The Houston Texans fought hard and made progress against the 49ers when it all collapsed.
After a tough loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the Houston Texans will learn a lot from this game and apply it into their final game of this season and the one after it. There was hope that David Culley’s crew could get it done. The fact that this game was a power struggle for most of it shows that Houston has come further than anyone expected.
There were also old habits emerging again, and everyone knows the saying “old habits die hard.” So this was one of the biggest takeaways that emerged from the game and one that’ll be covered here today.
The defense did its best against a playoff-hopeful team until they didn’t, and even the lone touchdown drive provided a lesson as well. Without any further hesitation, here’s the first lesson learned:
Lesson number one: Tim Kelly sabotaged the gameplan
Those who remember the first two drives of the game recall that the Houston Texans offensive coordinator Tim Kelly called six-consecutive running plays with Rex Burkhead. Both resulted in three-and-outs.
Trying to establish the run is essential early in games; however, the first rush of the game went for -4 yards. So why try to run two more times after that? It’s not like San Francisco was going to give that to you, as they only allowed one 100-yard rushing day to the Seattle Seahawks in their last seven games.
Then came the stretch where everything was a slant or a screen-and no deep shots were taken at all. This has to happen when Brandin Cooks and Nico Collins are on the roster. Yes, Justin Forsett missed the game- that isn’t an excuse not to attack it multiple times.
If this offense is going to evolve, Houston will have to ditch Kelly and improve its offensive line.