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The Texans cleaned up a lot on offense Sunday — but which improvements can actually last, and which ones won’t?
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00:00Let's go back to the Sunday that was for your Houston Texans,
00:04especially on offense.
00:06We know the defense balled out of control.
00:08But the offense, they did a little bit of complimentary starting late in the third.
00:11Well, not starting necessarily, but really accentuated late in the third quarter.
00:15They went on that run, and they had 26 fourth-quarter points.
00:19Obviously, offense itself had 20 fourth-quarter points
00:22in order to go and get that comeback victory.
00:24And in doing that, it felt like there were some things that got either fixed
00:28or at least looked resolved on the day.
00:31How much of that or which of those things feel the most sustainable, John Lowe?
00:34All right, so let me go through them.
00:35Okay, let's do it.
00:36You may not.
00:36I mean, I think these were all improvements on the offense.
00:41I'm going to go through six elements of the Texans' offense against the Jaguars
00:45for your bonus points.
00:49Sure.
00:49I love bonus points.
00:51I needed those to pass some classes.
00:53Extra credit.
00:53But which one of these is most likely to be sustainable moving forward?
00:59Uh-huh.
01:00Which one is least likely to be sustainable moving forward?
01:02Very good.
01:03Okay, like it.
01:03I think they were better in these six areas.
01:06Offensive line.
01:07Very much so.
01:07That definitely showed up in this game, if for no other reason than I vividly remember
01:13seeing one of those possessions.
01:14I think it was late third quarter, very, very late third quarter.
01:16Yeah, and they were moving.
01:17Oh, there are situations where yards before contact just is a money machine of sorts where
01:24you're looking at Woody Marks and you're like, damn, he ain't never seen a push like
01:28this in his short career as a Texan.
01:30Wait a minute.
01:30Nobody touched me.
01:31Yeah.
01:31Red zone, 100%.
01:33I think they were three out of four, right?
01:34Right.
01:35Woody Marks and the running back rotation.
01:38Okay.
01:39So, obviously him being the lead back and then really getting a lion's share of the snaps
01:43in this game.
01:44Okay.
01:44Dalton Schultz as a weapon.
01:46I mean, I think we've all said, kind of hinted around, like he's having a pretty good year.
01:50He's having a pretty good year.
01:50He was a weapon.
01:51Capital W weapon, downfield, attacking, big play in the end zone on the back line.
01:56Yeah.
01:56Okay.
01:57Nico.
01:58Nico.
01:59Just Nico, period.
02:00Nico, you know the rest.
02:03What was it?
02:04170 yards, something like that?
02:0646.
02:07I don't know what it was.
02:08A lot of them.
02:08But you know the rest.
02:09Nico.
02:10Big number.
02:10And the last one, I think that they showed some definite improvement, young receivers.
02:16Okay.
02:17I think Higgins and Noel combined for nine catches, maybe 10, if I'm remembering that
02:23correctly.
02:25So, of all of those on the offense, because we've qualified it, hell, we qualified it at
02:31Monday a little bit.
02:32You know, it is the Jaguars.
02:33I'm a qualifying fool, baby.
02:35It's all sorts of qualifiers.
02:36It was the Jaguars.
02:37Which one of those is most sustainable?
02:39And by the way, Noel and Higgins combined for 77 yards in this game.
02:43How many catches?
02:44Nine catches, 77 yards between them.
02:45And of course, the touchdown for Jaden Higgins on that left side of the field.
02:51This is really interesting.
02:53I think the most, the one that should be the easiest to sustain is the running back rotation.
02:58I think that that is the one that should be.
03:00Are you sure?
03:01Yes.
03:02Yes, I am.
03:03Because it does feel like, it feels like this has been the one where, this and another one
03:08I think has also been the ones where they've trended the most towards this direction.
03:13Yeah, in previous games.
03:14The one where they've had, well, I was about to say that they've had the least step, you
03:18know, step backs on.
03:19And this is the one, probably the one that makes some of the most sense here in that
03:24I think they saw, they saw very clear evidence of it.
03:29We heard D'Amico even mention it in, I think it was Monday's availability.
03:32Yeah, by name.
03:33Nick Chubb looked explosive with the, with the snaps that he got.
03:37It feels like very much they've been leaning towards this.
03:39They've, they have confirmation of this.
03:41Woody Marks running the football, especially when he gets in blocks, looks better when he
03:45has more opportunities.
03:46He's solid in pass protection when you need him to.
03:49And then Chubb looked like a better version of himself being more of the second back.
03:54Now, I don't, I don't know if the split remains that drastic as it did in, as it was in this
03:59game, but I do think that they are, they're settling very comfortably into the idea that
04:02Woody Marks is the number one back.
04:04I, I, I, I kind of raised an eyebrow there and we did Woody Marks because I'm not sure.
04:10Buddy, I'm not sure about much when it comes to decisions on this team.
04:13I'm not sure the way they make decisions that hell, we, we were perplexed by the decision,
04:18a lot of decisions to start this game.
