Texans Offense A Let Down vs Broncos! Red Zone Woes & What’s Next? Playoff Hopes Fading?

Texans Offense A Let Down vs Broncos! Red Zone Woes & What’s Next? Playoff Hopes Fading?

It feels like the playoff hopes are over with the disappointing loss versus Denver behind another offensive letdown after losing CJ’s trial to a concussion. You are Locked on Texans, your daily podcast on the Houston Texans, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Battery nation from Ace Town to your town. Today’s episode and every episode of Locked on Texans podcast is for Texan fans all around from Htown to North Carolina all the way to California, even up to Denver. Today’s show is for you guys. Not a victory Monday. It is a disappointing loss Monday, but we’ll dive into my thoughts on today’s show. I’m your Texas Credential Media member, football analyst, John Hickman to my everyday from the Himalayas. Thank you for making Locked on Texans your first listen of the day. Disappointing loss from the Houston Texans Sunday versus the Denver Broncos. Another wasted performance by by the offense from the defense. I mean, the defense played amazing, but we got a few things we need to look at. does this loss in the playoff chances for the Houston Texans may be premature to talk about, but we’re going to dive into it on today’s show. Also, the defensive let down we all saw coming. Felt like the ending of the game was inevitable and the offensive letdown we all saw coming is where we’re going to kick off today’s episode. But today’s show is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your first bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. First and foremost, let me say this, and we talked about it a little bit on the squash show. The outcome of the game is different if two things happen. Matter of number one, if CJ Stra stays in the game, right? We look at how the offense operated. CJ Stra three of seven on third down with two third and eight conversions. Davis Mills who subbed in for CJ Stout after he went down with the concussion speed of recovery. One of 11 on third down. So that’s number one. Actually, that’s number two. Number one, Houston lost his game by a field goal. They had a missed field goal by Cammy Fairbran to kick it off. So we look at the difference in the game there. But Houston going 0 of three in the red zone and it’s how they went 0 of three in the red zone. Texans were inside the two yardd line twice and could not punch in a touchdown settled for two field goals. So already if you look at the Houston Texans on those two drives inside the two where you settle for three and also the miss field goal, you’re looking at an 11point swing. Also of those drives, one of those drives the red zone play calling looked like the following. A run up the middle, zero. Run up the middle, zero. Run up the middle, zero. run for a negative yard, a holding penalty. When Houston gets into the red zone, all sense goes out their dog on head and you can’t make none out of it. That is a major issue for this Houston Texan team. Largely a big reason why I believe the playoff hopes and dreams are shot. I said it on the Friday show, if Houston does not win against the Denver Broncos, I am counting them out. They could pull it off. I’d be wrong. I’d be happy to be wrong, but I don’t see it happening. Today was a moment to get it done. Even with CJ Stra leaving the game, and I’ll talk about the contrast with Davis Mill Houston inside the two yard line twice. When I look at the play play calling there, CJ Strad did not have an opportunity to be CJ Strad. There would have been an absolute difference of a game if CJ Stra would have played the entire game. No doubt about it. I wanted to highlight specifically three or seven on third down, two3 and eight conversions, pressure in his face. Dr. Christian Kirk Moody chains we’re looking at a totally different game if he gets four quarters of action, right? Let’s get that out the way. But why was there an offensive let down? I understand things change when you lose your starting quarterback. The first half of the game, I thought Houston played as well as they could without CJ Stra considering the circumstances minus the red zone issues which in hindsight again cost him the game. Now granted, that was the the uh excuse me, the issue for Houston last week, but they were able to, you know, eventually score points largely due to CJ Stra’s play. After the concussion, there was no CJ Stra magic to get over the hump to save this Houston Texans offense. I don’t put up the blame on the shoulders of Davis Mills and Nick Kaye during the first half, but when we get to the second half of this game, this is where I thought the inexperience of play calling uh from Nick Kayley showed and the lacklusterness from Davis Mills really stood out and that’s not a good thing. Davis Mills average yard per attempt 4.6. The play calling with Mills was very don’t turn the ball over. And typically you you may want to play like that with your with your backup quarterback, maybe for a drive, maybe for a quarter, right? But for the entirety