamar Miller's TD reception... that was nothing short of amazing. True turning point because I think it's fourth down if he doesn't dance his way through the over-pursuit of the Colts defenders for the score.

Like everyone else beforehand, really thought the INT thrown by Osweiler right after Mercilus got the big 4th down sack was the needle in the balloon. Osweiler needs to get out of his own head maybe.

Miller's TD scamper reminded me of vintage Reggie Bush in college at USC.
Now even if mixed attitudes remain about Osweiler, I got nothing but
positive thoughts about Miller. I thought he was just going to be a scatback but instead he's a real workhorse who can play an entire game plus and take it off or inside tackle. He was tremendous last night.
Don't know why Osweiler is starting so slowly but those were big time throws late in the game, including OT. It's encouraging so no telling what we get next week in Denver but it should be interesting.
Oh by the way, the defense was stellar, tremendous game for them against Luck.

[HPF Bob]

A win's a win and it was the win they needed - keeps them alone in first in the vaunted AFC South. Flipped the script - usually, it's Luck that catches fire at the end of the game and pulls it out. This time it was Ozzy.

Next up, a Monday nighter in Denver where the Broncos will have a 1-1/2 week rest and a Gary Kubiak reunion to look forward to. Denver has to work out their mess of an OL (sounds familiar, doesn't it?) and shore up the run defense but don't expect Houston to beat them passing the ball. The Texans' best chance is to sic Clowney and Mercilus on the QB all night and hope for some turnovers.

[Arky]

Early numbers rolling in have Denver as a 6.5 pt favorite over the Texans on MNF...

[barrett]

Originally Posted by Keith

Osweiler has his problems, I'm not blind. Heck, check the last ItB tweet. He played three sucky quarters tonight, and he was trash in Minny against a top quality D.

BUT...

Let's hit the reset on a few hot takezzz here:
- Osweiler ain't cheap, but he is something like the 17th highest paid QB in the league. It's not like the team is paying him a crippling-like salary that, say, the Colts are paying Andrew Luck (per the Indy GM even).
- Yes, Schaub was terrible his last season in Houston, but pre-Haynesworth, he was a pro bowl QB who did alright for himself for many seasons. I still believe the year fat Albert sat on his foot was the team's best chance for a Super Bowl run. Schaub's preceding 16 games to that injury were pretty dang good if someone wants to look that up.

The 16 guys ahead of Osweiler in salary all had significantly more than 7 starts. So do the dozen guys behind him. Only rookies don't get paid at QB in the NFL. So starting a rookie is a giant advantage. It's an advantage that is so big it almost makes up for not having an elite QB. I'd say the two best QB situations in the NFL are having a great one that makes $25 million, or having a rookie plus $20 million worth of other players.

We are in the brutal middle. We are paying for a guy to learn the position. It's better than just punting on the position like last year, and I'm glad we made some commitment finally, it was just a stupid allocation of resources from a team building standpoint.

[Nconroe]

On QB salary, we only committed to two years for Osweiler, so not a long term issue if he doesn't develop consistency.

Also Texans are not in salary cap hell, so they can maneuver for other players, and did.

So, Texans record , maybe good luck, but so far , so good. The comeback yesterday was quite amazing, glad I got to watch that.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by barrett

So starting a rookie is a giant advantage. It's an advantage that is so big it almost makes up for not having an elite QB.

Starting a rookie is an advantage? Do you mean beyond financially? The Texans could have traded up for Goff, they could have taken Bortles over Clowney, they could have not signed Osweiler and settled for Paxton Lynch.... any of these scenarios put the Texans at 4-2 and in the driver seat for the playoffs this year? In O'Brien's third season?

I recall your distaste for Bortles and know you did not like the signing of Osweiler even back in March... all defensible opinions that are standing the test of time. And I agree the team is in the brutal middle, so I know you must understand the 2016 Texans were caught in a tough spot with very limited viable options... as much as I liked Wentz pre-draft, it was a pretty unrealistic scenario to think they could trade all the way up to get him (or Goff) since it takes two to tango.

So what was your ideal plan for the team to take?