Official Texans @ Rams Game Thread, 11/12/2017

[Arky]

The ensuing kickoff is a touchback. Texan's ball at their 25.

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

Savage pressured, throws it away, inc.

Foreman for almost 5. 3rd and 5 coming up.

Pass to Fido goes inc. Texans have to punt.

Punt is brought back to the 19 but block in the back on the Rams places the ball at the Ram 9 yard line. Ram's ball.

8:14 left in the 3rd qtr.

[Arky]

Gurley goes right side for about 11.

Pass to Woods gets 8.

Pass to Kupp gets 7 and the 1st down at the Ram 35.

Goff sacked by Scarlett! Makes it 2nd and 16 coming up.

Pass to Woods gets 13. 3rd and 3 coming up.

Pass to Kupp goes for 7 at the Ram 49, 1st down.

Pass to Dunbar, inc. 2nd and 10 coming up.

Handoff to Austin gets 4. 3rd and 6 coming up.

Goff pressured, gets pulled down by Scarlett. Loss on the play and the Rams will have to punt.

Punt goes into the end zone, touchback. Texan's ball at their 20.

3:53 left in the 3rd qtr.

[Arky]

Foreman for no gain.

Savage hit as he throws, ball goes inc. 3rd and 10 coming up.

Pass to Hop is caught but out of bounds, inc. Texans to punt.

Punt is brought back to the Texan 36. Weeks injured on the play. Ram's ball in good field position.

2:51 left in the 3rd qtr.

[Arky]

Austin dodges and darts for a loss of 5.

Pass to Watkins goes for 24. Ball at the Texan 12.

Pass to Watkins goes for the TD.

Rams 23, Texans 7

1:33 left in the 3rd qtr.

Defense tired because the offense can't move the ball......

[Arky]

The ensuing kickoff is a touchback. Texan's ball at their 25.

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

Savage sacked and fumbles. Rams recover. Ram's ball at the Texan 12.

1:24 left in the 3rd qtr.

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

Checkdown to Woods goes for the TD.

Rams 30, Texans 7

1:14 left in the 3rd qtr.

[Arky]

The ensuing kickoff is a touchback. Texan's ball at their 25.

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

Blue for 1.

Pass to Ellington gets 4. Flag down......facemask on the Rams places the ball at the Texan 45, 1st down.

Blue for 7.

End of the 3rd qtr.

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

Blue caught for a loss of 3. 3rd and 6 coming up.

Savage pressured, throws inc. Holding on the Texans is declined. Texans have to punt.

Punt is fair caught at the Ram 11. Ram's ball.

14:07 left in the game.

[Arky]

Tom Savage turnovers = 3

Ram's turnovers = 0

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

Handoff to Austin goes for no gain.

Neutral zone infraction on L Houston give the Rams 5 yards. 2nd and 5 coming up.

Gurley for 2. 3rd and 3 coming up. A Ram (Saffold) injured on the play.

Checkdown to Gurley gets about 5 and the 1st down.

Gurley goes left for 1....flag down.... holding on the Rams makes it 1st and 20.

Gurley gets loose for 34.

Rams have to use a timeout - play clock running out.

Pass to Woods goes for 30.

Austin caught in the backfield by Watkins. Loss of 4.

Checkdown to Woods gets 4. 3rd and 11 coming up.

Pass to Kupp gets a few.... Rams to go for the FG.

Zeurlein's 33-yarder is good.

Rams 33, Texans 7

7:33 left in the game.

[Arky]

The ensuing kickoff is a touchback. Texan's ball at their 25.

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

Blue turns a busted play into 5 yards.

Hop gets PI'ed. Ball at the Texan 37, 1st down.

Pass to Hop is dropped, inc. 2nd and 10 coming up.

Savage's deep pass to Hop is good for 36.

Pass to Hop gets 11. Ball at the Ram 16.

Pass to Hop in the end zone is caught out of bounds, inc.

On 2nd and 10, pass to Ellington goes to the 11 yard line. 3rd and 5 coming up.

Pass to Anderson in the end zone goes inc. Pass a little high. Texans going for it on 4th and 5.

Savage with the red zone pick. Ram's ball at the Texan 26.

4:34 left in the game.

[Arky]

Dunbar for 1.

Dunbar gets 12 and the 1st down.

Dunbar loses 1.

Dunbar for 8. 3rd and 3 coming up.

Dunbar gets 11.

2 minute warning.

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

Rams kneeling it out.

Final Score:

Rams 33, Texans 7

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

Looked OK for a half.

[barrett]

We need to get Hopkins to IR. Savage has a real talent for throwing WRs directly into trouble.

[Arky]

Early line has the Cardinals as 1 to 2½ pt favorites over the Texans this Sunday.

[Keith]

Defense played a really inspired first half, Clowney particularly so. Amazing how he now seems to be the model of health given how the early years of his career began. Not sure how many more years he will have left in him.

Kevin Johnson also seems to be back to form after his various ailments. Still, can't help but catch the Jags again this Sunday and wonder what might have been had the team retained A.J. Bouye.

It was easy to comment at halftime that had Care Bear converted his short FG attempt, and had Savage not thrown the pick late, that the Texans could have had a two-score lead midway through the game. But then the third quarter happened, and the Savage Texans are who we thought they were.

I said aloud just before the first pick that I didn't mind all those batted passes from Savage because chances were they would be picked anyway, being the curmudgeon that I've become. Then lo and behold, those did become picks later.

