- 17 minutes ago
Seth Payne and Sean Pendergast react to the Houston Texans' 36-31 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the season opener.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Buffalo takes a knee. It is over. The Texans lose in the opener. 36-31, a wild game at Reliance
00:09Stadium. It does not go the Texans' way. They start at 0-1 with the Cincinnati Bengals next week.
00:18All right, there you go. Mark Vandermeer on the call. You heard that game right here on 95.7 The
00:24Fan yesterday. That did not go at all how I think anybody expected it to go. I'm sure there were
00:30people out there that expected the Buffalo Bills to win the game. They were favorites in the game by, I
00:34think, one and a half points at kickoff. So Bills winning the game was not a major surprise. I picked
00:39the Texans. A lot of people picked the Texans. Everybody on ESPN on their panel picked the Texans yesterday to
00:45win that game because they've had good
00:47success against Josh Allen in that stadium. That did not happen yesterday. The Texans' defense did not show up yesterday.
00:54The Texans' offense did show up in a pretty big way yesterday. And at the end of the day, 36
01:00-31, the final score. Seth, I came into the postgame show yesterday, and this was my lead on the whole
01:05thing, was if you had told me blindly—good morning, by the way.
01:09Yeah, morning. Morning. If you had told me blindly before the game yesterday, the only stat from the game you're
01:15going to tell me is the Texans scored 31 points, I would have bet a ton of money that they
01:20won the game. You know what I mean? If I had known the Texans were going to score—this is all
01:25I'm going to tell you. They scored 31 points, now make your wager. I would say, empty the chamber, man.
01:29And you know what it is, too? It's that—I mean, the Texans' complete focus on defense this offseason. They've talked
01:36about it pretty much every time D'Amico or Matt Burke has been at the podium, they've talked about the
01:42importance of limiting big plays.
01:43And they went out and they had the worst explosive play performance defensively that they've had since D'Amico got
01:50here, to a pretty large degree.
01:52Ben Solak had a graph that showed the performances over the course of the last three years.
01:57Which is saying something, because the opener two years ago, they gave up four plays of 50 yards or more
02:02to Anthony Richardson.
02:03Well, I'm guessing that that little chart didn't even include the defensive pass interferences.
02:08Probably not.
02:09So that—I mean, it was just in chunks over and over and over again. The Texans were doing a great
02:14job offensively with these long, sustained drives, controlling the clock, and ultimately you just—you made it way too easy for
02:23the Bills.
02:23And to go all the way to the fourth quarter, this is where I am very, very pleased with the
02:31way the offense looked.
02:34CJ operated really, really well.
02:36But man, when it comes down to crunch time, when it comes down to, hey, are you a team that
02:39can win versus good teams in the playoffs, teams like the Buffalo Bills,
02:43Kamari Lasseter could have ended the game.
02:45Could have ended the game after him contributing to being the game, the game being the way it was.
02:50I mean, it was right there.
02:51He could have caught that ball three times.
02:53Yeah.
02:54Sean, he had three opportunities to catch that football.
02:56I give him three minuses on that play.
02:58Three drops.
02:59For failing to—yeah.
03:02Kamari had three drops.
03:04I only remember it hitting his hands one time.
03:06Yeah, no, but it was the same play, but three times he could have had it.
03:08And then you go back down to the other end, and CJ does a great job getting him down to
03:13the red zone.
03:14And credit to the offensive line for looking way better in pass protection for most of the game.
03:20They kept CJ pretty clean.
03:22I thought CJ maneuvered around the pocket well.
03:25There was one sack up until that point, and it was the fumble sack early in the game.
03:29Then it comes down to sphincter tightening time, and Ed Ingram gets destroyed, and then Trent Brown gets destroyed.
03:37It just—on a three-man rush, this is—I know people have wondered whether CJ should have been stepping up in
03:43the pocket more.
03:44Yeah, I get it.
03:45It wasn't perfect there.
03:46It's a three-man pass rush.
03:48The Bills only have three defensive linemen out there.
