The Day After the Day After…when the raw, immediate emotions from the aftermath of a game diminish into the realm of clarity and the proverbial (or literal) hangover no longer haunts the mind. With that, a review of Week 4
(Lack of) Secondary Communication: Coming into this season, most would rate the Texans secondary like the air defenses for a major capitol city. Now, that air-defense more like Baghdad circa 1991/2003. A big reason for that this game was a lack of communication/awareness between
pass defenders. How many times did a corner stay with CeeDee Lamb to start a play, but then pass him off for help, only for that safety not to be there? On numerous plays, guys like Jalen Pitre didn’t seem to know where to go or who to cover, caught in no-man’s-land. Given the experience of the players and time together, this seems inconceivable, and yet, you saw what happened this past game.
Kickoff coverage? Nope!: Houston faced a bit of a tough special teams dilemma. A touchback would give the Cowboys possession at the 35. Yet, the Cowboys also possess one of the top kick-returners in the game in KaVontae Turpin. Fairbairn’s first kickoff landed in the end zone, giving the Cowboys the ball at the 35, setting up a FG drive. After that, Fairbairn’s kickoffs forced returns. Yet, the Texans kick-coverage could not effectively contain Turpin, as he averaged over 29 yards/return, negating any advantage Houston had in forcing returns.
The 4th-Year Curse: This is Ryans’ fourth year at the helm. An 0-4 start and now left to run a team that is likely playing out the string already. Yet, Ryans wouldn’t be the first to suffer a cursed fourth season. What’s happened with the other coaches in their fourth year:
- Dom Capers: 4th season 2005: Started 0-6, finished 2-14 and promptly fired. This coming into a season where Houston was expected to at least get a winning record
- Gary Kubiak: 4th season 2009: Started with a head-scratching 24-7 loss to the Jets. Finished 9-7, but lost the tiebreaker for a playoff berth. Followed up with a bewildering 6-10 year.
- Bill O’Brien: 4th season 2017: Started 3-3, but lost rookie QB Deshaun Watson, as well as DEs JJ Watt and Whitney Mercilus for the year via injury. Expected to be a playoff contender, fell to 4-12.
Still early(ish) for Ryans in Year 4, but as of now, not looking great at this point in his tenure.
THE CRITICAL PLAY(S):
- 3rd Qtr (6:59) DAL ball at the HOU 4, 4th and Goal: Prescott pass incomplete. Penalty on Lassiter (Defensive Holding).
- 4th Qtr (14:00) DAL ball at the HOU 41, 2nd and 18: Prescott short pass to CeeDee Lamb for 20 yards
The key plays for this game rested in the second half. For the first play, Houston’s defense was on its heels, but after Dallas got the ball to the HOU 4, it stiffened. After some solid pressure from Will Anderson Jr. Prescott threw an incomplete pass which seemed to end the drive. Unfortunately, for Houston, Lassiter got called for defensive holding. Of Houston’s 13 flags, this might have been the most critical. A goal-line stand here might have gotten the defense back on track for the second half, and momentum would have switched to Houston, which still had that 10-point lead. Instead, Houston’s offense back on the field, Dallas converted the next play, and a 23-13 lead became 23-20.
In the 4th quarter. After Dallas crossed midfield, they were hit with consecutive penalties of holding and a false start, costing them 15 yards. A short pass left the Cowboys with a 2nd and 18 at the HOU 41. By this point, the defense was reeling, but with a 2nd and long, Houston could see a way to stem Dallas momentum, limiting them to a FG attempt. However, on that 2nd and 18, Prescott found Lamb for a short pass along the left part of the field. By the time a Texans’ defender got close, Lamb converted that 1st down. After the tackle, the defensive backs for Houston looked at each other, wondering if there had been a bust of some sort. The go-ahead TD shortly followed. Suddenly, a 10-point halftime deficit became a 4-point Dallas lead. Houston did regain the lead, but the strategic control of the game rested with Dallas after Houston failed to stop a long conversion.
