- 2 days ago
Seth and Sean assess their concerns about the guys filling in for CJ Stroud & Jalen Pitre against the Bills tomorrow night.
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00:00All right, so game tomorrow, 7-15 kickoff, 4-15 Texans countdown.
00:05You got me and Seth for that out at the stadium.
00:07Very excited about this.
00:08The odds makers have the Texans now as a full-on six-point underdog.
00:14Holy crap, the disrespect they show our Texans.
00:18What do you think the line would be of C.J. Stroud?
00:19Well, let's get this out of the way.
00:21C.J. Stroud and Jalen Petrie both out for tomorrow's game,
00:24confirmed by D'Amico Ryans at the beginning of yesterday's press conference.
00:27Well, to start just with injury updates.
00:30C.J. has been there doing better, but right now with the short turnaround,
00:35a game on Thursday, just don't have enough days for those guys to be available.
00:39All right, so there you go.
00:40I'm going to send Ben the extended cut of that version.
00:43Of that cut?
00:44Yeah, it's kind of funny in a sad way.
00:47I laughed and then I was angry at D'Amico for the way he handled that.
00:50But, yeah, came right out and mentioned it, said it.
00:53And yet again, when he's given some of these updates,
00:55I think sometimes D'Amico's surprised that the media isn't surprised in the room
01:00because he kind of waited for a response or a question or something
01:04and one didn't come up.
01:06I think, yeah, there was a good deal of speculation yesterday morning
01:09about whether or not C.J. even had time really to clear the concussion protocol
01:15and if it was going to happen.
01:16And then, obviously, we find out that, you know, D'Amico said in the follow-up,
01:21or did he say it right there, because of the Thursday game.
01:24He didn't say it right there.
01:24Yeah, in one of the follow-ups, he says because of the Thursday game,
01:27the timing is just, it's...
01:29That was the fear I had last week.
01:30And it's happened a few times now where quarterbacks just...
01:34The most important position in the game isn't available on a Thursday night game
01:40because it's a Thursday night game.
01:42And it's already a sketchy product to begin with
01:45because it just tends to have a sloppy feel to the Thursday night games.
01:49And it drives me insane because it's the most...
01:51It's the biggest...
01:52It's the biggest factor that swings the outcome of a football game,
01:56whether your quarterback is there or not.
01:58And I think C.J., there's a very, very good chance C.J. would have played
02:03if this was a Sunday game.
02:03He practiced yesterday.
02:04We should point that out.
02:05He was at DNP on Monday.
02:08There's video of him out there throwing the ball to...
02:11The tank was in a sweatshirt, I should point that out.
02:14If he had time to practice a couple days,
02:15he still would have had to show that he didn't have any symptoms
02:19reoccurring after practice.
02:21But there's a very good chance he would have played on Sunday.
02:24You're talking three extra days.
02:26I mean, it's...
02:26Yeah, so it's...
02:28But he won't.
02:28And I think the good news is, the silver lining is that
02:31I think it's a lock that he plays in those two very important games
02:36coming up after this Bills game.
02:37If he's out there practicing and playing soft toss,
02:40I mean, he's in a helmet and uniform yesterday.
02:42He was taking the third stringer snaps at practice
02:45and was third in the rotation in the drills.
02:48So the hints were there that he wasn't going to play already at practice.
02:52But he's got 10 days after this to get ready for the Colts.
02:56This is one of the biggest factors...
02:59One of the biggest factors in this game
03:01and why the spread might be as healthy as it is in favor of the Bills
03:05is that this will be the first time the Texans face a quarterback
03:09who's top 10 in rushing yards.
03:11And, you know, we've seen at moments the Texans struggle versus Bo Nix.
03:16So the guys who scrambled out of the pocket,
03:18they're not top 10 rushers in the league?
03:20Those guys aren't top 10 rushers.
03:21Josh Allen is second in QB rushing yards.
03:24Really, he's first because Justin Fields is number one.
03:27And he's not really a quarterback.
03:29It's been a bad, bad year.
03:30He's not a starter anymore.
03:31He doesn't.
03:32Nobody knows what the hell Justin Fields is anymore.
03:35So, but yeah, of current starters, he's number one.
03:38Right.
03:38He's got the most rushing touchdowns in the league.
03:41And I think there's a combination of the Texans
03:43being the 31st defense in the red zone.
