Week 4 was a Sunday that Houston Texans players, management, and fans would all love to forget.
The Houston Texans knew they had a tall task to beat the Buffalo Bills on Sunday afternoon in Buffalo. What many did not know was that the tall task would turn into a rough game for the Texans. The Bills shutout the Texans, 40-0 and the losing team seemed out of place the entire game.
Houston’s offense was non-existent, their defense was incapable of stopping the Bills offense, and they looked as if they were clearly overmatched while making mistake after mistake.
Here are grades for the 40-point loss.
OFFENSE (D)
In this game the only positive for the Houston Texans on offense is that wide receiver Brandin Cooks once again proved he is the lone playmaker on this team. Everything else should be looked at as a failure for this offense.
The passing game was unwatchable as rookie quarterback Davis Mills completed 11 passes for a brutal 87 yards. Mills also handed over four interceptions to the Buffalo defense. The young quarterback looked overwhelmed by the Bills defense and it clearly showed on the stat sheet.
The run game was just as bad for the Texans as the team only managed 48 yards rushing on 18 attempts. If this team has any plans moving forward to compete in games, their rushing attack needs to improve in a hurry.
This offensive performance was non-competitive. It did the Texans no favors and the total lack of production by this offensive unit shows how far behind the Texans really are on that side of the football.
DEFENSE (D)
This defense was put through the gauntlet on Sunday’s matchup against Josh Allen and the Bills. They allowed a total of 450 yards against them and also did so by allowing 40 points against.
If this defense wants to be any help to the Texans down the road, they must improve on their performance from Sunday. A positive is that the Texans were able to sack Josh Allen once, get an interception, plus cause three fumbles. The downside to that is they were unable to recover any of those fumbles that were forced.
The Houston Texans defense looked overmatched against the Bills high powered offense. This game truly showed how far the Texans defense needs to improve to get back to their winning ways.
Houston Texans: Special teams graded the best for Week 4
SPECIAL TEAMS (C)
In games like this one, it can be hard to find positives to take away. The special teams unit for the Texans would have to be those positives.
Punter Cameron Johnston was a busy man on Sunday. He had to punt the ball a total of five times, but he did average 50 yards per punt. These punts did help the Texans gain some breathing room when the Bills got possession. Unfortunately, the defense was unable to capitalize on the field position situations.
The coverage team did well at keeping the Bills from creating big plays on either the punt return or kick return. It can be a surprise when there are blowouts and big plays on special teams are not a part of that.
The special teams for the Texans performed decent enough to earn the highest grade of the on-field units from the game on Sunday.
COACHING STAFF (D)
The Texans coaching staff isn’t to fully blame for their embarrassing 40-0 loss on Sunday. At the end of the day, the players did not execute on the field.
Where head coach David Cully and his staff lost the game was the adjustments. They seemed to be invisible and unproductive. Even late in the game, the Bills were still able to instill their game plan and do whatever they wanted to do out on the field.
The worst part about the loss was seeing the Texans break on each phase of the game. The offense sputtered and was unable to create any points on the board. The defense found no gameplan or adjustments to slow down the Bills offensive attack.
The Houston Texans coaching staff looked as if they were unable to adapt to the situation they were handed, and it clearly showed with the 40-point defeat.
The coaches will definitely need to watch the film, get back to work, and develop their players and gameplan for next week’s contest.