Random Thoughts™ on the Texans game

[hawker84]

Great write up as always, have to disagree on the Clemons take. I don't see where he's lost a step at all, he had tremendous closing speed on the one sack he had, he looks like the Clemons of old to me. JMO

As far as Schaub passing for 350 yrds. It was talked about yesterday, Wyman said they were playing a soft zone for most of the first half, they adjusted and went to more man press late in the third and all of second half, where his numbers decreased dramatically and the coverage improved. Why Quinn had them in soft zone to start the game is a mystery, clearly their strength is when the man up.

Lynch was awsome, i was impressed with turbin as well. The O line? well what are you gonna do against that front 7 with 3 starters on the sidelines with injuries, 2 of them pro bowlers...

Over all it was not pretty by any means, but it was an impressive win against a quality opponent.. We now know our defense can win us ballgames if need be, not at all like last year, where our Offense put us in the lead just to have our defense lose it late in the game.

 

[aawolf]

Thank you, Kip. I look forward to these every week as well. I actually think you were a little easy on the O-line in your write-up. Pass pro seemed to be non-existent. I know we are playing some of the best defensive players in the NFL, but there is no excuse for blown protection on every play. You gotta give the QB at least 3 seconds to hit a receiver. RW had no time whatsoever. I think we should be checking the waiver wire for a big ugly who can slow down the pressure.

 

[Lieutenant Dan]

Thank you, Kip! Much appreciated reading, as always. :th2thumbs:

I must have had about 4 or 5 coronaries during that game...

 

[Scottemojo]

Thank you, Kip. I look forward to these every week as well. I actually think you were a little easy on the O-line in your write-up. Pass pro seemed to be non-existent. I know we are playing some of the best defensive players in the NFL, but there is no excuse for blown protection on every play. You gotta give the QB at least 3 seconds to hit a receiver. RW had no time whatsoever. I think we should be checking the waiver wire for a big ugly who can slow down the pressure.

I don't get this. Yes, the Pass pro was awful.
McQ is not a left tackle.
How many real games of experience does Carpenter have?
Lem actually did well when he played, though his snapping was bad on 3 plays.
Sweezy still attacks too soon, but hello, guy was playing defense 2 years ago.
Rookie RT, first start.

Add to these crowd noise, the fact that one of the last thing good linemen learn is blitz pickup and the Texans bring at least 5 almost all the time, and I understand the struggles. I don't like them, but I understand them.

 

[bigtrain21]

Kip, Wright also made the first diving tip on the Earl Thomas interception that was batted around. That was a really huge play.

http://youtu.be/fRJcmvLZjYs

 

[Laloosh]

On the TD where KJ blew the coverage, I was able to see him falling down, and the announcers were saying something about someone taking him out. Was anyone able to spot this? And if that is indeed what happened, doesn't that qualify as OPI or a pick play or something?

I started out just being disgusted that the back was so very wide open that close to the goal line, and couldn't see for myself why it was so.

Watching the play again, KJ was blatantly cut by the FB with the sole purpose of taking him out of coverage. I'm not sure why it wasn't called. Maybe because the ball wasn't in the air when it was thrown? There must be some loophole, because it looked to be by design and I find it hard to believe a coach would design a play with a penalty built in.

Ball was not thrown until after the block (assuming that's by design). That play was perfectly executed by Houston.

Edit: Oh, and thanks once again Kearly.

 

[12thMan1]

I was really hoping that you were going to elaborate on Kellen Davis' overall performance thus far. A lot of the 12s are calling for the FO to give him the boot because of a few penalties.

 

[ivotuk]

Thank you Kearly, much appreciated.

I LOL'd at this "Late in the game McDonald and McDaniel chased Matt Schaub out of the pocket when he was promptly CRUSHED by Cliff Avril for a sack. Schaub lost his helmet from the hit, and I half expected his head to still be in it."

