Texans - Patriots Takeaways
 |
| What every Patriots game feels like |
> TE James Casey dropped a TD pass on second and 7 from the 10, leading to a 3-and-out figgie
> QB Matt Schaub missed a wide open WR Andre Johnson for a score that might have changed things, I guess
> Shayne Graham connected from 27 to give Houston an early 3-0 lead
> New England went three and out on their first possession, just to make the crowd antsy
> P Zoltan Meskow ripped it 61 yards to become the first truly good punter in Patriot postseason history
> Schaub threw for three straight first downs as Houston played into the hands of not getting the running game going
> QB Tom Brady hit TE Aaron Hernandez for two straight chippies and a first
> Brady missed TE Rob Gronkowski on a sideline fly route that was just out of bounds, and another possible Gronk injury
> WR Wes Welker moved the chains with a great catch in painful traffic
> DE JJ Watt ate Brady for a rollout half sack that was good fun
> RB Arian Foster got 2 yards while making four guys miss, because, well, he's pretty good
> CB Aqib Talib had a WR screen so diagnosed, it was nearly a TAInt
> Foster dropped a third down throw that wasn't quite on the mark, but still
> RB Stephen Ridley got loose for a solid gain and the inevitable softening of the Texans defense, then did the same on a catch
> RB Shane Vereen might be one of the Patriots' better WRs
> Brady to Hernandez got it to the 1 and set up the inevitable quick hand off to Vereen score
> At the 13.5 minutes into the game, New England woke up and took the lead
> Houston ended the first quarter by driving to midfield, which was nice for those of us who wanted to think this might still be a game
> You will forgive Patriot Fan for not seeming too into this game, since it wasn't for the Super Bowl or anything
> This Welker fellow seems effective, especially when he's turning 3rd and 8 into a 30 yard backbreaker
> WR Brandon Lloyd continued the required Imported Name WR Fail Year with an unsportsmanlike penalty that led to a figgie, rather than a touchdown
> Houston got a touchdown the only way they know how -- with big runs by Foster coming after a nice return, since Schaub seems allergic to touchdown passes now
> The Texans did this thing where they saved all of their timeouts, then used them to drive the ball just before the half, that as an Eagles fan, I was pretty sure wasn't possible
> Graham then connected from 55 to make things a tad more interesting, especially for the spread
> It's a little unreal that a half with 250+ yards of offense seems like relative containment
> So long as Houston is going to run the ball OK, not allow any sacks or turnovers, and not commit many penalties, and New England seems bored. they can stick around, I guess
> On the first drive of the third quarter, Hernandez broke a 40-yarder, which is to say, he caught a 5 yard pass and a guy fell down
> Ridley's touchdown capped a 3:30 drive that put the spread back in play
> It must be nice to root for a team that doesn't crap the bed in the red zone
> Daniels' back-breaking fumble was overruled, and is yet another of those shaky calls that are not reviewable
> On the plus side, we did get to hear Patriot Fan feel bad for up to 30 seconds
> Schaub scrambled to safety on a third down, then tossed it away on pressure anyway
> Welker might not want to field punts on the hop anymore, since it's pretty obvious that the team needs him for games that are more competitive than this one
> Houston got a three and out, which seems to be the only way they get off the field
> Schaub to Foster for a screen at the goal line was 28 yards of easy, where the defense got greedy for a safety
> Schaub lost a ball on a ridiculous derp moment after pressure for a 10-yard sack
> Johnson erased the mistake by catching a dying quail for 20 and a first
> Not saying this was without drama, but I was seeing point spreads for next week's game against the Ravens in the third quarter
> Foster made a great effort to fight through Talib for a yard and a first on fourth and one
> Belichick keeps his challenge flag in his sock, which means it probably smells like other men's wives
> I love when announcers congratulate coaches for challenges that don't work
> The Texans are really good at stretching for first downs
> On fourth and one from their own 33, Houston decided to go deep, which missed by a mile and ended this game
> Vereen's third touchdown of the game happened on the next play, with Brady hitting him on a perfect fly
> Manning broke another big kickoff return, but didn't take it to the house, so oh well
> Houston was down 25 with 12:30 left when they went to the hurry up and lose
> On fourth and short this time, Houston actually used Foster, which was a better idea
> Schaub to WR Devier Posey needed the CBS Hyper Zoom to score a TD, but hey, when that's your first through the air in 19 quarters, you take it
> Houston got a three and out just to torture spread betters
> Kubiak and Schaub's idea of a hurry up offense is breaking the huddle earlier and middle of the field checkdowns
> Patriot Fan gets really upset when obvious helmet to helmet flags are called against their team
> The scary thing about this game is that Houston's defense played fairly well for much of it, and still gave up an ungodly number of points
> Schaub's idea of a free play is to try and run for it so the clock can keep running
> The WR screen to Johnson from an empty backfield seemed all kinds of pointless
> Schaub to Foster for a score made spread betters very, very antsy, and Johnson's manly rip away from Talib for the 2-pointer was good and steamy
> Patriots LB Rob Ninkovich corralled a golden opportunity onside kick to end all drama to people who were actually watching the game for the game, rather than the spread
> On third and 2, Houston was called for a ridiculous defensive holding call, rather than get a stop
> If you need a bunch of completions to pad your stats and eat the clock, Houston is your team
> Phil Simms became the second color analyst of the day to show that he either does not know the score, or can not do math
> I'm not saying this game was never in doubt, but if you decided to nap instead of watching it, you won
No comments:
Post a Comment