- 19 minutes ago
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00How many of the things on this Texan are of the quality that they should be right now on this
00:04Texans team?
00:04What are the things that you can absolutely depend on when it comes to this team?
00:087-1-3-5-7-2-4-6-10.
00:10So you go into a game and you're like, I don't know how this is going to go or that's
00:13going to go,
00:13but I know I can count on this, right?
00:16So I want to go through some of these.
00:17Figge, you got to get in on this.
00:18Listeners, obviously, 7-1-3-5-7-2-4-6-10.
00:23I'm going to mention an element or a player of this team.
00:27You tell me if you can and how much you can depend on that.
00:32Let's start with an easy one, the pass rush.
00:34Yes.
00:35I still view week one as an anomaly.
00:38Yeah, 100%.
00:39I think that obviously the Bills did something to get there, which I think is some of the scary part.
00:44That wasn't simply, hey, we did ourselves in.
00:47But I think that there are a few teams that have the tools to be able to pull off that
00:53particular heist,
00:54which is keeping Will Anderson Jr. and Daniil Hunter at bay.
00:57So I'm going to keep a tally of things you can absolutely depend on with this team.
01:04Run game.
01:05Now, I'm going to get to the line.
01:07I'm talking about the running game, like the running backs.
01:10Can you depend on them?
01:12On the backs themselves?
01:14Yeah.
01:15I don't think so.
01:17I think you can depend on them to a point.
01:19Like, I don't think that they're going to Joe Mixon create something out of nothing.
01:23But I think if you've done your job even somewhat adequately,
01:27they're going to take what you've given and add some extra on top of it,
01:30which I think is very much a dependable running back.
01:33You know, like if they block up a yard, they're going to give you three, four.
01:38And I think that that is very useful in this league.
01:42But your final answer?
01:44I would say yes.
01:45You can depend on these backs.
01:46I'm going to say no.
01:47So that's not an absolute.
01:49I'm counting the things you can absolutely depend on.
01:51Figgy said no.
01:52I said no.
01:53I don't think it's an absolute.
01:55Like, I'm not going into the game like, oh, I know the running game is going.
01:58But I think the running game and the running backs are different here.
02:01Right.
02:02Well, I'm getting to the other part.
02:03Because I think the backs themselves.
02:04Now, I will say, and Seth mentioned this in the press box during the Bengals game on Sunday.
02:09It does feel like with Woody Marks sometimes,
02:11he is not running in a way where it feels like he trusts that the gap is going to be
02:15there.
02:16And I will say, I looked at Seth and I go, why would he?
02:20In his year plus with this team, when the gap is supposed to be in one place,
02:24the actual place to run has been in another.
02:27But, you know, obviously there's ways in which if they do anything,
02:32if the offensive line is passable, that they can then go and make a little bit more out of that.
02:36And I appreciate that.
02:38Special teams.
02:40This is wild.
02:42Yeah.
02:42My answer is no.
02:43That would have been number one on the list as far as like things you could trust.
02:47My answer is no.
02:48Yeah, no.
02:48I mean, the answer is no.
02:48And that's just not coverage either.
02:50No, that's, I mean, because there's enough of this.
02:52Because Kaimi Fairbairn can only do so much.
02:54And I understand he missed the 58-yard field goal.
02:56But if I'm getting out here getting mad at kickers for missing, damn near impossible.
03:00Yeah, man.
03:01That'd be sick.
03:02We can't be too mad at him for missing once in a while.
03:04But I'm saying just special teams in general.
03:06Overall, haven't been able to cover in both games, by the way.
03:10They didn't have great coverage in the Bills game.
03:12No.
03:12They also had the Jalen Knoll, what are you doing at the end of the game with the punt return.
03:17Correct.
03:17Their returns have been very average to below average.
03:20Agreed.
03:20The punting has been okay.
03:26Okay.
03:27If we're giving him a lot of credit for week one, which that was pretty solid.
03:31He was averaging 55 or something like that.
03:33Week two was the entire opposite.
03:34Because I think the net punting average was 37.
03:37So we still.
03:38But here's the thing.
03:39The tiebreaker with Kai Kroger on good first game, bad second game is a lot of bad.
03:44Oh, bad snap, by the way, too.
