These things seem to happen once a year. Last year it was an undermanned Baltimore Ravens team winding up on the business end of a 44-10 drubbing at the hands of the Texans. The final score will say 44-22 in this one, but it really wasn’t that close. The Texans were up 38-9 at one point, but allowed two fourth quarter touchdowns in garbage time to make the score look a lot more respectable than it otherwise would have. As blowouts go, this one was as complete a blowout as you can have.
This puts your
Houston Texans in the unenviable positions of scoring more points than their opponents this season, but winding up with a 3-5 record. I suppose that’s what happens when two of your three wins come by blow out. It also means that the final numbers may not completely reflect what went on in the game today. However, we look at things in the aggregate and with each passing game the aggregate seems to be more and more accurate.
So, the numbers for this game may not be completely indicative of what went on for the better part of three quarters, but when we look at the whole season in the same prism we suddenly see some definite trends on both sides of the ball. Since this one was a blowout win we get the great, good, and bad in addition to a special look at C.J. Stroud.
Key Numbers
Total Yards: Texans 66/485, Chargers 68/315
Rushing Yards: Texans 28/104, Chargers 30/138
Passing Yards: Texans 38/381, Chargers 38/177
Third Downs: Texans 8/14, Chargers 5/17
Fourth Downs: Texans 0/0, Chargers 2/4
Sacks: Texans 8, Chargers 1
Turnovers: Texans 1, Chargers 2
Time of Possession: Texans 28:33, Chargers 31:27
We will get into the nitty gritty on some of these numbers when we look at the great, good, and bad, but I think these numbers show the value of looking at some numbers with a grain of salt. Yes, the Chargers scored some points and gained some yards in the fourth quarter but they are what some people would call empty calories. This game looked more like what we might expect from the Texans and we will just leave it at that.
The Great
This one was an offensive win and that has been the case for most of the season when the Texans have won. It will be a game that Nick Caley puts on his resume when he is undoubtedly looking for work in the offseason. I say that partially with tongue firmly planted in cheek, but also out frustration. There are moments when he seems to get it and this was one of those moments. He clearly put the game in Stroud’s hands and he was rewarded handsomely.
In particular, game balls go to Keshaon Boutte and Tank Dell after both eclipsed 100 yards as Texans and scored three of the five offensive touchdowns. Boutte in particular has largely been a disappointment after coming over shortly before the season in a trade, but he made good on his presence with this effort. Like with the Caley offense as a whole, his totals on the season will suddenly look respectable and will make statheads like me wonder why everyone wants him gone.
We know the NFL is a week to week league and that is particularly true with Caley and the offense. He might choose to go jumbo again and gain two yards and a cloud of dust. However, this feels like something they should build on and we can only hope that he does that next week when they play Cleveland.
The Good
The Texans do three things well on defense and they are all interrelated. Unfortunately, for much of the season two of those seemed to take a hiatus. They have been able to get after the quarterback consistently and as we are waiting for Monday night to be completed, they are poised to take over the league lead in sacks. Having eight sacks in a football game has a way of vaulting you into the top spot.
The other two have been more elusive. They have been great at making opposing quarterbacks miserable. That tends to come hand in hand with the pressure, but the Texans have gotten their sacks this year without making their opponents miserable. Herbert was miserable today and that brought us the third part of the triangle. They turned the Chargers over two times. When you throw in the failed fourth down plays and it ends up being what felt like four turnovers on the day.
The two touchdowns given up came on explosives and that seems to be the achilles heel of the Texans. However, if you are able to have as many negative plays as the Texans had and create the turnovers they did then you can live with the occasional explosive. It is when they have played bend but don’t break that those explosives have seemed that much more glaring.
The Bad
The rushing output included 20 yards on two carries from Stroud. That’s 26 carried and 84 yards for the remainder of the carriers. My math skills are a little shaky, but that looks like just over three yards a carry. Earlier in the week, a reporter asked Caley about his tendencies to run it to to the right side of the line. On brand, Caley said he wasn’t aware of that because he didn’t have the numbers. Another reporter looked it up and spouted out the 73 percent count within minutes of the original question.
Does it matter that they run it that often to the right side? I suppose one could argue that their better blockers are on that side so it makes perfect sense. Still, this is a larger issue than that simple question and the response to it. This team seems blissfully unaware of their own tendencies. Opponents can look up that information in the blink of an eye. Why are you unaware of it? It’s hard to crticize a coordinator after his team scores 44 points. It’s hard to criticize him when they are close to top ten in points per game. Yet, it is things like this that make you wonder if he is in over his head.
Focus on Stroud
Each week in the NFL is a data point and we should always remember that whether a quarterback looks great or terrible. He was officially 21 for 35 (60.0) for 384 yards, five touchdowns, and one interception. That is good for a passer rating of 125.5. It’s not a perfect rating. If he hadn’t thrown the pick it likely would have been a statistically perfect performance from him.
Even though it is a single data point, it is another data point showing that Stroud is indeed a franchise quarterback. The look at the running game above is simple proof that this team is going as far as Stroud can take them. Can he take them to the playoffs without the defense being good? I suppose we are about to find out. The fear is that Caley and Ryans will turtle again and try to become that smash mouth football team that no one has seen in Houston since Arian Foster roamed the plains.
Those keeping up at home, that means that Stroud has thrown for 2251 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. This is effectively the halfway point of the season, so he is on pace to eclipse 4000 yards and 30 touchdown passes. Will he do it? That remains to be seen. It depends on whether he can stay healthy and whether Caley will commit to letting Stroud cook. I still have my doubts because every time it feels like they have turned a corner they revert back to the same crap they did before. Here is hoping it’s different this time.