I made the same comment about Sherman being ill but some others said "he's just gassed." I've never seen Richard gassed. The sweat was popping out on his forehead and he was getting assistance on the sideline where he was bent over and even had to be replaced a couple of times by Maxwell. Then in his interview the sweat was popping out on his forehead.

The man had the flu and I think some of the other team members did too but Pete would never allow that news to get out. This is why I don't like fans trying to visit with the team at their hotel, people carry cold and flu viruses which go wild as soon as the school year starts and it's only that much more exposure. Add to that travel to a different part of the country and it only increases. But that's another story.

Some of the linebackers acted like their heads weren't clear, the Malcolm Smith whiff was really bad. What was he thinking and what was he looking at while the TE ran right by him? I think there is something going around the locker room and it's effecting the whole team, especially the speed guys who have to think on their feet.

On Brock and Danny yesterday Pete said "don't worry about the first part of the game" but I do worry about it. I think they need to change the game plan because I want to see this team with an early lead so they can run the ball, then run it some more.

Thanks again, great write up and I always find great little nuggets of information that I had completely overlooked in your reviews. :th2thumbs:

 

[ivotuk]

On the TD where KJ blew the coverage, I was able to see him falling down, and the announcers were saying something about someone taking him out. Was anyone able to spot this? And if that is indeed what happened, doesn't that qualify as OPI or a pick play or something?

I started out just being disgusted that the back was so very wide open that close to the goal line, and couldn't see for myself why it was so.

Aside from the glaringly obvious o line issues, my scapegoat of the week would definitely have to be the linebackers. As Kip mentioned, Smitty seemed to never be there in coverage, and Wright managed to get himself sealed away from seemingly everything. With the D line we have, the backers should be flying around much cleaner than they are.

I remember seeing a block in the back on one of Houston's plays and thinking that it should have been called. Anybody remember what play that was?

 

[Jazzhawk]

As always, thanks Kearly. Amazing write-ups, a true highlight of my week. I appreciate you doing this, truly! I had a couple comments below.

Chris Clemons appears to have lost a step athletically.

I would prefer to think that he just isn't quite 100% yet, rather than saying he lost a step. It's incredible he's even playing to be honest. Hard to make this statement at this point.

I'd like to point out that these first few games are basically Clemons' training camp. He may be physically ready to play 100%, but it's obvious he still is getting into prime game-shape and will get better over the next few games.

 

[oldhawkfan]

On that note, there is some serious "magic" to Doug Baldwin, isn't there? Not only is he clutch, but he seems to always be involved in random moments that turn a game around. He may not create a ton of production, but when he's playing, he's like RW the WR. Not only did Baldwin get bodyslammed* for what amounted to a game-winning penalty, but he caught that ridiculous sideline pass on 3rd and 7 in the fourth quarter, a pass thrown from around the goal line on a 98 yard TD drive. I've seen catches where a guy didn't even have a blade of grass between him and the chalk, but that might be the first catch I've seen where both feet, on the tips of the toes no less, didn't have a blade of grass. What an amazing catch that was.

Baldwin is starting to remind me of Dan Doorninck. Different palyers and different positions, but Dr Dan had some of that same magic. Bailed out the team numerous times on third down. Its something special going on when you have a player like this that makes special plays at opportune times.

 

[oldhawkfan]

On that note, there is some serious "magic" to Doug Baldwin, isn't there? Not only is he clutch, but he seems to always be involved in random moments that turn a game around. He may not create a ton of production, but when he's playing, he's like RW the WR. Not only did Baldwin get bodyslammed* for what amounted to a game-winning penalty, but he caught that ridiculous sideline pass on 3rd and 7 in the fourth quarter, a pass thrown from around the goal line on a 98 yard TD drive. I've seen catches where a guy didn't even have a blade of grass between him and the chalk, but that might be the first catch I've seen where both feet, on the tips of the toes no less, didn't have a blade of grass. What an amazing catch that was.

Baldwin is starting to remind me of Dan Doorninck. Different palyers and different positions, but Dr Dan had some of that same magic. Bailed out the team numerous times on third down. Its something special going on when you have a player like this that makes special plays at opportune times.