03:45A lot of bad last year.
03:46He was a very bad punter.
03:48So if we're going, which of these feels like it falls more in line with what you've put on your
03:51resume, it's the bad punting.
03:53Like, you might have gotten a good spike as opposed to a good stretch or something that you can bounce
03:58back to.
03:59And you're right.
03:59Austin Brinkman also messed it up one time.
04:01And he doesn't have enough of a resume for me to feel good either.
04:03All right.
04:03Let's get an easy one out of the way.
04:05Offensive line.
04:08Is there anyone on the offensive line you feel like you can depend on?
04:12Which makes it even worse if your answer is no.
04:15No.
04:15I mean, there was enough problems where Trent Brown got danced around because his feet were moving relatively slowly, which
04:22is somewhat to be expected.
04:24And one of the reasons why I go, hey, so there's no one to chip over there?
04:27Um, Ed Ingram in the run, in the run game, which is a very, very narrow cast.
04:32And I think I feel good about Keelan Rutledge.
04:34He's just a rookie, man.
04:35Like, there's going to be some rookie things that happen with him.
04:38But altogether, it doesn't matter if I feel about, I feel good about one individual finger.
04:42Like, this is a, this is a unit unlike any other unit in the football, on the football team where
04:46you need all five of them to work in tandem.
04:48Otherwise, it doesn't work.
04:49We'll get to your texts and posts here on YouTube, et cetera, in a second.
04:53We're talking about things you can absolutely depend on.
04:56We got one thing so far.
04:57Let me ask you this one.
04:59Play calling.
05:03No.
05:05We could have said all that together.
05:07Nah.
05:08Here's another one that's interesting.
05:09Clock and game management.
05:13No.
05:14No.
05:14No.
05:15The clock management was better for you.
05:17Nah, remember I texted you with six minutes left.
05:19All right?
05:19So, there's six minutes left.
05:21And it was second down for, you know, second down for Cincinnati.
05:25And you had two timeouts left.
05:28I believe the Texans had two timeouts left.
05:31And they threw, they ran the ball, and it was going to make it third and third down and whatever,
05:36six or eight or whatever it was.
05:38He should have called timeout right there with six minutes left or 5.50, whatever,
05:45so you could save some more time for the punt.
05:47Because if it was another pass, it was going to be an incompletion.
05:50Then you could use your last timeout.
05:51But they let it go down a little bit.
05:53I didn't like that.
05:54Obviously, nobody seemed to like the, you know, the go for it on inches, you know, there for the 58
05:59-yard field goal.
05:59Yeah, because the thing about it is, go for it there to kick and make it a 10-6 game,
06:04which is a four-point game,
06:05which means you still would need to go score that same touchdown if and when you got the football back.
06:11It just didn't feel like, it felt like one of those things where, okay, I'm trusting my kicker,
06:14but I did not think through, I didn't do the game theory of this.
06:18Correct.
06:18Which, honestly, more times I felt like D'Amico Ryan has not, like, had a more thorough consideration.
06:25Or I shouldn't just put that on D'Amico because this is a full coaching staff thing
06:28where they have not had a full thorough evaluation of what do we do in these circumstances.
06:32It often feels very much like a feel, and my head coach decided to make this in the moment, and
06:38I hate that.
06:39Like, I'm the type of person when it comes to coaching decisions that as long as you give me
06:43a reasonable thought process, I can rock with you in a lot of different ways,
06:47even going against some of, like, the analytical things.
06:49Right.
06:49This just feels like it's not considered, which is probably the most damning of it all.
06:53Any wide receiver not named Niko can you depend on?
06:58Wide receiver.
07:00I mean, not in an absolute way, no, but I think that that's also, there's a lot of teams
07:05where you can do, hey, outside of your elite receivers, can you trust them in an absolute
07:10way?
07:11No.
07:11I think that there's some guys that I feel a little bit, well, I can't even go there,
07:15because if you put guys in the right positions to succeed, I feel better about guys, but I'm
07:21still talking about, like, Jalen Knoll, who is somewhat, you know, he's made plays, but
07:27he's somewhat unproved.
07:27You can't depend on him.
07:28Right.
07:28I can't say that this is definitively going to happen, and then Kayshawn Booty, they haven't
07:31even put in that position on this team yet.
