Battle Red Blog
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 11:
Sometimes, rookies play like rookies: This season, Houston has relied on its rookies to help carry the squad, especially on offense. However, there were moments on Sunday when you learn that rookies will act like rookies, even as the most inopportune times. In the 1st half, rookies Woody Marks and Aireontae Ersery showed that for all of the progress they’ve made, they still have some critical lessons to learn. On the opening drive, when Houston seemingly lucked out of a missed FG into a 4th and Goal at the TEN 1, Marks missed a critical blitz up the middle. While the play design was meant as a play-action pass, the Titans blitzer was right in the line of Marks’ sight. He did not so much as even check him, and Mills could only run backwards to fall into a brutal sack. Then, in the second quarter, with the Texans inside of FG range, on a 3rd down play, Ersery made a fundamental error in pass-blocking, allowing himself to get perpendicular to the line of scrimmage, allowing the Titans’ DE to simply power past him to sack Mills again, knocking Houston out of scoring range. Those two busted blocking plays cost Houston a chance at 10 points, turning what should have been a comfortable win into a dramatic battle.
The Houston Defense; good to great but not always clutch. No shock that Houston possesses one of the best defenses in the game. They exit Week 11 leading the league in yards and points allowed. This team will go as far as the defense can take them, especially with the offensive performances this season. Usually, they play pretty well. In particular, the D-Line forced at least three false start penalties on the Titans’ Oline…in Nashville. However, the vaunted defense had some all-too-mortal moments in the game. A 40% 3rd down conversion rate isn’t optimal, especially for a team that relies so much on its defense. What proved especially galling is that Houston allowed the Titans to convert on multiple 3rd and 10+ yard situations. Two of those were on scoring drives for the Titans. Then you had the final Titans’ drive. Tennessee, the worst team in the league, had to go 95 yards against the top defense in the league to score the tying or go-ahead TD. Usually, you would take Houston’s defense in that situation. However, for the 3rd time this season, Houston’s defense allowed a team trailing or tied to move down the field to score inside of the 2-minute warning. At least Houston got the chance to respond on offense.
The Decisive Play
3rd and 16 at the HOU 42, :50, 4th Quarter; Davis Mills pass to Nico Collins for 17 yards.
Sure, you could look to a number...
