Fortunately, it comes out the next day. My partner does the next day. He was even luckier. There are some losses that are more severe than others. It was a close game and a nail biter at the end. Sometimes the game means more in the standings because of the playoff push. Sometimes it’s a fierce rival that you just don’t want to lose. Every once in a while, all of that collides into an event that you just can’t believe. I will post the numbers and the numbers by themselves tell a lot of the story, but they are not the whole story. Much of the story is the emotional impact of these games week in and week out.
I’ll have to look it up, but I don’t think the Texans have ever gone 0-4, so at least they’re making history. Being a Texan fan is its own special hell. Most 0-4 teams are ready to fold and start playing for next year, but this outfit has had enough of a miraculous comeback that you don’t want to give up on the season entirely. You can talk yourself into a winning streak. It’s the hope that kills you.
These numbers by themselves have no meaning. The Texans have been beaten in a variety of ways this season. It’s not the utter defensive collapse that was in 2010. It’s not the pick six festival of 2013. It just hasn’t become a thing and that’s the craziest part of it. The only constant is the inability to make the one or two key plays that winning teams do. Three of the four losses were one score games. We might as well call them “Almost” Texans.
The Key Numbers
Total Yards: Texans 52/397, Cowboys 73/399
Rushing Yards: Texans 19/62, Cowboys 25/75
Passing Yards: Texans 33/335, Cowboys 48/324
Third Down Conversions: Texans 3/10, Cowboys 5/14
Fourth Down Conversions: Texans 0/0, Cowboys 1/1
Sacks: Texans 3, Cowboys 2
Turnovers: Texans 0, Cowboys 0
Penalties: Texans 13/90, Cowboys 6/47
Time of Possession: Texans 28:33, Cowboys 31:27
These numbers tell a story, but it may not be the story of the game. Stories are usually when these things happen. For example, two sacks are not terrible. I’m sure Nick Caley will gladly take only two sacks allowed per game for the rest of the season. Unfortunately, this is about when these heels happened. It happened at one point in the game when they needed a long drive and instead they went three and nothing. However, it takes us through the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The Good
We’ll get to Stroud in his own special section, so this one goes to Will Anderson again. Officially he only had half a sack and five tackles but some of those were tackles for loss. As Texans contemplate their future, they will need building blocks. These seasons reveal a ton about the character. There are players who consider it a night at the office and make business decisions at crucial moments. Then there are players like Anderson. JD Clowney also had a half sack in his return to the field.
Whatever happens on defense, it doesn’t happen on the defensive line. Throw in Danielle Hunter and you have a group of players who can get constant pressure on Dak Prescott. Unfortunately, the units behind the defensive line didn’t play very well, but we as fans notice the players who show up and play hard and they will always be called out for their effort.
The Bad
I can’t quite burn Nick Caley for this effort. Any time you score 30 points and don’t turn the football over is a good day. However, there are still key points in these games when protections break down and calls don’t make sense. Most of all, I hate days like today. They’re the days that get stat heads like me (yup, I’ll cop to this one) to say things are going well overall because they scored a ton of points in two games.
The most important thing is that the Cowboys are another weak defensive team that struggles against the run. However, they look like the 1985 Bears against the run. The Texans rushed for over 100 yards in the first game and haven’t smelled it since. For a hard-nosed physical football team that’s pretty anemic. The offense deserves their share of the blame for the defensive debacle. They couldn’t hold the ball long enough to keep the Cowboys offense on the field. You can’t let them run 70+ plays and live to tell about it. The Cowboys ran 20 more plays than the Texans and that was a recipe for disaster.
The Ugly
Someone needs to explain this to me like I’m four years old. How do you allow a player to catch 17 passes in a football game? Yes, I know Kamari Lassiter should be a Pro Bowler and Derek Stingley is a Pro Bowler. The operative word is. They don’t play like that anymore for whatever reason. They are not bad football players per se. They’re still making plays and doing good things, but they’re not playing at the level they were last season. At a certain point you have to scrap what you’re doing and do something else.
The drive that pulled the Cowboys within 23-20 was the key drive of the game. The Texans stopped them twice inside ten only to have penalties extend the drive. The first defensive holding/contact penalty on Lassiter is VERY questionable. George Pickens initiated most of the contact, so this was a terrible flag. The second punishment is not severe. The Texans literally turned them over after another set of downs where the Cowboys were willing to settle for a field goal. That’s eight plays out of ten. Even the Texans could score a touchdown in those conditions. That segment is probably the entire football game. It also covers the period as a whole.
Focus on Stroud
I’ll have more to say about this next week, but the Texans have some big decisions coming up and none bigger than the decision in Stroud. However, today was the first day I honestly considered Stroud’s point of view. Does he really like it here? If he keeps ballin’ like he has the first four weeks the answer might be no. No, he won’t make anyone forget Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, or Tom Brady, but he did catch five touchdown passes in four games and no picks. He’s one of three quarterbacks who shouldn’t throw one.
I could nitpick on this one, but what would be the point? Stroud threw for nearly 350 yards without a run game. He needed a late game drive and gave his team the lead with two minutes left. I’m not sure what else anyone wants from him. I will own my part in this whole thing. I questioned his abilities coming into the season saying he wasn’t an elite quarterback. I don’t know yet if he is, but this 0-4 start is not his. He does what they tell him to do.
Of course, this brings up the next obvious question. Are they using him to his most effective use? The answer is almost certainly no. We’ll have more on this next week as whispers at 0-2 and 0-3 become raised voices at 0-4. They will be screaming and shouting defeats in the future. There is no joy in Mudville. The Texans were strung out.