 

[falcongoggles]

Thank you, Kip. I look forward to these every week as well. I actually think you were a little easy on the O-line in your write-up. Pass pro seemed to be non-existent. I know we are playing some of the best defensive players in the NFL, but there is no excuse for blown protection on every play. You gotta give the QB at least 3 seconds to hit a receiver. RW had no time whatsoever. I think we should be checking the waiver wire for a big ugly who can slow down the pressure.

I don't get this. Yes, the Pass pro was awful.
McQ is not a left tackle.
How many real games of experience does Carpenter have?
Lem actually did well when he played, though his snapping was bad on 3 plays.
Sweezy still attacks too soon, but hello, guy was playing defense 2 years ago.
Rookie RT, first start.

Add to these crowd noise, the fact that one of the last thing good linemen learn is blitz pickup and the Texans bring at least 5 almost all the time, and I understand the struggles. I don't like them, but I understand them.

Last year the weakest group was the D line and look what happened in the offseason with attention. Now that he D line is shored up they want the new weakest link, the o-line taken care of. This is not surprising, but risking your QB every snap is a big deal.

 

[Tical21]

One of your better write-ups, well appreciated.

I wasn't quite as impressed with the pass-rush in the 1st half as you were. I could be wrong, but I thought I remembered generous pockets for Schaub to chill in for just about as long as he wanted to.

I also agree that we took the Texans' best punch and got back up off the mat. That amazing diving catch by Daniels. The catch over the middle by Daniels with Wright all over him. Broken tackles that we had bottled up. Guessing right when they dialed the blitz. I don't know that any team in the league stays with a team that was playing that well. Still don't know how we pulled this one out. I felt we got pretty well dominated most of the day. We will take it. But we've got work to do.

 

[TwistedHusky]

Throwdown,

Smith had a horrible game, but didn't he also force the fumble by Tate that started our entire turnaround?

If Tate does not fumble, the chances are that we don't win that game.


If you call someone out for their failures, you have to acknowledge where they contributed to success. The Tate fumble was as key as the Baldwin catch and the Sherman runback because it stopped a potential scoring drive (at a time they were doing whatever they wanted with us) and it led to points for us.

 

[HawkFan72]

Thanks for the write up!

I re-watched the game and I was actually surprised that I thought we weren't so terrible in the 1st Quarter. We started out the game really good on Offense and Defense. Then we had a little bend but don't break D. The offense couldn't score after the opening drive, but moved the ball a few good plays down the field. This was the #2 D in the NFL, so I was expecting a low-scoring game.

For the 1st Quarter, we led 3-0 and it was a tough-defensive battle. Not nearly as bad as I thought it was.

The 2nd quarter was atrocious. Worst football I have seen from the Seahawks in a long time.

Then after halftime our D was back.

Really we only had 1 bad quarter in this game. It was a REALLY bad quarter. If our D had played better in that 2nd quarter, I think we win this game 20-10 or something more like that.

I just don't think the 1st quarter should be lumped in there as much as it has been. It wasn't our best football, but the O made some good plays and the D didn't allow a point. Really we played 1 really bad quarter and 1 tough defensive battle quarter in the first half.

 

[Evil_Shenanigans]

Thanks again for doing this Kearly!

I mentioned in another thread how much this game reminded me of the Chicago game last year. Let’s hope it leads to the kind of late season spark that game did.

Agree with most of this regarding our newfound pass rush. Bennett’s loss was to be a big hit in this regard. Thank goodness he is alright because I think we will need him going forward. And this will just get better with Irvin back in the lineup this week! The one part I have to disagree on is Clemons. With two games under his belt now on his new knee I have to say I am quite happy he is back. His Athleticism at this point is astonishing, considering his surgically altered knee. His very presence in there I think allows McDonald, McDaniel, Bennett and Avril a lot more leeway and our Sack Production and pass rush in general is improving. Something we all were bitching about last winter.