03:50They got everybody back in coverage.
03:52CJ's got to go for the end zone, so it's going to take some time.
03:57And he thinks that maybe this offensive line that's been pass-protecting by and large for most of the day
04:02is going to give him some time.
04:04And Trent Brown just gets beat clean, and Greg Rousseau strips that.
04:09It's funny, too, because that's the side of the offensive line that's the veteran side of the offensive line.
04:14Ed Ingram, I know he's only two years here, but he just signed a second contract.
04:18He's in his fifth year.
04:19Trent Brown's been around since time immemorial.
04:22That's the veteran side.
04:24The other side of the offensive line has a combined 18 games worth of NFL experience, and they hemmed it
04:30down pretty good over there.
04:31Yeah, and defensively, just the secondary man, Reed Blankenship, I just, like, again, going back to the big play thing,
04:41that was the focus of the offseason, was limit these big plays, limit these big plays.
04:46Look, I can forgive Reed Blankenship getting beat in coverage at various times, like you can any defensive back.
04:54Like, I have no idea on that DJ Moore reception what on earth he was thinking or why he did
05:00that.
05:01Because, you know, what's an interception even do for you at that spot?
05:05I'm like, you can get the ball back.
05:07I mean, but know your limitations, bro.
05:11I'm like, yeah, this isn't down at the municipal park in the suburbs with an 8-foot rim, all right?
05:17You're playing with a 10-foot rim there.
05:18Well, and this isn't some—
05:20He looked like he was—like, I've been training with strength shoes.
05:23I'm going to get a—all of a sudden, my vertical's going to go up by 6 inches.
05:27But you say this all the time.
05:28The position is named safety for a reason.
05:30Right!
05:31And this was not some out route, you know, this wasn't like a 6-yard hitch to the outside
05:35where he's got two other defensive backs waiting to bail him out if he misses jumping the route right there.
05:41He was the last line of defense.
05:43You missed that, and it's 7 points.
05:46And that's what happened.
05:47And it just—so the guy that you signed, I mean, it's like a broke-ass Ed Reed.
05:52We're the one city in the country that understands when I say make an Ed Reed comparison.
05:56Right, the rest of the country is like, he didn't look like Ed Reed at all.
05:59For the youngsters, the Texans once thought, hey, you know what we need?
06:02Somebody with championship experience and come and help these guys learn how to win.
06:06So they brought in Ed Reed, a safety.
06:08He was gone after five days.
06:09And it was a disaster.
06:10Total disaster.
06:10The only thing that came good was somebody earned $50,000 that they stole out of his car.
06:16That was the only—
06:16Earned!
06:17The only person who profited from Ed Reed being here was whoever earned that money.
06:22The thieves are out there earning it.
06:23Yes!
06:24Yeah, earn it.
06:25You're putting it through it.
06:25That's true.
06:26How are they any different than what people on Wall Street do?
06:29A lot of sweat.
06:32So this is—okay, so you assigned him to less money and less hurrah and probably fewer
06:37private jet trips than you did Ed Reed.
06:39Yeah.
06:39But he ends up being part of the issue.
06:41Yep.
06:41And look, they're going to be better.
06:43I think the game plan overall for the defense, I think in hindsight, they—like, look, D'Amico
06:49and Matt Burke and everybody else, the players all week long were saying, hey, this isn't
06:52last year's team.
06:52It's a different team.
06:54But we're going to go out and run the same game plan.
06:56Yeah.
06:56We're going to contain pass rush.
06:57We don't have to blitz.
06:58We can get it done with four men.
06:59Yeah.
07:00So the Bills, Joe Brady to his credit, they didn't leave their tackles on islands again.
07:05They put two bodies on both those defensive ends the vast majority of the time.
07:11And it slowed the pass rush down, but it wasn't—it wasn't Josh Allen sitting back there in
07:16the pocket forever.
07:18Like, the defensive backs, you just have to cover a beat longer.
07:21You have to cover a beat longer.
07:23He had—Josh had a couple nice throws where he scrambled, you know, threw back across his
07:27body that one time to Dalton Kincaid.
