For the second consecutive week, the Texans were blown out by an NFC West opponent, 38-13 at home to St. Louis. Last Sunday, it was a 34-3 road embarrassment at San Francisco. Schaub didn’t light up the Rams before they knocked him out with a right ankle injury in the third quarter, but what backup T.J. Yates did after Schaub left provided another twist in Houston’s QB drama.
As Schaub was helped off the field, the forced change to Yates brought some cheers, not surprising for a fan base that’s been burning jerseys and trying to stalk the starter. Yates’ time as the most popular Texan was short-lived, however, as he ended a potential touchdown drive with an interception returned for a 98-yard Rams touchdown. That made it five consecutive games where Texans quarterbacks were “pick sixed”, and for good measure, Yates threw another red zone INT on the next possession.
It’s true Schaub hasn’t been good, and Yates just looked worse. But the stark reality is the Texans have a lot more fundamental football issues that even turning to Plan C at QB (Case Keenum, anyone?) won’t allow them to solve in a hurry.
Given the scores of the past two games and blowing a 20-3 lead against Seattle in Week 4, defense is a major culprit. The Texans went into Sunday’s game ranked No. 29 against the run, 22 notches worse than 2012 and allowed rookie Zac Stacy (18 carries, 79 yards) to wake up a dormant Rams rushing attack.
Because of that number, the Texans can’t tee off with the pass rush the way they usually do with Wade Phillips’ 3-4 pressure packages. No pressure in turns leads to an inability to force turnovers. While Schaub and Yates have been picked off left and right, the Texans’ defense is stuck on just two interceptions. Rams quarterback Sam Bradford isn’t elite by any means, and they didn’t sack or pick him once.
At the same time, the Texans can neither protect the ball or their own quarterbacks. Schaub (who was hurt after being dropped by Chris Long) and Yates were sacked a combined five times. They have given up 17 overall in six games, after just giving up 28 in all of ’13.
Neither Schaub nor Yates was responsible for the fumble wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins lost in the red zone to help dig the Texans’ hole. Or the one by kickoff returner Keshawn Martin that the Rams scooped up for a put-away touchdown. Houston came in minus-11 in turnover margin, tied for 29th in the league, and left minus-15. Consider the Texans were a terrific plus-12 a season ago.
One more thing that goes with a pattern of sloppy play we have seen from other melting down teams in ’13 (see the Giants and Steelers): Penalties. The Texans went another 7 for 95 after being ranked third in penalty yards and tied for fourth in penalties accepted.
The Texans are coming off their first two playoff appearances as division winners, but given some established AFC powers (Denver, New England) and other rising ones (Indianapolis) there was still a sense their Super Bowl window was in danger of being shut in 2013. Time also wasn’t on the side of several longtime Texans, such as wide receiver Andre Johnson.
But all the glass in that pane has shattered, and the growing lowlight reel of interceptions is just the rotten cherry on a sour sundae.
The Texans built their team to support the quarterback, not to be carried by him. Even when Schaub and Yates are efficient and effective, they need the running game, protection and receivers to be executing at a high level. Arian Foster got going against the Rams, but little else worked around the quarterback. The Texans’ positives of pass defense and rushing offense have been far outweighed.
As good as Schaub was in rallying the Texans’ from big deficits for their only two wins in the first two weeks over San Diego and Tennessee, the team isn’t set up to win shootouts. When everything starts to break down early, you have the snowball effect of the ugly losses to San Francisco and St. Louis.
The Texans are bound to reboot with another quarterback in 2014, but will also require a little more rebuilding than they would like. The face of the franchise, defensive end J.J. Watt, is very young, but their offense has gotten a little stale, as evidenced by the stagnant losses to the Ravens and Patriots in the playoffs. Given how poor their coaching has been this season, they need to think about that overhaul, including head coach Gary Kubiak.
Next week, the Texans get the worst possible matchup for an undisciplined team with quarterback, pass protection and run defense issues: at 6-0 Kansas City. The surprising Chiefs are what the disappointing Texans used to be—a conservative, effective run-heavy West Coast offense with a disruptive 3-4 defense.
Houston has lost that identity, and with Indianapolis coming out strong as the new class of South, it already may be too late to rediscover it this season, regardless of it’s Schaub, Yates or even Keenum under center.
It would be convenient to use the clichéd line from Apollo 13 to point just to Houston’s QBs. Unfortunately, that’s far from the only thing the Texans need to save a failed mission.
Rams at Texans highlights
