This one was not on TJ

by Barryfromtexas on Dec 23, 2011 10:50 AM CST

There are a lot of misguided fans out there that have been hollering in the last game against the Colts that T.J. Yates was only doing check downs, and did not play well. I would like to analyze this just a bit, without getting into fancy-smancy stats -just basic observations: (Catch them after the jump)

If Yates were only throwing check downs, then why is his yards per attempt (8.3) for that game exceeded by only 3 quarterbacks in the NFL (their average) that have attempted more than 10 passes this year. Those three quarterbacks are: Aaron Rodgers (9.2), Tom Brady (8.7), and Matt Schaub (8.5). Yes our very own 3rd string 5th round draft pick ™ had more yards per attempt than the likes of Drew Brees , Ben Rothlessberger, and Eli Manning. So how is having an over 80% completion rate and averaging more than 8 yards per attempt being captain check-down?

Was Yates play superb in the game against the Colts? No it was not. Was it better than Orlovsky's performance? Yes it was. All "just winz ™ " arguments do not count and should be automatically dismissed. Saying Orlovsky "won" that game is ridiculous if you watched the game. Even the "Game winning drive - he threw for only two 1st downs. That is right, only two. All other first downs (3) were by penalties. The 78 yard drive he was 4 of 8 for 57 yds 2 for first downs and one TD. What a shock huh?

Yates did get sacked 4 times - one was the rookie mistake fumble caused by Mathis (and Winston's piss poor pass blocking). The other three were on three step drops. So, either the receiver did not get open (and there is rarely time for more than 2 reads there) or what is more likely from what I saw is that the O-line was shoved back onto Yates. Would a healthy Schaub have avoided those? I don't know, but likely he would have avoided at least one, maybe two, but one of those I doubt it - it happened so fast I don't think anyone could have gotten out of there in time.

There were many issues in that game - some say the defense had to stay on the field too long. Well, they did - they did not stop the Colts on 3rd down too many times in the game. Yes, the offense was anemic, but not the fault of the young Yates. Fingers can be pointed at play-calling a bit, but abysmal offensive line play, combined with really good defensive line play by the Colts was the biggest culprit.

Poorly informed calling for Delhomme to play instead of Yates, need to check the facts.

Poll

Who is the most responsible for the Texans loss to the Colts?

The Colts Defensive line

7 votes

The Texans offensive line

15 votes

TJ Yates (if you still think so - I have a bridge to sell in New York)

5 votes

It is all Kubiak's fault (I am sure he said "it's on me"

20 votes

The refs

40 votes

Other (mostly for those that want to blame Kareem Jackson)

8 votes

95 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

I place the blame squarely on the shoulders of Wade Phillips & Reggie Herring

On Herring for not being able to make adjustments in the second half, and on Wade for not scheduling his surgery during the bye week

Murphy’s 20th Military Law:
If it’s stupid, but it works, it ain’t stupid
"Fuck em all. Go Texans."

by The Night Owl on Dec 23, 2011 1:04 PM CST reply actions

It was a conspiracy

but I can’t tell who got screwed the most, either somebody doesn’t want the Colts to have the first pick, or they don’t want the Texans to have the top seed, maybe both.

some of the so called experts are saying that a first round bye would be a bad thing for the Texans.

Beer, it's not just for breakfast anymore

by Chrxtopher on Dec 23, 2011 3:19 PM CST reply actions

maybe it was the perfect storm

to kill two birds with ONE GIANT STONE! I am going to send poop filled bags to the NFL Referee Association!

"Taco Joe - the beacon of optimism" TexansDC
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God blessed Texas, but he has forsaken the Texans
Follow @Joeeatstacos

by Taco Joe on Dec 23, 2011 3:27 PM CST up reply actions

I'll make sure to light the bags on fire and ring the NFLRA's door bell...

They’ll never suspect it!

My thoughts are like Brian Cushing on the field: Everywhere.

by f22a4bandit on Dec 23, 2011 5:12 PM CST up reply actions

It is predominately an issue with our O-line struggling against their D-Line

The passes Yates made were pretty good. He played mistake free football, pass-wise.

The Texans could not protect him enough and the four sacks killed us. Kubiak became conserviak, because… Why risk losing another QB and have to choose between Delhomme and Garcia in the Divisional Round. When you can be careful and let your top five ranked defense defend Dan Orlovsky for 1:40 sec.

Did we go into a prevent defense for that final drive?

How about I Punch-a-size your face for free! - Rod Farva

by distant_texans_fan on Dec 24, 2011 2:09 PM CST reply actions

No

although we only blitzed once or twice. Refs went into a prevent-the-texans-from-winning-defense on that drive though.

by splanket on Dec 27, 2011 12:46 PM CST up reply actions

YPA

Yards per attempt acutally measures efficiency more than anything. You actually can check down throws and still have a good YPA if you have a high comlpetion perc%. Think: An incomplete pass badly hurts your YPA because it’s 0 yards on an attempt. So getting a 4 yard checkdown doesn’t really hurt it much, and if a few of your checkdowns are turned into 10+ gains it helps. So his YPA was so high in that game because of his comp%, not because he was throwing the ball downfield.

YPcompletion is much better for determining if someone is checking it down or attackign downfield. His YPC was only 10.1 vs Eli’s 13.3 for the season.

However, I agree Yates wasn’t checking it down all the time, and he made some nice intermediate throws. And it’s tough for him to attack downfield when he has no deep threats to throw to. So, yeah, this was not on TJ.

Montee Ball for Heisman.
Tajh Boyd and Dre' Ellington are the future.

by BlackPack-fan on Dec 24, 2011 4:44 PM CST reply actions

good info

And after the strip sack, I think besides protecting TJ, Kubiak was trying to not lose the game instead of win it.

I agree with protecting TJ, its far more important than beating Indy. But I think we need to get some 3rd down success this week, or we may be hurtin come the playoffs.

Yates - our current game manager.

by texanphil on Dec 28, 2011 10:12 PM CST up reply actions

Offense.

17 points per game is absolutely pathetic and won’t win any playoff games at that rate. Why is this so that the Texans went from 27 PPG to 17 PPG? The QB position that’s why which unfortunately means Yates.

He’s a rookie and it’s showing more each game. 1/10 on 3rd down? Ouch.

It’s unfortunate this year is going down the drain the way it is but with Schaub back next year and Yates getting a full offseason of work this will be a year to build off of. A team full of young payers learning how to finish and win games. A far better overall team than I thought they would be.

Prediction: 11-5 AFC South champions.

by Ethan Matz on Dec 24, 2011 6:03 PM CST reply actions

I agree Yates is no Schaub

However Yates was not the problem in the last game – possibly the way Kubes views Yates, or worried about him getting killed by Freeney and Mathis

"The greatest danger in planning for tomorrow is using yesterdays logic."
Marc Kahlberg

"Some ideas are so stupid that only intellectuals believe them." - George Orwell

I think we will learn that the Bo$$man was right

by Barryfromtexas on Dec 24, 2011 10:56 PM CST up reply actions

New QB means new offense.

So, unless the backup is a clone of the starter, it’s unreasonable to expect everything to just keep moving along the way it was originally designed to.

It’s on injuries. But give plenty of credit to Indy, the refs… oh, and the fact that we’ve clinched.

by Cut Block on Dec 24, 2011 11:19 PM CST up reply actions