Falcons v. Texans: This Week In The Red Zone, or Hooray for Weejay!

From a football perspective, Saturday completely and utterly sucked for me. My Cougars were one win away from their first BCS bowl game. All they had to do was beat a team they were double-digit favorites against. What did they do? Coog fans know. They crapped the bed. They Coog'd it. Meaning that to salvage the weekend in football for me, I needed a Texans win, because I wasn't sure I could live with both the Coogs blowing it and the Texans losing, especially on this particular Sunday.

With T.J. Yates under center and facing a Falcons team that I didn't like our chances against even under the best of circumstances, I didn't know what to expect from the only football team that matters.

And then I watched "Weejay" play. He was poised, he was making all the throws you want to see from your quarterback, and yes, a few you don't. Most of all, he looked like he belonged there. To be honest, I was never entirely sold on Matt Leinart being the solution. I was optimistic, sure, but during the Jaguars game, he just didn't look right out there, kind of like a water buffalo playing the trombone.

Weejay Yates really came through Sunday in ways I would never have expected a fifth-round rookie to do, and against a damn good Falcons team to boot. And now he's got one win and one save to show for it. Will he lead the Texans to the promised land in February? Well, I'm not putting money on it, but weirder things have happened, right?

In the meantime, let's see how our beloved Texans fared in the red zone this week.

First Quarter

First Red Zone Drive

The Texans' first red zone drive begins with a lovely 20 yard pass to Andre Johnson to put them at the 17 yard line.

It's first-and-10 at the Falcons' 17 when Weejay hands off to Ben Tate for a gain of two yards.

On second-and-eight, Yates throws an incomplete pass intended for Kevin Walter.

Third-and-eight comes up and, frankly,I still don't know what the hell happened. The box scores claim that Yates was sacked and fumbled the ball, regardless of the fact that his hand was coming forward, and the ball leaving his hand was moving FORWARD. Despite logic, the refs ruled it a fumble that the Falcons recovered and almost took the length of the field, save for offsetting illegal substitution penalties which somehow landed the Falcons at their own 35 yard line.

Time Spent in Red Zone: :50
End Result: Complete and Utter Bulls**t! I mean, a "fumble" recovered by the Falcons, ending the drive.
Score: Atlanta 0 - Houston 0 - Referees 7

Second Quarter

Second Red Zone Drive

To wash the taste of abject stupidity out of our mouths, and our minds, we move on to the second drive, which comes on the heels of a monster 50-yard pass by T.J. Yates to Andre Johnson.

On first-and-goal at the Falcons' four-yard line, the Texans run Foster off the left guard's side for a gain of one yard.

Second-and-goal for the Texans has them running the same play for a gain of no yards for Foster's efforts.

On third-and-goal, Yates threw a quick three-yard shot to Joel Dreessen, who hammers his way into the end zone for the score.

Time Spent in Red Zone: 1:28
End Result: Joel Dreessen breaks the plane and scores a Texans Touchdown!
Score: Atlanta 0 - Houston 10 - Referees 7

Fourth Quarter

Third Red Zone Drive

Our final appearance in the red zone came at the end of a long, and I mean long, clock-eating drive.

On first-and-10 at the Falcons' 18, Foster gained one yard on the run.

Second-and-nine had the Texans rush Foster to the left side, gaining no yardage on the play.

The Texans faced third-and-nine and Yates, doing his best Matt Schaub impersonation, ran the ball for seven yards.

Then the Texans faced a critical fourth-and-one. Foster takes the ball and gains seven yards on the play and, more importantly, a fresh set of downs.

On first-and-goal from the Falcons' two-yard line, Foster got another hard-earned yard to move the ball to the one.

Then on second-and-goal, Foster got the carry again and rushed to the right for that last needed yard and the touchdown.

Time Spent in Red Zone: 3:26
End Result: Arian Foster takes a bow in the end zone after scoring a Texans Touchdown!
Score: Atlanta 10 - Houston 17 - Referees 7

Final Results

Number of Red Zone Trips: 3
Total Amount of Time in Red Zone: 5:44
Average Amount of Time in Red Zone: 1:54
Red Zone Efficiency: 2/3 (67%)
Scores in Red Zone: 2 TDs (Foster, Dreessen)

Next week, the Texans take on Andy Dalton and the Cincinnati Bengals, with a chance to put the division away once and for all!

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