03:46And then also having their issues with...
03:52They haven't faced heavy-duty running quarterbacks yet.
03:55They've faced quarterbacks who can hurt you with their legs
03:57but don't really major in it.
03:58Where Josh Allen, when he decides to,
04:00can major in it and have explosive plays.
04:03So that's where Jalen Petrie being out
04:05really, really hurts the Texans defense.
04:07And I think it might be more of a swing
04:08in terms of who the favorite is
04:10than a normal safety slash slot corner position.
04:14Yeah, that makes sense.
04:15I mean, Josh Allen is tough to contain.
04:17No doubt about that.
04:18Back to Davis Mills.
04:20Here was Nick Cayley yesterday.
04:21Offensive coordinator met with the media.
04:23What have you seen out of Davis so far?
04:24I just think he's been really, really consistent.
04:26I mean, he has been the same guy, again, since I got here.
04:30But just poised, works hard.
04:33He's studying around the clock.
04:35Good dialogue back and forth.
04:36I mean, just, he's really into it.
04:38Has great command, ownership, all those things.
04:40I've been really pleased with him.
04:42So the line is Bill's minus six.
04:45What does your gut tell you the line would be
04:47if C.J. Stroud was playing in this game?
04:48Probably minus three.
04:49Yeah, I'm thinking Davis, the drop-off's about a three-point drop-off.
04:53This next three-game stretch is going to be really interesting.
04:57And this is where there's a big challenge for the Texans' defense.
05:00And I don't mean to keep bringing it back to the defense,
05:03but it's the sum total of where we are on this right now.
05:06I said the Texans have yet to face a quarterback
05:09who's top 10 in QB rushing yards.
05:11In the next three weeks, they face three quarterbacks
05:14who are top 10 in QB rushing yards.
05:16Oh, Mahomes is too, huh?
05:17Yeah.
05:17Okay.
05:17Like guys that can scramble, guys that can, when they see that things are,
05:21when there's an opening, they can get an easy five yards.
05:25They're going to take it.
05:26Who's that put the pressure on?
05:28That puts...
05:29Like...
05:30Oh, I'm sure.
05:32But then really, the style of coverage that the Texans play defensively,
05:38you know, where they play, when you look at various stat sheets
05:41and everything, you'll see that they play a lot of zone.
05:43They play a lot of match coverage.
05:44That means they start off in zone and then they pick up and it turns into man.
05:48So, as you probably, a lot of you know just from watching broadcast,
05:52when you're in man coverage, your back is turned to the quarterback
05:57and it creates opportunities for quarterbacks to get easy yardage.
06:00So, that's where the quarterbacks who are really smart about it
06:04can really hurt the Texans at times.
06:07And they're going to face a few guys that are really, really good at it.
06:11So, the D-line has to have a good contained pass rush.
06:15But when you've got a four-man rush, sometimes it's just, like,
06:18there's going to be gaps.
06:19You know, there's going to be seams where guys can run.
06:21So, it puts the pressure, really, if you assume that the Texans do a pretty good job
06:26with the contained pass rush, it puts the pressure on the linebackers
06:29and the safeties to just, to have that dual, be, take care of your coverage
06:34responsibilities, but also be aware of where the quarterback is.
06:37Here was, speaking of the quarterback, here was Josh Allen yesterday.
06:40Josh Allen had one of his worst games as a pro in week five here last year.
06:45So, I'm sure he's, for a variety of reasons, including that,
06:49going to want to come in here tomorrow night and show out.
06:51The reigning MVP, here he is yesterday talking about last season's game
06:55at NRG Stadium.
06:57I got beat up that game.
06:58Didn't play well at all.
07:01You know, it's, watching that film, there's a lot of good stuff to watch
07:05from that film, but it's hard to watch.
07:06You know, I played pretty badly.
07:08So, yeah, hopefully, and move the ball a little bit better.
07:15But, again, this defense is no easy task to go against,
07:18and it's going to take everything that we got from everybody on the field.
07:21He was 9 of 30 last year in that game.
07:239 of 30.
07:249 of 131 yards.
07:26And it still took one of the best games C.J. Stroud had all year
07:32and a complete brain fart by Sean McDermott at the end of the game
07:37to allow the Texans to kick a 59-yard field goal to win it.
07:41So, you had the dichotomy of the Texans' starting quarterback,
07:44who will not play in this game, having a great game.