of the game, the play calling was lackluster just as the quarterback play was. And because of that, Houston never positioned themselves to score a touchdown. They played for the three once CJ Stri went down. First half, I’m okay with that. Second half, there were no adjustments. Granted, when this offense looks good, what are they doing? Well, they’re running the ball well. Denver’s defensive front didn’t allow that to happen. Okay, cool. But here’s where the biggest issue comes in at there were no efforts coming out of the half to get the playmakers involved into the game. One target combined for the rookie Cyclones. The rookie Cyclones in the last two games for Houston have either scored touchdowns or combined for nearly 150 receiving yards. If I’m looking at Jayen Higgins and if I’m looking at Jay No. And again, one of the bigger issues that I have with today’s performance, you get inside the five yard line a couple times and you neutralize TJ Stra by not allowing him to be a factor as a quarterback. Not once did we see CJ Stra have an opportunity to continue the rhythm that he had started each drive with to finish it off. That’s just a limitation that this team that this offense cannot afford. And they let the defense down. They let themselves down. They let the fans down and I think eventually they’re going to let this franchise down because this was the game to win to keep the playoff hopes alive. And with CJ Stra now going into concussion protocol, the question around a city of Houston, how long will CJ Stra be out? [Music] Because if he’s out for the next following games, remember guys, Houston already had their bye-week, they’re going to find themselves in trouble that they’re not going to be able to dig themselves out of offensive let down Sunday and what I thought was a great game. Some of y’all may not like defensive battles. I love them. But the defensive let down we all saw coming due to the fact of they did everything that they could, but it was not enough to win the game. There were some things defensively that I thought the Houston Texans could have done better. So when we come back after the break, more Texans talk on today’s pod. Today’s show is brought to you by our friends over there at Pelaton. 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Their trademaster perks like priority shipping and dedicated support make the whole process smoother. Join the free tradem program today and score serious perks like priority shipping, lower prices, and a dedicated support line. Just visit supplyhouse.com to sign up for free and use promo code SH NFL 5 for $5 off, excuse me, 5% off your first order. That’s supplyhouse.com promo code sh5 for 5% off your first order. Real people, real service. Texan fans, when we talk about how great of a defensive day it was for Houston, though they had miscues, let’s point out Bo Nick’s numbers, 18 of 37, 173 yards, 4.7 yards per throw, a QBR of 53.4, a quarterback rating of 68.9. Now granted, if we take away the yards from Bo Knicks, largely the 20, we take away that 25 yard uh run at the end of the game, the Houston Texans, 22 carries, 75 yards on the ground for the day. Now, we can’t take away yards, but on the day, 23 carries, 100 yards was the number for the Houston Texans defense. And I’m going to tell y’all this, man. You look at what the Denver Broncos are able to do on the ground, they average 133, nearly 134 on the ground this year. They average 4.9 yards per carry. Houston was able to limit Bo Knicks for the most part. He had two good throws. It led led to touchdowns and a two-point conversion, but they limited JK Diamonds. They limited the running game. Uh they limited Courtland Sutton. One catch, 30 yards did result in a touchdown, but he was not a real takeover factor today for the Denver Broncos. As a matter of fact, RJ Harvey, five catches, 51 yards in his TD. And Henry T, man, you know, I cap for you every every chance I get. But that was just a a boneheaded play. That was just it felt like it felt like the assignment was unsure of you and you were unsure of this assignment. Brother, you completely stopped your feet while you have a man running towards you at a full steam on a wheel route I think it was and you stop. That’s one of the miscues for the Houston Texans defense. But the number that I want to point out the most, and I talk about how good of a job that the Houston Texans defense had on Sunday, the Denver Broncos average 116 yak yards per game against the Houston Texans, 84. So you look at the Houston Texans just having a good day in terms of stopping guys where they are, not allowing a lot of long passes to a lot of short passes turn into longer gains. and then also just the job overall that Kamari Lacier had for Houston. Now, when I talk about the defensive let down we all saw coming, it goes back to the offense. Defensively, this is what when we get to the third quarter, this is what the drives for Denver looks like. punt, punt, punt, touchdown. And on that touchdown drive, they converted third and seven, third and one, and then the touchdown. So you you want Houston to be better in those third down situations where on the day they held Denver to six of 15. So somewhat of a decent day for Denver. after the touchdown. Punt punt punt field goal to win the game. Now in between the Houston Texans, they are also punting the ball. Five plays, four plays, three plays, three plays. A minute 45 seconds, 2 minutes and 34 seconds. A minute 24 seconds. 