I don't know if there was anything they could've done about that. You certainly don't take points off the board so you can drain a clock that's already under a minute. Sure; it would've been nice, I guess, if Stills had been down at the one and the Texans could've drained the clock before punching in a TD on the final play - but... I mean....... It was really beyond their control.
All in all , it was game 1 I’m reserving judgement . But it’s a bad look when the commentator is like “what are you doing giving them that big of a cushion !?” Sure it was a bit lucky that he actually made the kick , but it wasn’t luck that they marched down the field into range . We pretty much gave that up on purpose . I’m sure we will win plenty of games (barring injury) but if we make it to the playoffs we won’t be facing average teams. Even then it’s not talent I’m concerned about (well maybe in defense) it’s coaching
Jack Del Rio this morning said he refuses to believe BOB and RC intended to give that large a cushion on that last drive by the Saints. He seemed baffled. LOL
If a broadcaster on live tv can call you out for poor play selection there is a serious problem. Watching the game, the broadcasters were surprised how much room the Texans were given. How can you not see that if your RAC? You still had time to audible.
Yeah, and... it kind of worked?........ They kept plays in front of them, inbounds... I think RAC tried to overcompensate for 1) Brees, who is very good; 2) defensive personnel that is inferior to the Saints' offensive personnel. And wound up giving too much credence to the idea of a playmaker shredding his defense. It's certainly possible Kamara or Thomas could've broken free - but the threat was minimal enough that RAC should've played it - not aggressively but more aggressive; less cushion. They still forced the Saints to kick a 58-yard field goal to beat them... I'm sorry - that's where I keep ending up....
I agree it felt different than you're normal devastating loss on national TV. It was fun watching Watson throwing the ball all over the field. I certainly feel much better about the offense than I did a week ago. We're gonna score some points this year. No doubt about it. That being said....it also felt exactly the same as these 3 other moral victories: 2017 @ New England 2017 @ Seattle 2018 @ Philadelphia When Watson's heroics basically won the game in the last minute, only to have it given away by the prevent defense.
Right. They had Colvin play press on the series before and Ginn blew right past him for a 1st down that would've ended the game but for DW4. In this situation, a longer pass might actually hurt them.
Ummmm. last time i check, RAC was recruited by BoB to join his coaching staff. As much as u like to blame everything on smith BoB is our hc and gm now and if he was dissatisfied with RAC, he wouldnt b here with us. Prevent defense once again led to a loss. But hey BoB got u those close moral victories so u can keep defending his ass. We lost clowney cause of incompetent hc/gm, our cb issues didnt get addressed via incompetent hc/gm. Watson is sacked a a sht ton cause of incompetent gm/hc draft/player development of the oline. BoB blows as a gm/hc but sure a defensive coordinator under BoB should take the fall for his incompetence in this game. Oh dont forget the two failed drives with BoB offense playcalls during the Saint 4th quarter comeback. Now, O’Brien doesn’t call the defense. Crennel does, and he should definitely know better as a longtime defensive coordinator. Still, the head coach should probably have some sort of input there as well. The whole sequence was just inexcusable. Dont forget that in your blind devotion to a sht hc.
On a per game basis, Watson is the most sacked QB in NFL history (they started keeping track of sacks in '82). 3.6/game
Bootychin wants to be Bill Belichick without none of the painstaking attention of detail of a Belichick.
Yep. I think, given our personnel, RAC's plan - make them use time by dinking and dunking - was defensible. He ultimately overcompensated - but Brees was going to exploit whatever RAC threw at him.
Watson sacked 6 times and hit many others. Drew Brees well protected, throwing into man coverage. It's amazing it was even close.
Sure and if this were 1991 and anything over 50 yards was considered a very difficult kick, that would be something. But today, not even accounting for indoors, the percentage of 50+ yarders is about the same as it used to be for 40-49 yarders back then. Not a sure thing but still more likely than not to hit. I don't know if old coaches have mentally adjusted to the idea that makeable field goal range is now the 45 yard line and not the 35 yard line like it used to be.
Once Payton and Brees made their adjustments for the 2nd half, it wasn't as close as the final score indicated. 2nd half was 27-14 Saints.
It wasn't close in the 2nd half. The Saints scored 27 points in the second half. Once the Saints settled in and started attacking us the defense couldn't hang. It was exacerbated on the last play by the awful defensive scheme Romeo put out there, but it was bad the entire second half. They can't generate a significant pass rush and they don't have a good secondary.
This isn't the first time the Texans have been burned with their terrible end of game defensive scheme of rush 3 and play back. It's a bad scheme. You can't let them have an uncontested completion of 7-8 yards when they are working for a FG on the last play. With that said, they would have lost either way most likely because the defense is what it is. The secondary can't get stops and the pass rush is largely ineffective.