The Houston Texans traveled to the home of the dirty south, Atlanta, to face the Falcons. After a complete victory last week against the Steelers, fans thought this should be a victory when the clock strikes zero. On the other side, the Atlanta Falcons come back from across the pond where they receive a dose of reality from the Jaguars in London. Both fan bases were certain their team would come out victorious. Both teams left all they had out on the field and left fans with an exciting game, but when it came to the Houston Texans, the grasp of victory fell short. Falcons walked away with a victory of 21-19. Here are a few takeaways from this game that I took away from this game.
Positive: Let’s start with the positives of this game. CJ Stroud is the biggest positive to come out of the Texans camp, period. He has proven he was the right pick not only for the Texans but for the second overall pick. Stroud’s poise under pressure and decision skills have been compared to a veteran. After today, Stroud secures the record for the most pass attempts without throwing an interception in his first starting season, which was previously held by Dak Prescott. Only scoring twelve points in the first half, the Texans’ chance of victory was growing slimmer by the second. Stroud’s poise helped him mount what seemed to be a comeback victory in the fourth quarter, by leading a touchdown drive with only minutes to go. Texans should be pleased they have their leader and franchise quarterback, especially after the years of the past. On the defensive side of the ball, the Texans were very impressive slowing down the rushing attack led by Bijan Robinson. Entering today’s game, Robinson was averaging 6 yards per carry. Texans defense ranks 19th on stopping the run, a key for the Falcons to beat Houston. Texans defense shocked everyone today by Robinson ending the game with 14 carries, 46 yards, 3.3 yards per carry, and 1 receiving touchdown for a total rushing offense of 36 carries, 9 yards, 2.7 yards per carry, and 0 touchdowns. Houston knew the importance of stopping the impressive rookie running back. All things Houston has a chance to improve to help the rebuild shorten.
Negative: Last week against the Steelers, OC Bobby Slowik was the game’s MVP with his amazing play-calling. This was not the case for today’s outing. The first three quarters were slow for Bobby, especially trying to establish a run game that did not get off the plane from Houston. Thankfully, Slowik did turn the play calls around in the Texan’s last drive to cap off with a touchdown. Sadly, wasn’t fast enough to survive with the Win. That’s not all on Bobby though, another disappointment has to be Demeco Ryans. As I pointed out earlier the goal is to stop the run, which means a lot of zone and spy coverage. When the game was on the line and the Texans had to stop Ridder and the Falcon’s offense, Demeco needed to step away from the zone coverage and move to man-to-man coverage. The Falcons knew the cheat code to beat the zone coverage and helped Desmond Ridder to 28-37, 329 yards, and both a passing and rushing touchdown. One would think if the defensive coverage was changed, the outcome would be different. Bright side, both Demeco and Bobby are rookie coaches. More experience will help them win more games in the future. The next disappointment has to be running back Dameon Pierce and the rest of the rushing offense. No, I am not on the same page with my colleague VT, of Pierce is lacking the skills of a starting running back. Watch the debate here:
The concern is warranted though, Pierce isn’t hitting the blocks that the line is providing him. Granted today, the run block did not help him one iota. In the first half, most of the rushing plays were exposed in the backfield. That’s not where the concerns lay, when Pierce hits the gap, the run has no explosion and is very hesitant. This is Pierce’s second year and first in a new blocking scheme. DO NOT HIT THE PANIC BUTTON! Give the young running back more games and all his healthy starting offensive linemen. Even with all those negatives, Pierce still had a decent game with 20 carries, 66 yards, and 3.3 yards per carry. Another obstacle the Texans can smooth out as the season unfolds.
For further breakdown of today’s game, and multiple opinions, make sure you tune into Texans Fan Battle game recap.