07:29That was beautiful.
07:30But, like, that throw to DJ Moore over Ray Blankenship's head, that wasn't—he wasn't
07:35sitting there forever.
07:36It was almost like the Texans treated Josh Allen like he was a rookie quarterback that
07:40they wanted to make him prove that he could be a pocket quarterback.
07:43It's Josh freaking Allen!
07:44Yes!
07:45He can be—yes!
07:46He can play from the pocket!
07:47This isn't—this isn't a rookie year Lamar Jackson or something where you're like, ah!
07:52Doesn't get comfortable when he—no!
07:54It's Josh Allen and he's got DJ Moore and Dalton Kincaid.
07:57So you treated him like a—you never blitzed.
07:59They—like, they just—they just kept keeping on the same thing, keep sawing wood.
08:04Oh, yeah, no.
08:04And treating it just like last year.
08:06Our ends will beat your ends.
08:07I gotta listen to Deion Dawkins brag about how everybody was wrong.
08:10Bro, they helped you out.
08:11They held your hand.
08:12Yeah.
08:12They gave you help every freaking snap.
08:14You didn't handle him one on—you didn't handle Daniel Hunter one on one.
08:18That's interesting.
08:19So you're—so in some respects, you're pointing the finger at D'Amico on this one.
08:22I mean, yeah, yeah.
08:23Look, at some point—now, partly there, but also partly at the same time.
08:28And I think what D'Amico said in the post-game press conference is accurate.
08:32You gotta make plays.
08:33Like, those guys—the game plan would have worked if guys had simply make the plays that
08:39we're accustomed to seeing them make.
08:41So I can't—I can't—I can't fault D'Amico for having faith in his guys.
08:46The pass rush—and he said this after the game, and I think people thought he was just
08:49being—I think I heard Clint say that he thought D'Amico was just being nice to the
08:52defensive line.
08:53And no, they were—they were doing everything they could to put stress on the secondary
08:57by giving extra protection to the quarterback.
09:00They were—they were chipping—like, last year, they weren't chipping at all, and it
09:03was dumb, the—the bills.
09:05And this—this time, they were chipping all the time.
09:08They were sliding protection to one of the defensive ends and then chipping the other one.
09:11Those guys can still win.
09:13Those defensive ends will still win, but it's gonna take a beat longer.
09:16That's where the coverage downfield's gotta hold up.
09:19Here was D'Amico—this is the cut you're talking about, Seth, where he said, uh, he
09:23said, uh, guys just gotta make plays.
09:26We hadn't seen the defense on this different team, um, but why did you think some of the
09:32missed opportunities happened, and why did you feel like your defense wasn't as good as
09:36you probably expected them to be?
09:38You gotta make plays.
09:40It's simple as that.
09:41We had opportunities to make plays, and we didn't make plays.
09:45Yeah, no, you know what, too, and I would be inclined usually to say, well, right, and
09:49the, you know, the bills, they've got some good playmakers.
09:51They're gonna make some of those plays.
09:53Kamari was a mess.
09:54In terms of tracking the ball, that defensive pass interference, that could have been an
09:58interception, too.
09:59He looked like he looked back for the ball and just lost it and couldn't find it.
10:02He had his worst game of his career.
10:03So he just lunged at the receiver in the end zone, um, and then, and then just not coming
10:10up with that game-sealing interception at the end.
10:12It's really disappointing.
10:13Right, he makes that game-sealing interception, and we're, you know, we're probably not nearly
10:17as, there's definitely a different tone to how we're attacking the defense this morning.
10:21I would have said, you know what, the defense looked a lot better in the second half, and
10:24they came up big with it, too.
10:25They needed to.
10:26They closed the game.
10:27And meanwhile, everybody would be talking about Josh Allen.
10:29How the hell do you throw that interception in that spot?
10:32Well, and they would be talking about C.J. Stroud.
10:35He wouldn't have been in position to fumble the ball at the end of the game.
