Nov 17, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub (8) attempts a pass during the third quarter against the Oakland Raiders at Reliant Stadium. The Raiders defeated the Texans 28-23. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Greetings Texans Fans!
Another exciting first half another heart wrenching, mind blowing second half painful test for the Texans faithful.
My phone lit up when Matt Schaub went under center, everyone wondering if Case Keenum was injured.
He was not.
Instead head coach Gary Kubiak decided that No. 8 was the right move.
He was not.
Schaub was not for all the same reasons he was benched to begin with. Immobile, hesitant and too reliant on Andre Johnson. I believe Kubiak pulled Keenum with the belief it would force the defense to stop the mad rushing, and even if they rushed Schaub would stand in the pocket and fire the ball off as intended instead of trying to force the issue.
This wasn’t bad thinking on one half, as the Oakland Raiders did back off part of the time, and Schaub was able to get the ball down to the red zone. Something Keenum’s been unable to do so far in the second half of games.
However, each trip was less then needed, two field goals (shout out to Randy Bullock, good kicking now build on this please) and a pass to Johnson, that was so bad, Andre uncharacteristically got into a shouting match with Schaub on the sidelines as the game ended. I think it’s a really good thing this was a home game, that flight back home would have been very awkward.
Overall the defensive line did a good job of holding the Raiders running game back, sans that wildcat bulldozer over DJ Swearinger. Nothing humbles you like getting steamrolled to focus you.
Going forward if I’m the opposing team I just figure out where Brice McCain is and I pick on him all game long. Win.
Defensively, the line is a shambles so rush and rush hard. I think that it’s not out of bounds to consider a major cleaning of the staff and lineup is coming.
Kubiak isn’t able to fix this mess, he lost the fans by bringing Schaub into the game today and the teams inability to make second half adjustments is embarrassing. I still do not blame Keenum for these losses. He has room to go, but he’s shown he has the ability make magic, but he needs a better front line and the coaches need to adjust better to the blitzing. My fear is we’ll learn Schaub is starting against Indianapolis. That will be a very hard game to watch.
The bright side to all this? We improved our draft position! Go us.
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