And Savage may have a tendency to get not only himself set up for disaster, but now he seems to put his receivers in harm's way, too. Will Fuller was destroyed by a clean hit & didn't return. For as often as Savage locks onto Hopkins, we should be worried that he's next.

[Arky]

I've been cutting Savage some slack because he is getting plenty of starter's minutes for the first time in his career. We as fans are too quick to judge sometimes. Many QB's have to kind of find their way when opportunity knocks.

That said, the bad signs out-numbered the good signs yesterday. There was one play where a Ram defender was making a beeline toward Savage as he stood in the pocket. Savage saw the guy coming and there should have been all sorts of red flags going off - dodge, get rid of the ball, protect the ball, something... but Savage just stood there as though he wasn't processing what was happening, took the sack and fumbled the ball. Just very bad Blake Bortles-esque looking.

There's nothing heroic about being able to "take a punch". Savage was like this at Pitt if you've ever seen those highlights. "Good" at taking a hit. There are usually other less masochistic options.

There were a few good throws yesterday.....just not enough. Still, despite the 2 INT's and the 2 lost fumbles, you could make a case that he was a bit better than he was against the Colts. One can only hope he can accelerate his learning curve before he ends up on IR...

[barrett]

Originally Posted by Arky

I've been cutting Savage some slack because he is getting plenty of starter's minutes for the first time in his career. We as fans are too quick to judge sometimes. Many QB's have to kind of find their way when opportunity knocks.

That said, the bad signs out-numbered the good signs yesterday. There was one play where a Ram defender was making a beeline toward Savage as he stood in the pocket. Savage saw the guy coming and there should have been all sorts of red flags going off - dodge, get rid of the ball, protect the ball, something... but Savage just stood there as though he wasn't processing what was happening, took the sack and fumbled the ball. Just very bad Blake Bortles-esque looking.

There's nothing heroic about being able to "take a punch". Savage was like this at Pitt if you've ever seen those highlights. "Good" at taking a hit. There are usually other less masochistic options.

There were a few good throws yesterday.....just not enough. Still, despite the 2 INT's and the 2 lost fumbles, you could make a case that he was a bit better than he was against the Colts. One can only hope he can accelerate his learning curve before he ends up on IR...

Savage is a bad backup QB. He has poor pocket awareness, poor presnap recognition, and poor accuracy. His solid arm strength and size are rendered useless by the fact that he doesn't know where to throw it.

I'd say he's near the bottom of the 9 QBs we've played the last 4 years. I'd take Yates or Weeden over him.

[Arky]

Originally Posted by barrett

Savage is a bad backup QB. He has poor pocket awareness, poor presnap recognition, and poor accuracy. His solid arm strength and size are rendered useless by the fact that he doesn't know where to throw it.

I'd say he's near the bottom of the 9 QBs we've played the last 4 years. I'd take Yates or Weeden over him.

At this point, I agree but I can recall some of these same things being said about Keenum (he of the 0-8 record) a few years ago.....

I'm convinced the term "reserving judgement" is not your vocabulary, barrett....

[barrett]

Originally Posted by Arky

At this point, I agree but I can recall some of these same things being said about Keenum (he of the 0-8 record) a few years ago.....

I'm convinced the term "reserving judgement" is not your vocabulary, barrett....

There are plenty of times it's smart to reserve judgement. When a guy has talent it's worth waiting through plenty of mistakes to see if the talent shines through. When a guy has no talent and no pedigree and has never been thought of as more than a backup, then plays below even those low expectations, there is no reason to reserve judgement.

Even if Tom Savage became the most he can possibly be and maximized every bit of potential and found the perfect situation he'd still be a replacement level player.

[Arky]

Originally Posted by barrett

There are plenty of times it's smart to reserve judgement. When a guy has talent it's worth waiting through plenty of mistakes to see if the talent shines through. When a guy has no talent and no pedigree and has never been thought of as more than a backup, then plays below even those low expectations, there is no reason to reserve judgement.

Even if Tom Savage became the most he can possibly be and maximized every bit of potential and found the perfect situation he'd still be a replacement level player.

Spoken like a true fan!

[HPF Bob]

I looked it up. Mr. Keenum has a 14-17 career record as a starter which is quite impressive since he began 0-8. The Rams, after all, were no great shakes while he was there and the Vikings are a .500 team.

He also went undrafted while Mr. Savage was a fourth-round selection.

While he was a Texan, Keenum's issues were inexperience and playing behind a shitty offensive line. Savage's issues now are inexperience and playing behind a shitty offensive line. That doesn't mean Savage will ever be as good as Keenum or even have the chance to be as good.

Just noting some similarities.

[Arky]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

I looked it up. Mr. Keenum has a 14-17 career record as a starter which is quite impressive since he began 0-8. The Rams, after all, were no great shakes while he was there and the Vikings are a .500 team.

He also went undrafted while Mr. Savage was a fourth-round selection.

While he was a Texan, Keenum's issues were inexperience and playing behind a shitty offensive line. Savage's issues now are inexperience and playing behind a shitty offensive line. That doesn't mean Savage will ever be as good as Keenum or even have the chance to be as good.

Just noting some similarities.

Interesting goings-on up there in Minnesota. Bridgewater is ready to go but they might keep on using Keenum. The undrafted guy might start ahead of the late 1st round pick. They have Bradford (injured), Keenum and Bridgewater. That's a pretty good trio to address the QB situation.....

As for Savage, we might not know if he can grow/develop/get better with Bill "Captain Hook" O'Brien calling the shots....