Houston Texans Snap Count Report: Week 6 - Graham, Griffin, And Keo Up But Not Useful

Offense

I've included quarterback snaps for the first time because it's actually relevant now. Matt Schaub and T.J. Yates received a similar amount of snaps last week but they produced not-so-similar results. I don't think it's fair to Yates to look at his performance and say, "Well, there's Yates. Are you happy now?"

We often hear how a backup quarterback rarely gets any time with the first team during practice, so I'm not giving up on whatever shred of potential Yates might possess in the future. In either case, quarterback might be the least of our worries with the way the team has played.

How about Garrett Graham getting a ton of snaps and only four targets? Two of those targets were on Yates' interceptions. Coinicidence? There's no doubt that teams are keying in on the tight ends and forcing Schaub to look elsewhere and deeper down the field. Until Schaub (or Yates) can start making them pay for that, we'll keep seeing more of the same.

Defense

With the Rams using plenty of 12 and 21 personnel to run the ball, Joe Mays and Earl Mitchell got a heavy percentage of the defense's snaps, leaving Brice McCain and D.J. Swearinger on the bench more than normal.

The Texans held the Rams to 99 yards rushing on 25 attempts with no touchdowns, but it opened up plenty of play-action opportunities in the red zone for Sam Bradford.  Bradford finished with three touchdown passes and 117 yards through the air on just 17 throws.  The Texans could not generate enough pressure to sack Bradford the whole day, though they did manage to hit him three times. The inconsistency of the pass rush continues to be a problem for the Texans.

Speaking of which, there's still no rotation at outside linebacker. Willie Jefferson generated some buzz amongst fans during the preseason but not with any coaches, apparently. The loss of rookie Trevardo Williams and Sam Montgomery's inability to convert to OLB has held the team back there.

Last note:  Back in Week 1, I marveled at the fact that Shiloh Keo was practically invisible on defense and credited Wade Phillips and perhaps a bit of growth on Keo's part as the reason we never saw him get torched. Now that our pricey player-coach Ed Reed has replaced him, the free safety spot remains invisible.  That's not a good thing. So often we see Kareem Jackson or Johnathan Joseph streaking down the sideline alone against a receiver; that's where we were hoping to see Reed shine, but it hasn't happened yet. Meanwhile in Detroit... never mind.

These are just a few of my thoughts, so let us hear yours. Who would you rather see replace Danieal Manning-- Swearinger or Shiloh Keo? Will the Texans ever use a third WR consistently? How many more blowout losses can your liver take? Sound off in the comments.

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