04:21What up city?
04:21So I'm not sure, but I think he's probably one a, I think, I think he is up there.
04:28I think, I think they're, they are going to lean more heavily toward Woody Marks.
04:31One, one for me.
04:33Can I press pause?
04:33Yeah.
04:34When we do that, why do we say one a, as if one a, isn't the one that you put on top,
04:37right?
04:37If you're, if you're subdividing this, if you're subdividing one, it'd be one a, one
04:43B, one C.
04:45It all depends on how you interpret it.
04:47I interpret it the other way.
04:48Continue, because we're just going to have a fight about something stupid right now.
04:49It's not like one a would be the top choice.
04:51That's what he said.
04:51Over one.
04:52Thank you, baby.
04:54I appreciate your sensibility in this moment.
04:57I'm the last person to be the guy on this.
05:00He just did that hand gesture like, like he was in a barbershop.
05:04That's exactly what all this is now.
05:06We've just devolved in the barbershop talk.
05:08He did whoop Joe Lewis's ass.
05:09He did whoop his ass.
05:11But to me, one is Dalton Schultz.
05:14I think Dalton Schultz is a weapon for this offense.
05:17I think they can rely on him.
05:19He's been making consistent plays, and now he took it a step higher this last weekend.
05:26I think it's those two things.
05:28Which one is least sustainable?
05:30The offensive line feels like one that is the case.
05:36Because I think we're just talking about performance, but we don't even have to go that far.
05:40Do you know who your best five are?
05:42Exactly.
05:43Are you certain that they know who their best five are?
05:48Yes.
05:48If you give an answer yes, your why, your explanation, we only have to give you a couple of sheets of loose leaf paper for you to write that out.
05:55Do the kids even do that on loose leaf anymore?
05:57I just thought about that.
05:58I don't know.
05:58When they have to answer that, do they have any written questions?
06:01Is this all multiple choice?
06:02Sorry.
06:02Anyways, yeah, I don't really have a good answer because they came out, and the way that they started that game felt like they didn't have good answers.
06:10And I understand that, you know, you had Titus out, but the way that they started that game felt like they did not have answers.
06:14Right.
06:14And the one thing, I can give you one particular move, and it's not City so at the right guard.
06:20It's the idea that a position where they had been rotating two dudes that they felt two dudes were capable of starting at, neither of them started in this game for no real reason at all.
06:29That's the thing that goes, oh, we're just in, we're in the Wild West just putting anything up here.
06:33So, no, I don't know who you put out there.
06:35And then on top of that, again, the type of push that you got felt abnormal to the point where I'm looking over at the Jaguars, like, what did y'all do?
06:43Yeah.
06:44Well, see, I think offensive line, as much as we've criticized them and been confused by some of the decisions they're making, based on the guys coming back, presuming Ed Ingram comes back, and Titus Howard perhaps moving to guard with…
06:57Assuming that he…
06:58I think today will be very interesting to see if those guys…
07:01We'll be taking the field in about 45 minutes.
07:02If those guys are off of protocol or what have you.
07:05Now, to be fair, I want to make this note because this is happening.
07:08D'Amico is not speaking today as he normally will.
07:11I think that is because he is out of pocket.
07:15I believe, if I remember correctly, he is attending some level of service or what have you for his fallen friend, Ed Cochran, who had passed…
07:24Earl Cochran.
07:25Earl Cochran, apologies.
07:28I think that that is something that they've switched around his at least availability today.
07:32I think offensive line should be higher on the list of sustainable based on what we saw from Trent Brown and getting these other guys…
07:40Titus at left guard has never been a problem or not much of one.
07:44Ed Ingram has had a good year.
07:45But I'm with you.
07:47I think it's the one that I have the least confidence about because I don't know what they're thinking when it comes to the offensive line.
07:54Yeah, and I don't know what to expect either, man.
07:57That's something that's kind of inconsistent, too.
08:00Like, as good as Trent Brown played, I don't know if that's a week-to-week type of thing if he can play on that level because he ain't playing a long time.
08:09And that was his first game in a long time.
08:12I might be making too much of this.
08:16The idea that he had to go get an x-ray after the game did not instill very much confidence that this is going to be a sustainable long-term possibility.
08:25I mean, I would love, and he seems very much to be the type of dude that if there's a possibility, let me go.
08:31I just don't know what that ultimately means for the ultimate outcome.
08:36But you know what?
08:36When you say sustainable, I imagine you're talking about long-term.
08:39Even short-term, it's a possibility because, again, this is where I start looking at what the Titans are bringing you.
08:43And the one thing I look about is they do have a dominant force on the inside.
08:49Can they, with the guards that they have, continue to do this, especially if that Ingram comes at that?
08:53The game within the game, obviously I think we all expect the Texans to win this one and maybe relatively comfortably.
09:00But the game within the game, that's going to be a big test.
09:02Yeah.
09:02Yeah, the inside.
09:04You know what's funny real quick?
09:05Yes, please.
