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Mistakes galore as Texans self destruct at Indy
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The Texans held Peyton Manning to 76 yards passing and no TDs in the second half (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
In the end I'm not sure whether it was the awful start, the three turnovers, the thirteen penalties, or the lack of situational awareness by the coaching staff on Ryan Moats fumble at the 1 yard line that contributed most to the Texans 14th loss against Indy in 15 tries.
I'm almost willing to let the bad start slide because the Texans fought back to take the lead and eventually had the opportunity to win.
The penalties hurt, but the Texans were able to overcome them - for the most part.
The turnovers were killer. Schaub's pick with 2:20 remaining should have ended the game, but the defense, which played much better than the early stat lines showed, gave the Texans one last chance to tie.
Kris Brown should have made the kick - no excuses - and it certainly put a damper on that 56 yarder just before half. Too bad Jim Caldwell didn't call another time out.
The play sequence that really hurt the Texans was when Ryan Moats fumbled at the 1 yard line just before the two minute warning in the first half.
Shame on Moats for pulling a Slaton, but double shame on the Texans coaching staff for lolly-gagging around and letting the clock run down to 2:00 when everyone watching the game knew it was a fumble.
Gary Kubiak has been criticized less this year for game management issues, but his (and his upstairs coaches) lack of situational awareness at that point helped to ruin a 12 play 73 yard drive that cost the Texans a touchdown at a point when the defense was gaining control and momentum was clearly shifting.
I was probably among thousands of Texans fans yelling 'run a play!' after the first replay of Moats' fumble, but instead the Texans let a good 20 seconds run off the clock to 2:00 where the play received additional scrutiny. For that, I throw the red flag at the Texans coaching staff for being asleep at the wheel. Why did the guys in the booth not see what Solomon Wilcots and everyone else was seeing?
See game photos below.
The game looked like it was going to careen out of control early and it's amazing that the Texans were able to come back and make it close.
I peeked at the game stats at the 13:01 mark of the second quarter and the Colts led in 1st downs 15-0, total yards 196-12, and passing yards 176-5 to go along with the Texans 7 penalties. If the Texans defense hadn't made two stops forcing field goals, it could have easily been 21-0 early.
This game started just like the good old days when we used to go up there and get blown out 49-14.
But credit the defense for holding tough and credit the offense for getting their act together in the second half to make a game of it. In other words, the adjustments worked. Almost.
The problem was that the Texans were their own worst enemy - again. You can overcome only so many mistakes.
Despite the early lopsidedness and Peyton's gaudy stats in the first half the Texans came back to out-gain the Colts on the day 382 to 378 and win time of possession by a whopping 9 minutes.
But stats are for losers in this case as it came down to the drive killing turnovers and inattention by the coaching staff on Moats' fumble that ultimately doomed the Texans.
The Texans o-line kept Schaub fairly clean, allowing only two sacks but Schaub clearly missed Owen Daniels. New starting tight end Joel Dreessen had only two catches for 15 yards.
It's going to be a long two weeks to carry this bad taste around. No moral victories. We've been down that road too many times.
The Texans should have won this game today and they know it. At 6-3 they could have solidified their playoff position but they didn't. Instead, they fall behind San Diego who's now in the 6th seed and into a mix with three teams at 4-4.
The only way to avenge this loss is to win the next two against the Titans and Colts. That would put the Texans back on track at 7-4, give them a 3-2 record in division and 6-3 in conference as they head into another revenge game at Jacksonville.
If I'm Gary Kubiak giving the guys the bye week farewell speech on Monday, I'm giving them that goal upon returning to work.
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