24 seconds. [Music] I don’t know what to say. What I can say, you’ve guys heard it against LA, you’ve heard it against Tampa, you heard it against Jacksonville, you heard it against uh Seattle, you’ve heard what I’m about to say. in every five loss. There has not been a loss where and if there was a loss what I’m about to say it would be today. But there has not been a loss where I could just come on this show and say, man, everybody was just making plays and and Houston didn’t was not able to make that that one play for both sides of the ball. There hasn’t been a loss where it feels like the loss came because of a shootout and offense held their their own. There has not been a loss. Both teams uh quarterbacks were were very unimpressive Sunday largely because Davis Mills went 17 of 30 4.6 yards per per per throw. And what I want us to get to is there would have absolutely been a major difference in the outcome again if CJ St would have played. CJ was 7.9 yards per throw. on his completion percentage was a lot better for Houston in terms of out of his he had 79 yards, six completions, 13 yards per throw. CJ looked to be locked in and we talk about the difference in the game in terms of scoring points with or without CJ Strad. Now, I go back to the point that I made getting down to the red zone, especially you look at the play he made using his legs to get down to the red zone and then the referees throw the defensive holding. So, that gets that bumps him to the two- yard line. We didn’t see CJ Straw with the ball in his hands after that. The defensive let down we all saw coming was back to the offense. help us out. Now, let’s talk about the defense just a little bit and some of the things that hurt them. Derek Stingley is not himself. He’s not himself. Allowed a touchdown again today. um caught flatfooted. Now, I’ll say this, that was a Courtland Sutton touchdown. Not sure if there were there was an expectation for safety help over the top of that. And if there was, then we look at okay, where was the communication errors and you know, how can they improve moving forward? where he was strong. An underrated part of Derek Singley’s game has always been his ability to come up and make a tackle. Was not able to do that today and because of it allowed a big I think a 13 yard gain on the ground. He just does not look focused. He doesn’t look locked in. He does not look like the allp pro cornerback from last year. On the flip side, on Friday’s show, my everyday has heard me say this when I gave my keys to victory. I talked about, hey, you still got to limit that yak. You don’t want to be yacked up. And I called on Kamari. Thought Kamari was excellent today. There were some plays that I’m sure he probably could have made and been better at, but overall the numbers for Houston, 84 yak yards. That’s 30 less than the Denver Broncos average. When this Texan defense plays elite teams, man, they rise to the occasion. Let’s look at some of the things that they’ve done this year. In the five losses for the Houston Texans against LA, they only allow 14 points. That’s 11 less points than the than the average for the Rams. Uh against Tampa, four less points. Against the Jaguars, three less points, also 3.6 yards per carry. The Jags average 4.7 yards on the year. Against Seattle, four interceptions. Against Denver, four less points, 34 less rushing yards, and also 30 less yak yards. The defense plays up to and beyond the level of their offensive competition more times than not this season. The offense, don’t help him out. The let down, especially when we saw Davis Mills enter that game, the let down was right. The writing was on the on the wall. The outcome was going to be the outcome. The outcome has been the outcome against LA, Tampa, Jacksonville, Seattle. So before Davis Mills even had a shot, the outcome has been the outcome. And with Davis Mills, the outcome was clearly going to happen. I feel bad for the defense. If there was a moment where the defense may feel like, “Hey, man, y’all got to do something.” Like, if there was a conversation in the group chat, the justification of it for sure against the Denver Broncos. And again, I don’t know what the Houston Texans will do at the end of the season. Do they fire Nick Kay? Many of you want him fired. Do I think there’s some good that can come out of Nick Haley being here in Houston? Absolutely. Do I know and I acknowledge the difficulty of giving CJ’s trial a third offensive coordinator going into his fourth year? That’s problematic, but he ain’t doing himself no favors. Does this loss end the playoff chances for the Houston Texans? That’s what we’re going to talk about to close out today’s show. Before Before getting to