09:08Yeah, that's exactly where I was going to go because you have three receiver-type guys in here.
09:13When you talk about Dalton Schultz being the weapon, having the ability.
09:18And they've gotten to him in some of those ways, right?
09:20We've seen Dalton have some of these opportunities to get vertical.
09:23At times, it shows up in a big way.
09:25Other times, it doesn't necessarily.
09:27The reason why I didn't immediately jump to Dalton Schultz as most likely is some of that was circumstance of the game
09:33where they had to attack downfield and they utilized him that way.
09:35I do wonder if they're not back-to-the-wall moments, do they continue with some of these kind of stick routes
09:42where Dalton Schultz is kind of stuck in that seven-yard range where just catch the ball and let's move the sticks.
09:48And I wonder if he doesn't get pulled back to that place in those circumstances.
09:53Hopefully, he doesn't.
09:54Nico Collins is one where I also wonder how much of that was the quarterback, right?
09:59As much as I'm not here for quarterback competition.
10:01I get it, yeah.
10:02Davis Mills, and again, circumstance where his back is against the wall.
10:05Davis Mills felt very comfortable.
10:06I know where to put this ball.
10:07Very comfortable just chucking it up there, dog, is I like saying, right?
10:11Does that continue?
10:12Well, if Davis plays again, sure.
10:14If CJ has the opportunity there, does that continue?
10:16And then does that continue again if you're not in a back-against-the-wall circumstance?
10:20Yeah, and red zone to me is the next one at the bottom simply because that was spectacular.
10:26They went three or four in the red zone.
10:27I mean, you can't ask for a whole lot better than that other than perfection.
10:31At the same time, there have been far too many, you know, Nick Caley, what are you doing moments?
10:36Well, you know, maybe he saw the light.
10:38Maybe there's some new ideas there.
10:40This is an undercurrent of what you were talking about here is you didn't mention Nick Caley and his
10:45I was going to say game plan, but like I think play calling, especially down when you got to later instances.
10:56In the red zone, I was genuinely impressed by a couple of plays.
11:00One of those being the one where you have a little pin and pull and you get Ariante Urseri on the edge with a little bit of a kind of you had.
11:08I can't remember exactly how to describe the play, but there was deception in there.
11:12It was things that you had happening where I think it was a motion involved where you have the defense flowing one direction and you take the ball the other way.
11:19It felt like to this point in the season, you haven't had enough of those instances where the game plan or the actual play on the field forces the defense into an uncomfortable circumstance.
11:30There's been a lot of times where you just ask your offense to go and win on a play and the actual play called on the field doesn't create advantage.
11:38I saw some instances in this game and I know Clint Sterner did a great job of breaking down the X's and O's of this yesterday after watching tape where you saw some advantages created.
11:47That's all I ever asked from my offense coordinator.
11:49There's going to need your Jimmies and Joes to get out there and do it, but you've got to create some advantages.
11:54I saw more of that in this game.
11:55Remember last week, one of my big frustrations was the Texans seem hell-bent on calling players not plays in the red zone and at the goal line and they're just not good enough.
12:07This was plays not players.
12:09To some degree.
12:10This was that little reverse pitch.
12:12And by the way, the one play, and this is not a Davis Mills discussion, but the one play I think it's fair to say.
12:18It's always kind of a Davis Mills discussion.
12:20The one play I think it's fair to say, would CJ have done that, is the touchdown to Dalton Schultz.
12:28But he looked and then he just said, I'm going to throw it high and outside and see if Dalton is going to go get it.
12:32Now maybe, but I think it's fair to say, maybe he would have chunked it or done something else.
12:38The place in which I say that I don't think CJ would have in that moment, and look, you know me, I've been in a place where I'm not really hearing much of this Dalton did things CJ wouldn't have in that game.
12:50CJ has been so much more, you've seen the clock working on him, you've seen kind of the head whip around as he is looking through his progressions.
12:58He feels a little more frantic in a way that Davis didn't feel that.
13:01Now sometimes, the prior game when Davis had to jump in after the injury, I was wondering if Davis was too lethargic in his ability to read, and with obviously the opportunity and the benefit of the full week, it looked like it was just right in that right space.
13:14That's the thing that I hope that I continue to see CJ kind of mellow into, for lack of a better word, is finding that comfort to be like, oh, you can wait for this to actually come open.
13:24But of course that comes with, are you able to protect up?
13:26I think that you should be able to do that against the Tennessee Titans team, where maybe you might need to put a little bit more attention inward towards Jeffrey Simmons.
13:33But if you can do that, I'm not afraid of them creating real havoc up front, in front of you.
13:40From the text line, most sustainable to least sustainable for them.
13:43Nico has a weapon, Dalton has a weapon, Woody marks his lead back, red zone due to better play calling, offensive line at five, and I guess they left the young guys just entirely off that.
13:52Maybe they're least believable there, which, bear, they've bounced back and forth on using them, but we'll see.
13:59We'll see how this continues to go.
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