Houston Texans vs. Oakland Raiders: Full Report Card Grades for Houston
Both teams probably had this game circled as a game they should win and needed to win to have a bounce-back season in 2014.
Not only did the Houston Texans get the win, but they also did so in convincing fashion, dramatically improving their chances of making the playoffs. As I mentioned on the live blog, since 1990 teams that have started 2-0 have made the playoffs 63 percent of the time, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
Sixty-three percent is far from a guarantee, but with winnable games against the New York Giants, Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys in their next three coming up, they have a chance to put themselves in a great position to make a run at reaching the postseason.
As for the game, the Texans dominated in just about every way possible.
They ran the ball better, won the turnover battle, dominated the time of possession and executed on third down much better than the Oakland Raiders.
In particular the running game and defense starred—the two units that we all know need to continue to shine this season for the team to have success.
This team is definitely not perfect, and it still has many things to work on—needs more pass rush and more push from the offensive line—but 2-0 is still a good enough reason to get excited. Never say never, but I'll go ahead and say there's no chance the Texans lose 14 in a row again like they did in 2013 after starting 2-0.
Mostly positive, check out the grades for each position unit on the Texans.
Quarterback
1 of 11
In a word, Ryan Fitzpatrick was efficient, and that's all the Houston Texans need him to be this year.
Like last week Fitzpatrick completed a high percentage of his passes and didn't turn the ball over against the Raiders which will be enough to keep the Texans in most games. Sunday, that was good enough to dominate as the running game and defense both performed very well.
For the game Fitzpatrick finished 13-of-19 for 139 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Nowhere near great, but he didn't make costly mistakes, and he completed a few tough passes when the team had to have them. PDS tweets Fitzpatrick's stats:
"Ryan Fitzpatrick in two games. 28/41 for 345 yards, 68% comp. 3 TDs, 0 Turnovers. #Texans
— PDS (@PatDStat) September 15, 2014"
Grade: B
Running Back
2 of 11
Arian Foster turned the calender back to 2010 Sunday. The Texans' offensive line did a better job of opening up holes for the running game, and Foster found nearly every one, including on one long run of 40 yards that was just short of the end zone.
Foster nearly reached 100 yards in the first half and finished the day with 138 yards for his second game over the century mark this year. Reserve Alfred Blue ran the ball well once the Texans finally removed Foster from the game; Blue finished with 40 yards on 11 carries.
The Texans will need their running game and Foster in particular to perform well in order to have success on offense this season. Not only will they need the run game to pick up yards, but they also can't afford to put Fitzpatrick in many 3rd-and-long situations with his questionable arm strength and history of bad decision-making.
Running the ball picks up first downs, protects the quarterback and helps get the defense some rest; very good signs from the run game through two games.
Grade: A+
Wide Receiver
3 of 11
Andre Johnson isn't asked to make catches down the field very often in this offense, but he is excelling as a possession receiver tasked with making tough catches underneath and over the middle. Johnson finished the game with six catches for 74 yards on the game.
At this pace after two games, Johnson is on track for 96 catches for over 1,300 yards; impressive for anyone, but especially a receiver at his age. PDS notes Foster surpassing Irving Fryar in all-time receiving yards:
"Dre moved to 15th all time passing Irving Fryar in receiving yards. #Texans
— PDS (@PatDStat) September 14, 2014"
Second-year player DeAndre Hopkins also made a couple of nice plays, including a great catch on a fade/jump ball from Fitzpatrick over a Raiders' defensive back that put the score and ballgame out of reach. Hopkins has shown a skill for high-pointing the ball and making difficult catches; he's a big-time red-zone threat.
The Texans got almost nothing out of the group after those two as Damaris Johnson had the only catch—just one—from a wide receiver not named Andre Johnson or DeAndre Hopkins.
It's not hard to get by the Raiders with nothing from the slot receivers, but they'll need better effort and performance from that group of receivers when the Texans face opponents who have better corners who might be capable of slowing down Johnson and Hopkins.
Grade: A-
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Tight End
4 of 11
Film review on Monday is going to be a long day for Texans' tight end Ryan Griffin. The second-year tight end struggled blocking in the run game and was whistled for back-to-back penalties during the second quarter. PDS points out that Sunday's performance confirmed coaches being concerned about Griffin's blocking skills during camp:
"Ryan Griffin was passed up during camp for his so-so blocking ability. Coming to light with three flags on him today. #Texans
— PDS (@PatDStat) September 14, 2014"
Garrett Graham didn't make many positive flash plays either, but he did make a tough catch on a 26-yard pass in the first quarter. Rookie third-round pick C.J. Fiedorowicz missed the game due to injury.
The tight end group for the day had more penalties than receptions; that's not going to get the job done. Going into training camp, I thought this group had a chance to be great, but it's shown little through two games.
Grade: D
Offensive Line
5 of 11
The stats look good, but I'm still left with a feeling that the Texans are capable of more than what we've gotten from the offensive line.
Fitzpatrick faced little pressure and was never sacked, and the running game totaled up 188 yards on the ground on better than four yards per carry; so what's left to complain about?
