It is that time of year again and it is time to look at the basic numbers from the football game. The Houston Texans didn’t play hardly any of their starters. They didn’t run any of their best plays on offense and defense. The Vikings did run some regulars. So, the 20-10 result is not necessarily indicative of the relative quality of these two teams. After all, the Vikings were breaking in a new quarterback. C.J. Stroud is established.

We run these numbers every week for one main reason. The more data we get the more we begin to understand what actually contributes to winning and losing. Afterwards, we will go with our customary good, bad, and ugly from the game. In some weeks, we will go with great, good, and bad. Obviously, we can’t do that in a loss. So, let’s get started.

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The Numbers

Total Yards: Texans 53/194, Vikings 64/261

Rushing Yards: Texans 17/65, Vikings 30/86

Passing Yards: Texans 36/129, Vikings 34/175

Sacks: Texans 2, Vikings 2

Penalties: Texans 8/49, Vikings 4/47

Turnovers: Texans 3, Vikings 1

Time of Possession: Texans 26:33, Vikings 33:37

Obviously, there isn’t a ton to hang your hat on with these numbers. The Vikings dominated this game statistically. They gained more yards, they held the ball longer, they committed fewer turnovers, and they committed fewer penalties. Other than that how was the play Ms. Lincoln? Obviously, coaches and analysts alike can dive into the results and find nuggets of gold in what looks like a pile of excrement.

We also have to contend with the idea that they weren’t playing their best players or running their best plays. When a second string guy is going against a first string guy, he is going to struggle. The same is true for third string guy going against the twos. This game was a lot of third string guys. Many of these guys will be bagging groceries or selling insurance in September. We have to keep that in perspective.

The Good

The second team played only one series and what a series it was. Davis Mills went five for six with a touchdown pass to Braxton Berrios. Dare Ogunbowale had some nice runs. We certainly have had our fair share of fun with Davis Mills over the years. He has been a favorite punching bag in the Hair of the Dog series. However, he has developed into a good backup quarterback. No, I don’t think any good team wants him under center for 17 games. However, if you had to have him for three or four games you could conceivably get out with a .500 record while he’s holding down the fort.

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It becomes important to keep things in perspective. Mills was selected in the third round. If you are able to find a good backup quarterback in the third round you have done something good. This becomes important when we get to the bad and ugly categories. There are certainly good and bad performances, but there are also expectations. A lot of it comes down to opportunity costs. What else could you have done with that pick? Is a backup quarterback worth more or less than the other position you could have filled? Mills has worked hard and turned himself into a serviceable quarterback. He deserves his kudos.

The Bad

I debated the ordering of this for a few hours. One of these categories is for pointing out a potential problems while the ugly category is more for putting a single guy or a single facet of the game on blast. I don’t take that kind of responsibility lightly. After all, these are guys doing the very best they can and many of them will not be a part of the 53 man roster.

With that in mind, I have to focus here on the offensive line. In particular, Zach Thomas seemed to struggle at tackle as he had a false start penalty and allowed a sack in the same series of downs. I can’t bag too much on Thomas. He might not even make the team and if he does make the team he will not be one of the starting tackles. We are more worried about guys like Blake Fisher and Aireontae Ersery. They also had plays where they did not look so good.

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In the preseason, this is more about how the whole unit looks. We had an eight yard scramble by the quarterbacks that helps pad those numbers a little. That’s 16 carries and 57 yards by the running backs. My crack math skills peg that at about 3.5 yards per carry. Granted, we did not see Joe Mixon, Dameon Pierce, or Nick Chubb. So, we again have to take this with a grain of salt. This is why it gets into the bad column and not the ugly column. However, running the football is a mentality and it is something the Texans have failed to develop consistently since the days of Arian Foster. That is why this will always be a concern.

The Ugly

The Texans took Graham Mertz in the sixth round. This is where we look at expectations end of things. Yes, there is Tom Brady and guys like Brock Purdy, but for over 90 percent of quarterbacks taken on day three, they will never see meaningful time in an NFL game. This is where we get into the opportunity costs angle of this whole thing. What else could have the Texans taken with that sixth round pick? How likely would that guys have contributed to the Texans at any point?

I don’t remember if I said anything at the time, but I was against the Mertz selection at the time. It has little to do with Mertz himself. He might turn out to be a Davis Mills kind of quarterback at the NFL level. It is much more likely that he will be one of the traveling troubadours of quarterbacks that go from third stringer here to practice squad guy there. That is his likely destination in Houston.

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Mertz went seven for 14 in his professional opportunity. That’s not terrible, The three interceptions are terrible. Granted, experts and the coaches will likely tell us that some if not all of those interceptions were not completely his fault. There can be no doubt about that. However, it is fair to say that his debut may have been the roughest of all the quarterbacks in the NFL this preseason. He has two more games to get in before he gets buried at the end of the depth chart. Hopefully, those games go better for him.