FUN WITH NUMBERS:
4: Number of times the Texans have started a season 0-4. The seasons: 2005, 2008, 2020, 2026. The end results: 2005: 2-14; 2008: 8-8; 2020: 4-12; 2026: TBD. Two of those seasons Houston fire the head coaches (Capers 2005, O’Brien 2020).
64: Total rushing yards/game since Week 1 for Houston: Ed Ingram was back for this game, but Houston still did not get much going on the ground with only 62 yards rushing. If you look at just the RBs in this stretch, that number is down to 40.7 yards/game. You won’t win many games getting that sort of production from your primary runners.
GAME BALLS:
QB CJ Stroud: Hard to figure what more he could have done in this game aside from hit the greatest Hail Mary in Texans history in this game. Going 21/31 for 347 yards and 2 TD should’ve sufficed. Oh, and Stroud has zero turnovers since Week 1.
WRs Nico Collins/Jaylin Noel: Collins’ return (7 receptions/118 yards/2 TDs) was huge, but Noel had quite the multi-faceted game: 3 receptions/83 yards, 1 rush/4 yards, 4 kickoff returns/106 yards, including a critical 53-yard return in the 3rd quarter. This was the type of game that Houston’s brain-trust when he was drafted last season.
DE Will Anderson Jr.: He did his usual “make life [KITTEN]” for whatever lineman had to try to stop him, (5 tackles/3 solo, 0.5 sacks/1 TFL/5 QB hits). Oh, and he got a FG block. Can he cover WR1?
Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb: 17 receptions for 189 yards and the game-winning TD. Yep.
SHOULD BE FORCED TO LISTEN TO EVERY SINGLE JERRY JONES PRESS CONFERENCE/SPEECH ON REPEAT WHILE SURROUNDED BY ALL OF THE EMERGENT “DEM BOYZ! IT’S OUR YEAR!” FAIR-WEATHER FANS
DC Matt Burke/Secondary Coach Dino Vasso: The coverage schemes and plans were as bad as ever seen with this regime. Especially in the middle of the field, players did not know where to cover or be on a given play. Sure, the vaunted 2025 defense would usually allow that one receiver to go off (Nakua, McBride, etc). Yet, the defense seemed incapable of making adjustments. Prescott wasn’t fooled and while facing pressure, the defense could not stop the Prescott-Lamb connection. Also, the scheme had times when a LB was on a Cowboys’ receiver (as when Lamb had a 17-yard catch-and-run to set up a TD). Really? Sure, there were a couple of luck plays where batted balls or QB hits ended up in positive receptions, but the Texans’ pass defense allowed way too many big chunk pass plays.
CB Kamari Lassiter: Surrendered over 136 receiving alone. Called for the back-breaking Defensive Holding on what should have been a goal-line stand for Houston in the 3rd quarter. Throw in that ridiculous Pickins 46-yard reception, and it wasn’t his day.
DB Jalen Pitre: Made some critical mistakes. None more so than going with such soft coverage on Lamb on the game-winning TD for the Cowboys. Maybe that was the defensive call, but you can’t give Lamb that kind of space and expect to get away with it. Throw in a missed INT that might have sealed the game on the final drive, and he too had a bad day.
Whoever thought it was a good idea for the Cowboys to try two 60+ yard FG in the second quarter. Aubrey is one of the better kickers out there, but two 60+ yard FG attempts? If Dallas lost, those two decisions would have loomed much larger. A FG block and a clear miss. Dallas was lucky they only surrendered 6 total points after those.
With this loss, Houston falls to 0-4. At this point, all of the hopes and dreams coming into the season are effectively dead. Still, there are 13 more games left in the season. Houston will attempt to at least get into the non-losing column with a trip to the 0-4 Tennessee Titans. For some reason, this game will kick-off at noon CDT on CBS/Paramount+, and not at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night on your local public-access channel. See you there, I guess.