07:47Josh Allen, the MVP of the league, having one of his worst games,
07:50and it still took a last-second field goal to win that game.
07:53The one thing about Josh Allen and watching that tape
07:55that he might have forgotten a little bit about,
07:57just because he, you know, suppressed and denied,
08:00that's what you have to do to be mentally healthy.
08:01Suppressed and denied.
08:03Just roll it up into a tiny ball and then never think about it again.
08:07Throw it away, yeah.
08:08But he easily could have had three interceptions in that game.
08:11Remember, Aziz Elshire, that one hit him right in the hands,
08:14and he dropped it immediately.
08:15Yeah, yeah, yeah.
08:16And he had come into that game having not thrown any interceptions so far.
08:19And he didn't throw any interceptions in that game either last year.
08:22He should have had at least two, yeah.
08:24So it was a really bad game.
08:26The one big difference between last year and this year
08:27is that last year he didn't have Khalil Shakir.
08:30So he had no viable wide receivers.
08:33This year he's got Khalil Shakir.
08:35And then something that I know people who had been following the Bills
08:39were really getting frustrated with
08:40was they didn't get the running backs very involved as passing targets.
08:44They did last week.
08:45And I think just being a little bit more diverse is one of the consents.
08:53But they've been – this has been a wildly inconsistent Bills team offensively.
08:58They've been horrendous against the run.
09:01And I think that really – the thing that's going to keep it a closer game
09:04than I think this six-point spread would indicate
09:07is really that the Texans are going to be able to run the ball against the Bills.
09:12And you can look at – throw out all of the stats
09:15about what they average on the season or anything.
09:19The sum total of it is with the Texans rushing offense is that,
09:22A, obviously they don't have their best running back.
09:26But Woody Marks and Nick Chubb can get it done.
09:28But, B, when they face bad run defenses,
09:33they are well-coached and fundamentally sound enough
09:36that they can actually productively run the football.
09:38As soon as they take that same offense and put it up against some actual studs,
09:43they have a really hard time with it.
09:45They just – they have a hard time getting the blocks made.
09:49But the Bills just – they will be able to run block versus the Bills.
09:53When the Texans have been at their best running the football this year,
09:56they have been able to completely plunder the other team in time of possession.
10:01Yeah.
10:01That'll be, I think, a big key tomorrow night is keeping Josh Allen on the sideline.
10:06Yeah.
10:06That's the dual purpose it serves.
10:08Not only are you methodically moving the ball down the field,
10:11wearing down the opposing defense,
10:12you're keeping the MVP of the league sitting over there.
10:15That's where – there have been a couple games this year,
10:17and I would put last year – or last week as one of them,
10:20where they do all the things right in terms of winning a lot of the battles
10:26that should give you a healthy victory.
10:28But the problem is they all fall apart.
10:33You know, like, they controlled the time of possession and the clock
10:36in the first half, and they came away with no points from it.
10:39They just – they had a nice methodical drive.
10:42They got a little bit of luck with that penalty on that one field goal.
10:45Yeah.
10:46But just – they got down to the red zone on the first play of the drive
10:49and just got nothing out of it.
10:51Yeah.
10:52Again, they got – they had a nice drive to get down in the easy field goal range
10:56and got sacked out of it.
10:58Yep.
10:58It's – and that wasn't even in the red zone.
11:00That was on the Titans' 28-yard line.
11:02So it's just finishing when you get down into the red zone that's eluded them,
11:06but that's kind of a big – it's not just a minor little detail.
11:10Well, you're not playing – and you're not playing the Titans this week.
11:12Right, right.
11:13You got to be – it's the Bills.
11:14You got to cash in.
11:15The Titans' offense last week – I mean, if you just watch that game again
11:20and think, okay, if Josh Allen were the quarterback instead of Cam Ward,
11:24would that have been a reception here?
11:26Would that have been a reception there?
11:27And, yes, a lot of the – Cam Ward had some easy opportunities
11:31for some nice shots downfield, and he just misfired on almost all of them
11:35until the end there to Okonkwo.
11:38Is that his name?
11:39Okonkwo.
11:40Jake Okonkwo.
11:41Got it right.
11:41Yeah.
11:43So that's – like, the defense needs to play better this week than they did last week.
11:48One of the big factors last week was the absence of Jalen Petrie,
11:51and that's going to be an issue again this week.
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