10:38I mean, that, like, that's the thing, like, you know, C.J. gets the ball down 36-31 with
10:44a minute and a half to go and two timeouts.
10:46Honestly, when the Bills scored the go-ahead touchdown, I was kind of like, man, I'm kind
10:52of glad that, I know it's a touchdown, not a field goal.
10:54I know they were trying, probably trying to drive, thinking we're going to get a field
10:56goal, win this game.
10:58I, look, they could have driven down there, convert that third down, and kick a field goal
11:02with no time left on the clock.
11:04I was actually, of all the scenarios, them scoring a touchdown with a minute and a half
11:08to go and you still having two timeouts, the way C.J. was moving the ball, and he had proven
11:12at the end of the first half that he can move it and hurry up, that I was like, okay,
11:16let's
11:16go.
11:16You know, like, he's had a really good day today.
11:18That's a better scenario than if the Bills convert that third down and then they just
11:22possess the ball the rest of the game, burn your timeouts, and kick a field goal with
11:2610 seconds to go.
11:27And so C.J. put them in position.
11:29He fumbled the ball.
11:30I get it.
11:31But his offensive line didn't do him any favors.
11:34But yeah, if Kamari comes up with that ball, if Kamari comes up with that interception,
11:37then the storylines of this game are defense had a bad day at the office, but they got
11:41it done when they needed to.
11:43Josh Allen, despite having thrown for 300 yards, he's still hexed in this building in
11:48some way.
11:49And C.J. Stroud is the story of Monday morning on all these debate shows.
11:54And if he drives and puts them in the end zone to win 39-36 or whatever it would have
11:59been, then my God, he is the story of Monday.
12:02That's where, and I find myself...
12:04That's how close things are.
12:05Yeah, and I find myself consciously suppressing some things this morning.
12:09I'm disgusted with myself for it.
12:11For one, I think I'm very pleased with the way C.J. played.
12:15And yet I have to keep reminding myself he did turn the ball over twice.
12:19And I give him way more of a pass on the fourth.
12:21Just like I gave Josh Allen a pass for his second interception last year in this game.
12:25That's desperation at the end of the game.
12:27People kept bringing up that he turned the ball over three times last year.
12:31Yeah, but the second interception, that was no big deal.
12:35Yeah, with C.J. on that strip sack, like I said, there's three defensive linemen rushing.
12:40He should expect to have some time.
12:43And yeah, ideally you don't fumble.
12:45The first fumble, though, the first fumble, he's got to not let that happen.
12:49You know, you're running, you're scrambling towards the line of scrimmage.
12:52You've got to be aware of what's going around you.
12:54So Greg, I mean, like Greg Rousseau kind of had bookend huge plays
12:57that were a couple of the most important plays in that game
12:59because that first fumble ended up giving the Bills three points off of it.
13:03Yep, yep.
13:05And it got the Bills off to a start.
13:08You know, a little confidence defensively, too.
13:10Absolutely.
13:10This was C.J.
13:11We talked a lot about the defense in the open here.
13:14The offense was pretty damn good throughout the day.
13:16This was C.J. Stroud after the game.
13:18How did you feel the offense did as a whole?
13:19Oh, yeah, I thought, you know, first, I mean, just can't turn the ball over.
13:23You know, the first drive, you know, it gives them three points.
13:25So that makes it a little easier for them at the end.
13:28But I thought after that, you know, we settled in pretty good.
13:31I thought the protection was great.
13:32I thought we ran the ball.
13:33I thought, you know, I was accurate and made some throws, used my feet a little bit.
13:38So a lot of positive things.
13:39But, you know, when you don't win, you know, it's, you know, things you always can fix.
13:43And even when you do win.
13:44But, you know, we try to address those issues and, you know, get back to the board.
13:48But I thought overall, as offense, you know, we had a pretty good day.
13:50Just can't come out in the second half and get two three in outs.
13:53That's a really big time for us.
13:54We got to be able to, you know, either flip the field or go get some points.
13:57Yeah.