The Texans still aren't getting great push up front to be able to knock defenders off the line and open up big holes for Arian Foster and the other running backs in short-yardage situations. That lack of push is likely why we've seen the Texans still run so much zone scheme instead of the power scheme that Bill O'Brien used in the past.
The Texans are more athletic than powerful up front, so continuing to use elements of the zone scheme makes sense, but that lack of power is keeping O'Brien from exploring the full playbook it appears.
Speaking of not having any power, the culprit on the blocked kick was guard Ben Jones. The natural center continues to get too much playing time at guard over second-round pick Xavier Su'a-Filo; that needs to change soon. PDS' tweet highlights the Raiders' ease of getting past Jones:
"Raiders run right through Ben Jones to block that field goal attempt. #Texans
— PDS (@PatDStat) September 14, 2014"
Su'a-Filo may be a little raw, but he's much more powerful in the run game and will need to get some experience at some point.
Solid game but the Texans are capable of more.
Grade: B+
Defensive Line
6 of 11
Great day against the run; not so great in terms of rushing the passer.
Outside of one long run of 41 yards from Derek Carr on a zone read, the Raiders didn't have much success on the ground. Excluding Carr, the Raiders' running backs picked up just 43 yards on 13 carries. A week after allowing nearly six yards per carry, the Texans allowed just 3.3 to Oakland's running backs.
The disappearing pass rush is a concern, but it's not a sign of any decline by J.J. Watt. The All-Pro was double- and even tripled-teamed the entire game, but he was still able to make an impact in the running game, and as mentioned on the next slide, he made the hit that caused the interception from Brooks Reed.
It's sound strategy by the Raiders to focus on Watt because it's obvious that neither Jerrell Powe nor Jared Crick will ever push the pocket or put any pressure on the quarterback. While Jadeveon Clowney is out, neither will any linebacker unless he utilizes the blitz.
The pass rush outside of Watt will continue to be an issue until Clowney returns in October or November.
Grade: B
Linebacker
7 of 11
No pass rush out of this group, but it played the run well and made a play late. It was not a great performance, but it was solid.
The play in question was from Brooks Reed who intercepted a pass after Watt hit Carr and caused the ball to pop up in the air. Houston didn't need a great pass rush to beat an overmatched Oakland team, but the Texans have to get more out of both Brooks and Whitney Mercilus while Jadeveon Clowney is out.
In particular they need more out of Mercilus who had just one single tackle in Sunday's game. The Texans need him to be a force, but he was invisible once again. Luckily the Texans don't exactly face a murderer's row over the next three weeks, but they will need more out of Mercilus to beat good teams.
Grade: B
Defensive Back
8 of 11
The defensive backs stuffed the stat sheet Sunday while shutting down the Oakland Raiders. PDS references the DBs' stat line:
"#Texans secondary to this point. 1 INT, 3 caused fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries, 2 pass deflections.
— PDS (@PatDStat) September 14, 2014"
Other than a couple of completions on great passes from Carr that couldn't be defensed, the Texans defensive backs played great coverage, especially considering their pass rush wasn't as effective as the week before.
In particular I thought D.J. Swearinger and Kareem Jackson played great with both causing turnovers and tackling physically in the open field. Both players have been a popular source of anger for fans in the past, but they have played very well so far this year.
The defensive backs gave up a couple of plays late, but both were on the backups, and one of them came off what I thought was a bad pass-interference call against A.J. Bouye.
Grade: A
Special Teams
9 of 11
Nearly perfect.
Randy Bullock was the negative center of attention for many fans last year as he struggled badly during the first half of the year, but Bullock was almost perfect Sunday with made kicks from 33, 39 and 46 yards before his blocking up front fell apart on a short field goal in the fourth quarter. Dave Zangaro of CSNHouston.com was impressed by Bullock's performance:
"That's 16 in a row for Bullock. Believe it or not, he's good. #Texans
— Dave Zangaro (@DZangaro) September 14, 2014"
The Texans' punting performance from former Raider Shane Lechler was also strong. Lechler was only asked to punt twice, but he averaged 50 yards on those two punts.
This grade could have been an "A," but I had to downgrade special teams one letter for having a kick blocked and getting nothing out of the return game.
Grade: B+
Coaching
10 of 11
There were no time-management blunders, no challenge-flag blunders and no double kick-off blunders, unlike the Texas Longhorns.
One complaint that didn't bit the coaching staff today, but could in the future, was how long some of the starters were out on the field. Watt was on the field with under one minute remaining in a 23-point game, while Arian Foster carried the ball nearly 30 times in a game the Texans controlled from the beginning.
That same tendency to leave starters in too long drove me crazy with Gary Kubiak in charge; hopefully O'Brien doesn't continue this trend.
It was hard to find other errors in anything else from the coaching staff. The game plan on both sides of the ball was solid, and the team seemed prepared; good job by the coaching staff.
Grade: A
Final Grades
11 of 11
| Quarterback | B |
| Running Back | A+ |
| Wide Receiver | A- |
| Tight End | D |
| Offensive Line | B+ |
| Defensive Line | B |
| Linebacker | B |
| Defensive Back | A |
| Special Teams | B+ |
| Coaching | A |
| Overall | A |
Follow me on Twitter for more Texans opinion and analysis: @sackedbybmac
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