Mebane is man! Nuff said! Game Ball to Mebane IMO.

I couldn’t agree more about the LB coverage! I posted on another thread that it almost looked like they were taking it straight to our Linebackers, Smith and Wright in particular. And it worked pretty well for ¾ of the game. Wright seems to me like the one who has had the least progression this season, with the switch to WSLB I can’t be too surprised. With Bruce coming in it could help him or maybe he is bumming about bringing Bruce to the party? Hope he gets the ship “Wrighted” and soon!

The whole LOB looked very average/terrible this whole game with one glaring exception! I posted yesterday about Earls Omnipresence in this game in particular. It seemed like every time I saw a big play from the Texans it was Earl there to end it! The fumblerooski interception was awesome too. Game ball to Earl IMO! Even Chancellor was making/missing highly uncharacteristic arm tackles??? Sherm gets a pass for his Game Tying, Back Breaking Shoeless INT/TD. Let’s hope they get a lot of film work over this one.

Hawkscanner mentioned the 1990 Chiefs game and it is sort of weird but I had just watched the Football Life episode about Derrick Thomas (epic IMO) this week and as long as I live I will never forget that game. This one started to remind me of that game as well. Wilson, running for his life, getting the hell beat out of him, but somehow miraculously able to keep things alive all on his own. Now Dave Kreig never had the moves of Russell but I think he can relate to the lack of protection Russ had Sunday. Game Ball to Russell IMO!

Doug Baldwin was once again clutch in this game. Getting used to saying that every week now. He was the sole bright spot for me in the receiving corps this game. Kudos to Houston for effectively neutralizing our receivers for most of this game.

Lynch was in full Beast Mode this game. Unfortunately he was doing so behind that Ragtag Oline. That 43 yard rumble from our goal line was for me nearly as epic as the Beast Quake and I think I was spitting Rainier all over my living room screaming my guts out as he did it. Too bad nearly all of his runs were squandered the first ¾ of this game. Robert Turbin remains a bowling ball (chuck it in there and hope for the best) for me, I don’t know what his YAC are, but they can’t be much.

I thought Special Teams play was actually a bright spot this game with the sole exception being Tate taking that kick at the 4 yard line. I like everyone, was screaming at my TV on that re-kick to stay in the end zone and then calling him a genius a few seconds later for doing so! To all those demanding that we broom our kicker for one with a better leg prior to the season, I give you Steven Hauschka, one of the best kickers in the game!

 

[Blitzhawk]

Good stuff as always.

I agree w/ others on Clem being just coming back and will take a bit to get up to full speed. I thought our pass rush lacked a bit outside of a few good pressures in the first half but we made some great adjustments there in the 2nd half. After watching a lot of Texans games, it was very evident Shaub + pressure = BAD decisions + turnovers. The 2nd half proved that theory out. I also agree on the sentiment that a lot of the team looked to be ill in some fashion; Sherm especially looked sick.

Yes the O-line needs work; we all knew having so many missing pieces was going to be brutal. I just felt like we were not doing enough to help them out and get Wilson on the move and rid of the ball faster. I thought it was great Lynch going to Wilson and telling him he was going to have take off and do his thing. The results were very obvious on the scrambles and roll outs completely changing the game in our favor. Back to the O-line, I just do not understand why people think we can somehow pickup some no name castoff from another team off the street w/ no game experience and no time learning our system and expect them to be any better than what we already have.

Overall, a very tough game that I am thrilled our guys really pulled together and never gave up. They just kept believing, fighting, and ground out a very ugly road win against all odds. This team is going places and I think we know where.

I am so proud, Go Hawks.

 

[bellingerga]

I agree wholeheartedly about Marshawn Lynch. Despite not having M-rob and having a piecemeal Oline trying to pave the way for him he's playing the best football he ever has and it's good to see someone smarter than me agree with what I've been thinking.

 

[Greenhell]

Kearly, you are da man! All of us here at .net look forward to your stuff. Thank you!