13:58I mean, I can't overstate how happy I am with C.J. Stroud, given what he was coming off of
14:04at the end of last year, the postseason.
14:05Like, that was the story of the offseason.
14:07How was he going to react to, how was he going to come back from that just abysmal playoff performance?
14:14And even in this game, you know, part of me, I hate that he fumbled the ball early because it
14:18did result in points.
14:19The defense bowed up there and held him to a field goal.
14:21That was nice.
14:22But the fact that he experienced some adversity early in the game and his response to that was 13 play
14:28drive, or 12 play drive, 76 yards, 7 minutes.
14:3213 play drive.
14:33These are all touchdown drives, 75 yards, 8 minutes.
14:36Touchdown drive at the end of the half when he's required, you know, those are two very methodical drives to
14:42go score touchdowns.
14:43Well, C.J., you only got a minute and a half.
14:45You need to go get some points.
14:46The Bills just went up by 10 on you before the half.
14:49Four plays, 86 yards in a minute, a minute three.
14:52And then in the second half, touchdown drive, 13 plays, 72 yards, nearly six minutes.
14:57He was in control throughout the day.
14:59I felt like everything that we were telling the audience throughout training camp, for people that didn't get to put
15:04eyes on training camp and didn't get to see training camp, everything that we were telling them, I felt in
15:09this game, that those fans should feel like, okay, we were being told the truth.
15:13Yeah.
15:13He was very much in control all day, I thought.
15:16Where were we right and where were we wrong about how we felt about the Texans would look coming into
15:20this game?
15:21For one, I was talking a lot about how the Texans' defense was going to be better at limiting explosive
15:26plays, partly because of the addition of Reed Blankenship.
15:28Right.
15:29Woo!
15:29Who gave up like three of the explosive plays.
15:32Yeah.
15:32You fell for the rat poison.
15:34Yeah, I did.
15:34I did.
15:35Yeah, I did.
15:35100% did.
15:36Yeah, I'm a 100% rat poison eater right here.
15:39I bloated up.
15:40I drank too much water.
15:41I'm a rat poison.
15:42That's what happens with rat poison.
15:43I know.
15:43Um, and then I think offensively, the one thing about David Montgomery that I had hoped for came true, which
15:50is he doesn't have to be, he doesn't have to put up gaudy box score numbers other than in the
15:56touchdown and first, first downs gained and short yardage.
15:59And that was, he was brilliant.
16:00He's a, look, three yards per carry never looks as good as when you're converting third and one, you're converting
16:07fourth and one, you're, you're, you're scoring touchdowns after three run attempts in the end zone.
16:12He has three touchdowns on the day and it, that's what you're, that's what we've been saying all off season
16:18is man, this offense, if they could just convert when they're down in the red zone, it's a, it's a
16:22completely different story.
16:24And that's exactly what they did.
16:25Well, in the red zone.
16:26And then like on the drive where they convert two fourth and one, you know, in the, you know, between
16:30the twenties there also, I, that's what I, my feeling on David Montgomery was, and I saw his short yardage
16:35stats and I know the lions are a different team than the Texans, but still there is when a guy's
16:38that good in short yardage, there's a lot of that element.
16:41That's on that, that, that, that speaks about him.
16:43Yeah.
16:44And, and yeah, like it didn't look perfect.
16:46Sometimes it needed a couple of tries.
16:48That's why they were on fourth down a couple of times, but they got it done.
16:51They got it done.
16:51Well, I think, look, D'Amico has done this before last year.
16:54There were a couple instances where they were down on the goal line and D'Amico, D'Amico, because he
16:58said so afterwards said he told Nick Caley, nope, keep running it.
17:02And D'Amico's got that meathead in him where he's like, no, if we're going to be this kind of
17:06football team, we got to be able to win in these situations.
17:08I say meathead in a loving way there, like myself.
17:12And, and the difference is that, yeah, this year they had David Montgomery.
17:15They have, I didn't, I wasn't overly impressed with a lot of push on the offensive line, but they got
17:19the job done.
17:20Yep.
Comments