Texans morning huddle: Extra point casualty, 3-3 the goal?
By Randy Gurzi
It’s Wednesday Texans fans! Half way through the grind and one day closer to some more NFL action! I think we have all enjoyed the high of the winner longer than soaking in the sting of defeat! But now it is time to start looking ahead some and thinking about the next game!
Today’s links do have a quick look back at what the offense did better, but there is also some discussion about where the team is headed going forward. Enjoy;
Breakfast: 8 things Ryan Mallett did better – by Drew Dougherty, HoustonTexans.com
"The Texans won Sunday, and did so because of many reasons. The defense allowed just 9 points. Alfred Blue churned out 139 yards on 31 carries. Quintin Demps picked off a pass. DeAndre Hopkins caught a touchdown and seven other passes en route to a 101-yard outburst.Those are just a few, and there are still many others.Among them? Ryan Mallett’s improved performance. Head coach Bill O’Brien stressed “that there are certainly things to improve on” for his quarterback. But he then he listed 8 reasons Mallett performed better in Week 3 as opposed to in the past.1. “I thought he managed the game better.”2. “I think he got us into the right play better.”3. “I thought his mechanics were better.”4. “He was tighter in the pocket.”"
3-3 start should be Texans’ goal – by Brian T. Smith, Houston Chronicle
"The last time I asked Bill O’Brien to look ahead, he kept repeating the same phrase over and over, sounding like an expensive toy robot who was missing a couple of cheap wires.Kansas City. The Chiefs. The Kansas City Chiefs, O’Brien sternly said in perfectly malfunctioning coach-speak.The Texans lost that one in Week 1, then bungled their way through another defeat. So I let O’Brien off the hook Monday, allowing him to soak up the afterglow of barely beating Tampa Bay for the Texans’ first victory of the season.If O’Brien was more inclined to casual ruminations, though, this is what I would’ve asked on a day the Rockets returned to life and the Astros kept fighting for the playoffs: What do you think about 3-3?Because that’s exactly what the Texans need to be aiming for right now.Average after six weeks isn’t attractive, and it sure as heck isn’t sexy. But for a team that’s already lost Arian Foster, changed starting quarterbacks and interchanged almost its entire offensive line, 3-3 would be livable and almost acceptable with 10 games remaining."
Texans waive kicker Randy Bullock, sign veteran Nick Novak – by Tania Ganguli, ESPN
"The NFL’s longer extra point has claimed its first casualty.The Houston Texans waived kicker Randy Bullock on Tuesday and signed veteran Nick Novak to replace him.Bullock has missed two extra points in the Texans’ first three games and missed a 43-yard field goal on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.Bullock is the only kicker this season to have missed more than one extra-point attempt. During the past two seasons, Bullock was 66-for-66 on extra-point attempts.Bullock was a 2012 fifth-round draft pick by the Texans out of Texas A&M and spent his rookie year on injured reserve.In 2013, he made 26 of 35 attempted field goals. Though some called for his replacement, then-coach Gary Kubiak stood by Bullock. It paid off in 2014, when Bullock made 30 of 35 field goals, including 4 of 5 from 50 yards or longer. He also set a franchise record in Week 16 of the 2014 season when he made 6 of 6 field goals against the Baltimore Ravens."