07:33So, we're still sitting at one thing.
07:36Secondary.
07:38Not right now.
07:39In an unfortunate way, not right now.
07:43Reggie, Figgy?
07:44Yeah, I agree, man.
07:46I agree, too.
07:46I hate to pick on old Reed, but I don't know, I'm a little iffy about that.
07:52And it's not just Reed.
07:53It's very weird, because this is more defense as a whole.
07:56The defense as a whole has not allowed much success versus these teams.
08:00Like, they literally have one of the better success rates allowed.
08:04The problem is all the explosives in the world.
08:07Right.
08:07And this is apparently what has been the, this is the porthole in the Death Star.
08:13And you have two teams, admittedly good offenses, that have been able to hit that almost at will.
08:19Yeah.
08:19And maybe week three, you go against a Colts team, you go, they're not capable of hitting
08:24that same button in the same way.
08:25But even still, this has felt like a defense where that was to a minimum.
08:30Now it's to a maximum, and I don't know what I'd do with that, right?
08:33Yeah.
08:33Even if they're going to be, more often than not, making the right play.
08:36If it still ends up where, when we need it, when it's cutting time, and an explosive is
08:41on the table, that's not good enough for what they're supposed to do.
08:44Linebackers.
08:46Absolutely not.
08:47Tight ends.
08:48And that's just, that's just a dip thing.
08:50Tight ends.
08:51I actually feel a little better about the tight ends.
08:53Can you depend on, I'm going to say.
08:55I could depend on Dalton Schultz.
08:57I'm going to say yes because of Dalton Schultz.
08:59Yeah.
08:59I don't know as a group, and maybe I'm sort of, you know, fudging the rules here of what
09:04we're doing a little bit.
09:07That's not new.
09:09Lopez dancing around the rules that we've established.
09:11Never seen that before.
09:12I am in a biter, and it goes way back.
09:14Get out of here.
09:15I'm going to say yes because of Dalton Schultz, but boy, you know, beyond that, I don't, I'm
09:22not excited.
09:23I guess Moreau, Moreau as well.
09:26I'm going to say yes.
09:27I'm going to say yes on tight ends, even though you'd like more.
09:30Foster Moreau has not been as good at blocking as I want, as I want.
09:35And he's had some catches.
09:37He's had some catches.
09:38He has, and maybe this isn't fair because sometimes Foster Moreau ends up tight end
09:43blocking an edge, and I don't know what the tight end has to be.
09:46Actually, I do know what the tight end has to be.
09:47It has to be like Darnell Washington where he's a tackle, that's a tackle masquerading
09:50as a tight end in order for me to just feel good about leaving a tight end on the edge
09:54by himself.
09:55But there's been enough, if you go and watch, where Foster Moreau, it's been like, I guess
10:00you're there, but it's not as good of a block as I would imagine for a guy that we're
10:04labeling as the pass blocking or tight end that you have.
10:08All right.
10:09Or run blocking tight end.
10:10You can absolutely depend on, is what we're talking about, quarterback.
10:15I mean, to this point, the answer's been yes.
10:18I'm going to say yes, too.
10:19Maybe you go the two fumbles that he has in the first game, and even then, I think that
10:23that's split responsibility.
10:24Like, if we're doing half sacks, the equivalent of that, split responsibility between him and
10:29the offensive line and pass coverage that should be better in those circumstances.
10:32If we're just saying to this point, and that's all we have, I'm going to say yes, too.
10:37So we have...
10:38He's been so good.
10:40He's been good.
10:41But you have pass rush, maybe tight end, although that one we've kind of disagreed on a little
10:47bit, and quarterback.
10:50Those are the only three things you can depend on, and I don't know, long term, if your answer
10:55to quarterback would be yes.
10:56If you said, hey, can you depend on them all season?
10:58I think it's trending that way.
11:00But again, that's not the game we're playing.
11:01So it is bizarre that all of a sudden, you know, this team that we call Super Bowl, you
11:09know, ready or whatever, contending, there are very few absolutes with this team.
11:13And a lot of them, coaching related.
11:16Yeah.
11:16All right.
11:16So I think it's fair to do that the way that we did.