that conversation, Tex fans, NBA is back, baby. And honestly, and I love LeBron, but the NBA without LeBron has been fire. There’s no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. If you miss the start of a game, you want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps everything exciting, especially when your team is making that late push. Right now, new customers over at FanDuel can get $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. Head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Shout out to the Houston Rockets, man. They gonna have to save us this year. Astros couldn’t do it. Uh, Rock is gonna have to do it. If we look at the standings for the AFC right now, Indie number one, which is still a shocker, it’s even more of a shocker. Denver number two. And maybe a shocker for everybody sitting at number three, the top two the top three teams in the AFC right now, 7-2, 7-2, 7 and2. All surprises, New England. Number four, Pittsburgh. Number five, Buffalo. Number six, the Chargers. Number seven for that final wildcard spot, the Kansas City Chiefs with over thousing forward, the Texans have to take on because at number eight, their team, their division mate, a team that they’re going to play next, the Jaguars, the Titans, the Bills, the Colts, the Chiefs, the Cardinals, the Raiders, the Chargers, the Colts. Colts playoff team right now. Chargers playoff team right now. Chiefs playoff team right now. Uh Colts again, you know, leave the division, leave the conference. Bills playoff team right now. Jaguars in the hunt and have better chances of making the playoffs than Houston. Houston will not make the playoffs. Houston will not make the playoffs. Uh, climbing out of an 03 hole was difficult in itself. It’s even harder to do so with a first year play caller. It will be even more challenging to do so if CJ Stra misses the next two weeks. And we saw that hit. Again, God speed, speedy recovery, but also take your time. Don’t rush it. You got a long career ahead of you. But see this tri look to be out of it for a while now. He walked off on his own merit. I am not confident he’s going to play Sunday. I’m not. So that’s already one week without CJ Stroud. I think this is where we need to start firing up those mock drafts. I think we we need to get to a place where conversations about who is going to be the next so and so and such and such need to happen. And by the way, can y’all please stop the fire demo talk today? What did you want him to do against that defense? Like y’all know we talking about Denver. Nearly 40 sacks on a on a on the year through nine weeks. Y’all know we talking about that team. All week I game plan with my start starting quarterback. My starting quarterback looked like he was going to have a day. I don’t want to overlook two of the three third down conversions. Third and eight. Demo Ryan absolutely needs to be this team head coach moving forward, guys. But this loss ends the Texans playoff chances in my opinion. If Houston makes the playoffs, I’ll come on the show. I’ll sing praises. I’ll be excited for the franchise that I cover. No doubt about it. This is not a negative conversation. Uh uh um I’m not being negative. Excuse me. I am not being a Debbie Downer. I’m not being any of that. I’m being realistic as possible. I don’t see them overcoming this loss. Throughout the week, I’ll make sure that I cover this Houston Texan team to look at ways they could improve, be better, or flat out need to change. Please subscribe, like, and comment on YouTube, wherever you listen to your podcast, and follow me on Twitter at john_hickman12. Also follow the locked on Texan page at locked on Texans. This was a year the Houston Texans from top to bottom are going to want to regret. And if the McNairs want to change anything about their franchise, it will be making a change at general manager and also scanning this roster as it’s currently constructed and looking at pieces that they could move on from to help benefit the next general manager. Until next time, ladies and Texans fans across ladies and gents and Texans fans across the nation. Peace.

The Houston Texans’ playoff dreams might be slipping away after a brutal loss to the Denver Broncos. In this defeated Monday , we dive into:

🏈 CJ Stroud’s concussion — how his absence completely derailed the offense.
🚨 Red zone nightmares — 0-for-3, including two failed trips inside the 2-yard line.
🤦 Offensive collapse — Higgins and Noel COMBINED for one target?!
💪 Defensive heart — holding Denver 33 yards below their rushing average and limiting YAC.
🧠 Coaching concerns — did Nick Caley’s inexperience show in the second half?

The Texans defense gave everything they had — but can Houston survive without its QB1? Are the playoff hopes officially gone, or is there still a flicker of life left?

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Texans Offense A Let Down vs Broncos! Red Zone Woes & What’s Next? Playoff Hopes Fading?https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiFQGjNHUQPVrg-aQL5FtgA

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