Indianapolis Colts vs. Houston Texans: Full Report Card Grades for Houston
Just a punch in the gut.
As a Houston Texans fan since Day 1, I've unfortunately grown accustomed to losing, but this one really hurt. Like most of you, I was ready to write this one off when the Indianapolis Colts went up 24-0 in the first quarter, but to quote The Godfather, "Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in."
Suddenly, the Texans' stars woke up and started making plays right at the same time the Colts decided to get conservative with a huge lead. The Colts were the better team on the field Thursday night, but the Texans gave away the game early with what felt like a dozen costly mistakes.
Without such an awful start, the situation could have been different when Ryan Fitzpatrick was given the ball back with just less than two minutes remaining. This is not exactly breaking news, but he's not a guy you want to trust in a pressure-packed, late-game situation.
I said in my preview article that the Texans would need monster games from both Arian Foster and J.J. Watt to win this game; well, they got great production out of both and still lost. Without their efforts, this game could have been 49-0; I feel bad that their performances were basically wasted.
In a very short amount of time, 3-1 has turned into 3-3, and the Texans are in danger of having their season slip away. They won't go on to lose every game remaining on their schedule like a year ago, but this loss to the Colts does feel a lot like their loss last year to Seattle.
The Texans blew a big lead in that game against Seattle, so it's not exactly the same, but both games did end with a soul-crushing play from a bad quarterback.
Some things never change.
Quarterback
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I like Ryan Fitzpatrick as a person, but it's time to remove him from the starting lineup.
It's a shame because he has a lot of qualities that I admire like toughness and passion for the game, but he's just not talented enough to be a starting quarterback in this league.
His passing line was actually pretty solid considering how poorly he was protected by his offensive line. For the game, Fitzpatrick finished 15-of-23 for 212 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions and a 109.3 QB rating.
If offered that stat line from Fitzpatrick, most fans would probably take it, but those numbers don't tell the whole story.
Mainly, what they don't show you is how limited the offense has been with Fitzpatrick under center. Except for a few plays when a receiver has been wide open, the Texans just haven't been able to attempt any passes down the field.
Opposing defenses recognize that and often are able to cheat up and take away the underneath routes without any fear of getting beaten over the top.
Fitzpatrick did complete one long pass to Damaris Johnson for 40 yards, but even then the ball came out like a wounded duck and was badly underthrown.
Then of course "Fitzmagic" had his grand finale: the game-ending fumble.
Like its predecessors the "Rosencopter" and Matt Schaub's pick-six against Seattle last year, Fitzpatrick's game-ending fumble will go down as one of the worst plays in franchise history.
All that buildup and hope restored from their rally just to have it taken away in the blink of an eye, or with the drop of a ball, made the sting of a loss even worse; it was a brutal ending.
Ryan Mallett might not be the answer, but the Texans have to start him next week. They'll have extra time to prepare going from a Thursday game to Monday night, so now is the perfect time to make the switch.
Mallett may stink as well, but we all know what Houston will get out of Fitzpatrick, and it's not a playoff run.
The team traded for Mallett, and he'll be a free agent when the season is over; the Texans have to find out what he's capable of before they have to decide whether to offer him a new contract.
Any start made by Fitzpatrick over Mallett or Tom Savage from this point on is a complete waste of time.
Grade: D
Running Back
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Watching Arian Foster run the ball when he's healthy is a thing of beauty. He just glides down the field with big strides like he's surfing on a cloud.
It's amazing to watch how great his vision is compared to his peers on this team and around the league. The run blocking was solid on Thursday but far from great. Whenever a hole doesn't open up where the play is designed, he almost always is able to change direction and find one on the backside.
That's the biggest difference between him and the other backs the Texans have had in recent years.
Whenever a hole didn't open up with where the run was designed to go, former Texans running back Ben Tate would just run up the back of his blockers and get a yard or two at best. Alfred Blue has some change-of-direction ability, but he doesn't read what's happening in front of him as quickly as Foster does.
There isn't a single back in the league who can recognize and hit a hole opening up away from the direction of the run better than Foster. He has looked great this year—like the 2010 version of himself.
For the game Foster ran for 109 yards on 5.5 yards per carry with two touchdowns; it's a shame the team wasted another great performance from the best back in franchise history.
Grade: A+
Wide Receiver
3 of 11
It was bit of a role reversal Thursday night as Andre Johnson, and not DeAndre Hopkins, was the guy who could not be stopped by the opponent's defensive backs.
Johnson got open all night and had his first great game of the season with seven catches for 99 yards and one touchdown. His numbers didn't come from all easy uncontested catches either, as he made several nice grabs on back-shoulder throws from Fitzpatrick and displayed amazing footwork on his touchdown catch.
Johnson wasn't perfect, however, as he had a drop and a costly fumble on a possession midway through the fourth quarter.
Hopkins also had a bad play late when he didn't seem to give much effort when trying to recover the fumble from Fitzpatrick that ended the game.
