NFL power rankings: Texans take a dip
By Randy Gurzi
Last week we looked at where the Houston Texans stood in terms of NFL power rankings by the various experts in the media. The general consensus was the team was around number 20 before the season started.
This week the Houston Texans dropped in every single ranking out there. The dip is not unexpected as the offense struggled for much of their game against Kansas City.
Let’s take a look at where the team landed;
"Brian Hoyer or Ryan Mallett? Hoyer’s 12.3 Total QBR in Week 1 was second worst in the NFL. Mallett posted an 85.9 QBR in relief."
Elliot Harrison of NFL.com: 25
"Sorry you had to sit through those first three quarters, Texans fans. Despite all the talk about the quarterback position in Houston, Kansas City’s offense did what it wanted to do against the vaunted Texans defense. One play that particularly stood out was Travis Kelce’s second touchdown, a long catch-and-run with the closest Houston defender having a beer at Gilley’s. (Sadly, yet, it’s still closed.) Back to QB spot for a second: The new equation seems to be BH + W1 = RM. (At least that’s my feeling.)"
Sean Tomlinson of Bleacher Report: 32
"The Houston Texans have a group of replacement-level quarterbacks, and that’s being generous. Brian Hoyer received the first start by default. He played only three full quarters, which is a problem because a football game is four quarters long.Hoyer was horrendously ineffective before being yanked in favor of Ryan Mallett during the fourth quarter of a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. As if trying to get his awfulness out of the way immediately, Hoyer threw a pick-six on his first pass attempt. He turned the ball over twice inside of his own 15-yard line and completed only 52.9 percent of his passes.The Texans need either Hoyer or Mallett to emerge as an adequate game manager. Right now, that still seems like a pretty tough ask."
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk: 21
"Maybe they should have jumped on Matt Cassel, after all."
Frank Schwab of Yahoo Sports: 23
"Sunday was another reminder of how badly the Texans screwed up the 2014 draft. They still don’t have a quarterback. The Brian Hoyer thing didn’t even last four quarters before he was yanked. And this season, they’ll still probably win enough games that they won’t be able to draft one of the top quarterbacks in 2016."