Booty makes a case for Texans backup quarterback job

Dan Orlovsky was struggling early in training camp.

Everyone who attended the open sessions saw it.  Orlovsky couldn't throw the simplest screen without it diving into the ground it seemed.

Overcorrection is what I was thinking at the time, since what got Orlovsky into trouble last preseason was sailing passes and getting them picked off.

Fast forward to the second quarter last night.

Orlovsky had been humming along relatively well in the first three preseason games - as much as Dan O can - but then the wheels came off.

The Texans were pinned deep in their end on their first drive of the second quarter but Orlovsky led them down the field on what looked like a very promising drive.

Passes to Jack Corcoran for 13 yards, James Casey for 7, Garrett Graham for 25, and Casey again for 7 and 11 yards put the Texans in position for what looked to be the go-ahead score.

The Texans even went for it on a 4th and 1 at the Bucs 24.  That turned out to be the play where we found out later that Jeremiah Johnson dislocated his toe and would be missing some time.  Everyone in the house was hoping for a field goal attempt. 

Orlovsky had it humming to the point where I said something to the effect that "Orlovsky's been looking pretty good lately" just before Corey Lynch took an errant Orlovsky lob over the middle 91 yards to the house.

I also said "man he holds the ball for a long time" about two seconds before the pick-6.

I don't know what went off in Orlovsky's head last night but he reverted to his 2009 preseason ways (which led to him losing his job to Rex Grossman) by not taking care of the ball.  Both picks (both by Lynch on consecutive drives) were balls that sailed.  I'd rather see him throwing into the dirt like early in camp.

Actually I'd like to see the Texans have a real backup quarterback.  All last night showed was confirmation that the Texans are hosed if Matt Schaub goes down for any length of time.

Enter John David Booty or "JDB" as the public address announcer called him.

Booty came out on the first drive of the second half and led the Texans to a nice 8 play, 64 yards scoring drive in 3:45.

Booty was crisp and his tempo was good.  It gave me the feeling that Kubiak must have really lit into the offense in the locker room at halftime because unlike the first half, there was a whole lot of energy out there.

The highlight of the scoring drive was Booty hanging in the pocket and getting crushed by a blitzer as he  lobbed a nice ball to Bobby Williams who made a great catch for a 32 yard TD that drew the Texans to within 17-7.

Booty, who has been limited in preseason because of a sore shoulder, then engineered another scoring drive to make the score 17-10. 

Booty had a bit of a wild streak of his own as the second half progressed, missing receivers badly on several occasions.  But he did enough to bring the Texans back to the point where they had a chance to win the game.

Extras

• Sherrick McManis and Jacques Reeves struggled Thursday night.  Both were beat for 19 and 16 yard pass plays on the Bucs opening drive.  McManis looked ridiculously bad on the Bucs second TD with 0:28 remaining in the half.  He had good enough position, but his you're not going to make a play with your back to the QB like that.  He didn't have a clue that the ball was coming his way.  McManis made up for it somewhat when he made a good play on a deep cover in front of the Texans bench at 13:28 in the 4th.  Reeves was lit up on the Bucs final TD drive, giving up 50 yards of real estate on two deep passes including the TD from Carpenter to Benn (yeah, who?).
• After not seeing Dorin Dickerson for two weeks, he was used extensively last night.  He had a beautiful catch along the Bucs sideline with 5:44 remaining in the game.
• The lame ignorance of Texans fans showed again, as some in the south endzone started the wave when the Texans had the ball and were driving to tie the game late.  Yeah, I know it was only preseason and it was late but still...
• I was surprised to hear Kubiak's comments on Dickerson during the ride home.  Coach is not thrilled with some of the things DD is doing.  'He's a rookie,' said Kubiak in a frustrated tone.
• The Texans running back situation is dire.  We'll have to wait and see how long Jeremiah Johnson will be out but expect a free agent signing or a waiver wire pickup in the next few days.  And cross your fingers that Arian Foster stays healthy and that Steve Slaton can return to at least serviceable form.

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