"DeAndre Hopkins has absolutely no interest in recovering the game losing fumble 😂😂 https://t.co/zyCCcVK6T2
— Fake SportsCenter (@FakeSportsCentr) October 10, 2014"
I'm not sure if he would have come up with it even with a great effort, but by not going 100 percent, we'll never know.
Both Andre and Damaris Johnson played well overall, and their receiving efforts were "A" worthy, but because of Johnson's fumble and Hopkins' terrible effort to try to recover the fumble by Fitzpatrick, I have to drop them a letter with this grade.
Grade: B
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Tight End
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As receivers, the tight end group was invisible—as they've been every week. Garrett Graham and C.J. Fiedorowicz were each targeted only once, with the rookie coming away with a seven-yard reception.
For the season Graham, Fiedorowicz and Ryan Griffin have combined for 13 receptions, 119 receiving yards and zero touchdowns over six games. J.J. Watt has three touchdowns this year including one as a tight end from the game against Oakland.
I missed badly on this group as I thought the team was going to get great production out of them this year; I couldn't have been more wrong so far.
If there was a silver lining for the tight ends in this game, it was that they blocked better in the running game than they have for most of the year. Graham, in particular, made a nice block to seal a hole for Foster to run through on his two-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
Grade: C-
Offensive Line
5 of 11
The O-line did a solid job in the run game but a poor job in pass protection.
Just save that line and paste it here each week because that's been the case every game this year.
The Texans averaged 5.7 yards per rush, but Ryan Fitzpatrick was also sacked five times—the most he's been sacked all year. Allowing five sacks to the Seahawks or another great defense is one thing, but the Colts pass rush had been inconsistent at best this year before this game.
One obvious weak spot was right guard Xavier Su'a-Filo, who was filling in for the injured Brandon Brooks. The rookie got his first start but had a bad game, allowing at least one sack and several other hits on Fitzpatrick. I guess that's why he hadn't received much playing time before Thursday.
As good as the running game was, a lot of the success on the ground was due to Arian Foster's amazing vision as a runner and not great play from the offensive line. Several of his big runs came when he cut back to the weak side after the blocking broke down in the direction where the run was designed.
Grade: C
Defensive Line
6 of 11
MVP! MVP! MVP!
J.J. Watt won't win it because the award is basically just given to the top quarterback from a playoff team, but he really should be considered; the production from Watt has been just ridiculous. What other defender has come even close to his impact since he was drafted in 2011?
"JJ Watt tonight: 1 fumble return for TD, 7 tackles, 4 solo, 3 TFL, 4 QB hits, 2 sacks, 3 deflections.
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) October 10, 2014"
He had more than 20 sacks in 2012 and remarkably has actually gotten better since that season. He's just an unbelievable player. Some pass rushers are non-factors if they aren't able to hit the quarterback, but Watt has an impact every game as he's able to stuff the run, force turnovers and deflect passes as well.
It wasn't just a one-man show, as Jared Crick also made an impact with six tackles including one for a loss, one hit on the quarterback and a tipped pass that caused an interception.
Crick has been nearly invisible most of this year, so anything the team gets from him has to be considered a bonus. His play was a nice surprise.
The Texans allowed a few big runs, which seemed like a product of fatigue from a short week, but overall they held the Colts to only 2.7 yards per carry.
Grade: A
Linebacker
7 of 11
Brian Cushing just doesn't seem like the same player. The Cushing from three years ago wouldn't have been juked out of his shoes by Trent Richardson, missing a key tackle; it happened Thursday night.
Cushing also appeared to line up out of position a couple of times as he had teammates yelling at him and motioning for him to move.
"Not sure what's up, but multiple times tonight teammates have blatantly had to tell Brian Cushing where to be before the snap.
— Sean Pendergast (@SeanCablinasian) October 10, 2014"
One example of that issue that stood out was on the touchdown pass to Ahmad Bradshaw. Cushing had man coverage but was out of position and as a result trailed on the play, which allowed for an easy touchdown.
Jeff Tarpinian and others also struggled in coverage whenever the Colts were able to get someone matched up with one of Houston's linebackers. That will continue to be a juggling act as the Texans try to balance run defense versus pass defense with moving D.J. Swearinger to linebacker in the dime package.
One nice surprise was Whitney Mercilus, who had six tackles, two tackles for loss and one hit on the quarterback. The former first-round pick didn't make a big impact, but he at least made a few plays.
Grade: C
Defensive Back
8 of 11
Where should we begin: the awful tackling or the blown coverages?
Whenever they go over the tape is going, it's going to be a long day for the Texans defensive backs.
T.Y. Hilton had more than 100 receiving yards in the first quarter as he blew by Kareem Jackson for several big plays.
"T.Y. Hilton now has 30 catches for 595 yards and 6 TDs vs. the Texans in 5 career games. That’s doing things.
