Battle Red Blog
Last week I introduced the stages of suck. I’m not going to reiterate all of the stages again. Suffice it to say, we are in the questioning stage. We have open questions on a number of people in the organization. Each week is a referendum on those questions. In order to simplify this process, I am going to look at four figures within the organization and simply update their status from week to week. We start with week four.
As usual, we start with the top of the totem pole. The Texans came through with a 26-0 victory on Sunday, so the reflexive reaction would be to assume that everyone looks better in the questioning phase. That is not necessarily the case. In fact, for Caserio there are a couple of major news stories that make him look worse. We should start with the biggest news first.
We know two things about Joe Mixon. First, he missed the first four games of the season. Secondly, he will not be back until at least mid October based on the Texans own statements. From there, it is wildly speculated that he will not play in 2025 at all. This rant has nothing to do with whether they tell us that or not. Organizations have rules they have to follow and as long as they are following the rules on injury reporting, they don’t have to provide the public with any additional information.
They knew what was going on with him. They knew and did absolutely nothing. They did absolutely nothing while watching Dameon Pierce not perform all preseason. They did nothing while watching Dare Ogunbowale fumble late in week one and get blown up in pass protection in week two. They are continuing to do nothing now. Criticism should always be based on process and not results. They may have lucked into Woody Marks being ready to do more than they thought, but there is no way they could have known that in August. What they did know in August is that Mixon might not be available all season. So, their lead back is gone in a season where you had conference championship aspirations. That’s not a good look.
Then, earlier this week, the Texans traded Cam Robinson to the Cleveland Browns. At first blush, it would seem to be a positive move. You get a pick swap and cut some payroll. However, most of his 2025 salary was actually signing bonus. So, you have now traded Robinson and cut C.J. Gardner-Johnson and are on the hook for a good portion of their contracts. Robinson played all of one game and played it poorly. Also not a good look.
The stock is way up on Ryans and it has little to do with the 26-0 win. Quite frankly, you are supposed to beat teams like the Titans. What I wanted to know was what he planned to do when things went sideways. The offense was going...