11:19I would like to make a quick addendum.
11:21How many of these are ones that you can see becoming absolutes in the near future?
11:26Because I think past, sorry, secondary is one that I can see becoming an absolute again
11:30in the near future.
11:31I could see that.
11:32Right.
11:33I would say that.
11:35I want to say special teams.
11:37That was the one I was also going to come to.
11:38I don't know, man.
11:40Frank Ross is typically really good at this.
11:42Is it possible that with more time that you get a special teams score that admittedly
11:46has a little bit more turnover than it typically does?
11:49You don't have as many of the special teams aces.
11:51And boy, I sound, I hate the way that I sound right now.
11:53Oh, man.
11:54Daria Gumbawale isn't here to help whip everything into shape.
11:57But, you know, you don't have as many of the typical special teams aces.
12:00Maybe that takes a little bit of time to whip into shape and it looks better.
12:04Is this just copium?
12:05I want to say yes on special teams.
12:07But, you know, year to year in special teams, it really depends on, you know, those backup players
12:13that become aces on your special teams and really how the kicker and punter is doing.
12:16They have a new punter, they have a relatively new snapper.
12:20It's going to be, I'm going to say, no, I'm going to say no on special teams.
12:24They've got to prove a little more.
12:25Tight end with a little bit more trust in Marlon Klein because he clearly represents
12:29the best upside that you have in that room.
12:32And when he's been called upon, I think it's been solid.
12:36I think tight end I have more confidence in than special teams even, if I had to say.
12:40I mean, it's just fewer dudes.
12:42How about any wide receiver not named Nico?
12:44I've got to say no right now.
12:46I don't know that it gets to a point where I feel it is an absolute.
12:49I think that there's definitely opportunities to get some of these dudes involved,
12:53specifically Nolan Booty.
12:56But I don't know.
12:57I don't know how I feel about it, especially in a situation, unless you have Nico Collins.
13:01If you have Nico Collins on the field, I feel better about that.
13:03But that's not the heart of what you're asking here, I don't think.
13:06Right, right.
13:08Clock and game management is one that I'm not so sure is going to get better.
13:11I mean, does it feel like there's a push or an incentive or a fire or a motivation for
13:18D'Amico Reyes to shift that?
13:19When he's asked about it, he goes, that's the decision that I made.
13:23And I think they're going to continue.
13:25Because I don't think, and this speaks to a topic we had earlier, I don't think he has
13:28a whole lot.
13:29He's already proved he doesn't have a lot of confidence in this run game.
13:32So, of course, he's going to do this more often.
13:34All right, and then one more question here to have fun with this thing that you're doing
13:38here is we've asked about the absolutes that you have with this Texas, the things that you
13:41can depend on.
13:42If I give you a magic wand and you can magically make one of these no's into a yes on
13:48things,
13:49parts of the team that you can depend on, or at least you have not been able to depend
13:52on to this point, what's the one that you change?
13:53Well, offensive line to me is a layup.
13:55It's an obvious.
13:56Even without the play calling?
13:57Yeah, because you'll at least be able to run the ball.
14:00You know, and that opens everything else up, especially if CJ can continue to play pretty
14:07well.
14:07I honestly kind of think it might be play calling.
14:10It might be.
14:12Because I think you give yourself an eye.
14:13Now, of course, I just don't.
14:15It really has to be a magic wand, because I don't think that's in Nick Haley's wheelhouse.
14:20But I think that you can lighten the load on an offensive line.
14:23We've seen moderately good to mediocre offensive lines do good things on offense with innovative
14:29and creative play calling.
14:31I think that would help you elevate the play of Jalen Knoll and the Kayshaun Booty.
14:36I think that there's opportunities to get more out of a lot of these if your play calling
14:40is better.
14:40I just don't see the path there.
14:42And I mean, I have quickly leaked oil on my confidence.
14:44That honestly, I was already begrudgingly giving to Nick Haley to begin with.
14:48703 says, I can depend on being disappointed.
14:52At least early.
14:54Typically, this team has turned it around this way.
14:57Yes, it has.
14:57They'll have to prove it.
14:58They'll have to prove it to this Houston Texans fan base.
15:01And the first opportunity starts on Sunday on the road versus the Colts.
Comments