— Lance Zierlein (@LanceZierlein) October 10, 2014"
The worst came when Jackson not only got burned, but as Hilton went to the ground on the catch, it seemed like Jackson tried to avoid him even though he needed to touch him down for a tackle.
Luckily for the Texans, Jackson appeared to touch him by accident, so Hilton getting up and running into the end zone didn't count. Unfortunately, they still allowed a touchdown on the next play.
"Last time the #Texans gave up 200 receiving yards to a player was Justin Blackmon with 236 in 2012. Hilton has 207 through 3 Qs.
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) October 10, 2014"
Overall, the Texans' allowed Andrew Luck to pass for 370 yards and three touchdowns. It could have been worse if the Colts hadn't gone conservative for a while once they went up 24-0.
The tackling was poor from the entire secondary, but D.J. Swearinger in particular was awful.
"Andre Ware: "I'd love to see Swearinger...just once...wrap up when he tackles before his career is over." Lmao.
— Paul Gallant (@PaulyGSays) October 10, 2014 "
"Swearinger needs to quit going high on players. Bring his legs with him. Too much upper body garbage. #Texans
— PDS (@PatDStat) October 10, 2014"
The next time he wraps up for a tackle will be the first. Swearinger just lunges, dives and tries to make shoulder tackles nearly every time. He predictably misses and fails to bring down the ball-carrier.
I'm guessing Swearinger flicks the right thumbstick to try for a big tackle on every play on Madden.
Grade: D
Special Teams
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It's a rare game where both the kicking and the coverage units let the Texans down.
Other than a kick that was blocked in the Oakland game—not his fault—Randy Bullock had been perfect going all the way back to about Week 10 of last year. Bullock's miss of what should have been an easy 37-yard field goal surprised me; he had been automatic all season.
The glaring example of a coverage mistake, of course, was how far the Texans lined up off the line of scrimmage when the Colts recovered an onside kick after their first possession of the game. The Colts are a better team overall, but the three points they picked up from that play made a big difference.
Unlike other members of the special teams, Shane Lechler did his job well.
"Shane Lechler's 71-yard punt is longest in #Texans history. #NFL #Colts
— Brian T. Smith (@ChronBrianSmith) October 10, 2014"
Grade: C
Coaching
10 of 11
Not a great night for Bill O'Brien once again.
The first mistake came pretty early when the Colts exploited poor alignment with an onside kick.
"That onside kick wasn't even a risk. Almost a given: pic.twitter.com/TPqIRtRNe5
— Cian O'Fathaigh (@Cianaf) October 10, 2014"
It looked like the Texans weren't even on the field. Even if that wasn't the call, the kicker should have definitely called the audible on his own considering how the Texans were lined up.
The play-calling on offense was also an issue early as the Texans started the game with three straight three-and-outs. On those three possessions, O'Brien called six pass plays to three run plays. Considering what they have at quarterback and running back, that should have been reversed.
Once Houston did finally commit to the ground game in the second quarter, the offense started to move the ball; who knew that Arian Foster would be a key to the success?
Late in the second half, I didn't like the clock management from O'Brien for the second game in a row.
"Feels like HOU botched the last 2:00. Why no timeout before IND had 3rd & long? Why not more up tempo, short stuff w/ 1:00 to play? Weird.
— Dave Richard (@daverichard) October 10, 2014"
Obviously, the Texans can't get too aggressive with Fitzpatrick in a two-minute drill, but had they used their timeouts better during the Colts' last possession of the half, they would have had more time to work with and could have possibly used the run game to advance the ball instead of leaning on Fitzpatrick.
Speaking of leaning on Fitzpatrick, O'Brien called what seemed like at least a half-dozen empty formation plays in the first half as well; even one is too many.
This offense with its limitations at quarterback has to have the threat of the run to keep the opposing defense from feasting on Fitzpatrick and an offensive line that struggles in pass protection.
Also, I didn't like his play-calling at the start of the fourth quarter when the Texans faced a 3rd-and-12 inside field-goal range. O'Brien called a draw to set up the field goal, which Randy Bullock ended up missing.
Even if Bullock had made the kick, the decision to play for a field goal in that situation was a poor one. Had Bullock made it, the lead would have been cut from 12 to nine—still two possessions either way.
Considering how much the Texans defense had struggled, kicking the field goal when it wouldn't cut the lead by a possession made no sense. Make or miss, they would still trail by more than a touchdown; with the game in the fourth quarter, it was time to get aggressive.
Here's one good move by O'Brien, so I'm not completely negative here: His challenge of the play that was called a catch by Reggie Wayne was a great one, as it forced a punt from the Colts.
Grade: D
Overall
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| Quarterback | D |
| Running Back | A+ |
| Wide Receiver | B |
| Tight End | C- |
| Offensive Line | C |
| Defensive Line | A |
| Linebackers | C |
| Defensive Backs | D |
| Special Teams | C |
| Coaching | D |
| Overall | C |
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