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As far as ugly wins go, this wasn't the ugliest, but it wasn't exactly Scarlett Johannson out there. The Texans are still struggling to convert third downs, converting only 5 of 14 (36%) yesterday against the Buffalo Bills. For the season, Houston is ranked 19th in the league with 42% of third downs converted. Naturally, this means more punts and has led to a near perfect split of total snaps for the offense (265) and defense (263) through four weeks. Ideally, you want the offense out on the field for more than 50.189393939% of the snaps-- even with mercurial Ryan Fitzpatrick at QB.
O'Brien: "We're going to work very hard this week to be a more consistent offense." #Texans
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) September 29, 2014
Blue = Offense / Red = Defense / Yellow = Special Teams
Offense
Name | POS | Snaps | PCT% | Season Snaps | Season % | Snaps | PCT% |
Duane Brown | T | 67 | 99 | 263 | 99 | 5 | 15 |
Derek Newton | T | 68 | 100 | 265 | 100 | 5 | 15 |
Tyson Clabo | T | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 15 |
Brandon Brooks | G | 68 | 100 | 265 | 100 | 5 | 15 |
Ben Jones | G | 68 | 100 | 261 | 98 | ||
Xavier Su'a-Filo | G | 9 | 3 | 5 | 15 | ||
Chris Myers | C | 68 | 100 | 265 | 100 | ||
Ryan Fitzpatrick | QB | 68 | 100 | 262 | 99 | ||
Ryan Mallett | QB | 4 | 1 | ||||
Andre Johnson | WR | 52 | 76 | 237 | 89 | ||
DeAndre Hopkins | WR | 63 | 93 | 252 | 95 | ||
Damaris Johnson | WR | 20 | 29 | 91 | 34 | 3 | 9 |
Keshawn Martin | WR | 21 | 31 | 65 | 24 | 6 | 18 |
Arian Foster | RB | 36 | 53 | 145 | 55 | ||
Jonathan Grimes | RB | 40 | 15 | 10 | 30 | ||
Ronnie Brown | RB | 9 | 3 | 10 | 30 | ||
Alfred Blue | RB | 32 | 47 | 80 | 30 | 12 | 36 |
Garrett Graham | TE | 52 | 76 | 159 | 57 | ||
C.J. Fiedorowicz | TE | 51 | 75 | 143 | 54 | 9 | 27 |
Ryan Griffin | TE | 2 | 3 | 55 | 21 | 8 | 24 |
J.J. Watt | TE | 3 | 1 | 5 | 15 | ||
Jay Prosch | FB | 11 | 16 | 51 | 19 | 4 | 12 |
Arian Foster and Alfred Blue rotated almost evenly, but neither could establish themselves at all on the ground. Foster was deadly in the passing game, converting seven catches into 55 yards on 10 targets. The only two converted third downs on the ground were via Ryan Fitzpatrick scrambles. Fitzpatrick was also the leading rusher with 14 yards.
According to Pro Football Focus, Ben Jones and Chris Myers were particularly bad in run-blocking, posting a -3.7 and -1.7 score, respectively. Tight ends Garrett Graham (-1.6) and C.J. Fiedorowicz (-2.0) weren't very helpful either.
Sarcasm font: I only use PFF grades when they fit my narrative.
The not-so thrilling battle between Keshawn Martin and Damaris Johnson continues, with Martin gaining some ground this week on offense and special teams. Martin fielded three punts to Johnson's two. The duo also split three passing targets, with Johnson catching one of them for 10 yards. Who will be king of S*** Mountain by season's end? Stay tuned.
Defense & Special Teams
Name | POS | Snaps | PCT% | Season Snaps | Season % | Snaps | PCT% |
D.J. Swearinger | FS | 70 | 100 | 241 | 91 | 3 | 9 |
Kendrick Lewis | FS | 70 | 100 | 253 | 96 | 4 | 12 |
Danieal Manning | S | 27 | 39 | 154 | 58 | 19 | 58 |
Kareem Jackson | CB | 70 | 100 | 240 | 91 | 4 | 12 |
Johnathan Joseph | CB | 67 | 96 | 203 | 77 | ||
J.J. Watt | DE | 68 | 97 | 249 | 94 | 5 | 15 |
Tim Jamison | DE | 39 | 56 | 151 | 57 | 11 | 33 |
Jared Crick | DE | 41 | 59 | 157 | 59 | 9 | 27 |
Brooks Reed | LB | 54 | 77 | 222 | 84 | 12 | 36 |
Brian Cushing | LB | 45 | 64 | 180 | 68 | 4 | 12 |
A.J. Bouye | CB | 125 | 47 | ||||
Whitney Mercilus | LB | 55 | 89 | 205 | 77 | 18 | 55 |
Mike Mohamed | LB | 52 | 74 | 119 | 45 | 17 | 52 |
Jadeveon Clowney | LB | 23 | 8 | ||||
Jerrell Powe | NT | 11 | 16 | 94 | 35 | 4 | 12 |
Ryan Pickett | DT | 20 | 29 | 20 | 7 | ||
Justin Tuggle | LB | 16 | 23 | 90 | 34 | 14 | 42 |
Andre Hal | DB | 2 | 3 | 32 | 12 | 18 | 55 |
Darryl Morris | CB | 54 | 77 | 100 | 38 | 19 | 58 |
Jeoffery Pagan | DE | 3 | 4 | 33 | 12 | 1 | 3 |
Jeff Tarpinian | LB | 18 | 6 | 22 | 67 | ||
Ricky Sapp | LB | 6 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 39 |
Eddie Pleasant | SS | 13 | 4 | ||||
Elbert Mack | CB | ||||||
Akeem Dent | LB | 22 | 67 |
Brian Cushing is being rotated in and out pretty heavily for a player of his caliber. Despite this, Cushing led the team with nine tackles, registered a QB hit and defensed one pass. Not bad for taking just 64% of the snaps.
Darryl Morris saw a significant jump in playing time after fellow undrafted cornerback A.J. Bouye was ruled out with a groin injury. Morris was targeted seven times, allowing three receptions for nine yards-- one of them a touchdown to Robert Woods. For comparison's sake, Johnathan Joseph was targeted 10 times, allowing four catches (plus three drops) and 27 yards. I think I saw that Brett wanted to do a film study piece on him, so feel free to bombard his e-mail if he doesn't follow through with it.
Darryl Morris received the game ball. Did well against the run, has speed, per O'Brien. #Texans
— Deepi Sidhu (@DeepSlant) September 29, 2014
Is the Texans' nose tackle situation so bad that street free agent Ryan Pickett was able to be plugged in right away? After giving up 176 yards to Rashad Jennings, the Texans held C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson tandem to 93 yards rushing. Pickett played 20 snaps to Jerell Powe's 11, but how much difference could he have made? Hard to say, but the Bills only running the ball 22 times is clearly the bigger factor. They hung E.J. Manuel out to dry with his 44 pass attempts.
These are just a few of my observations... curious to hear yours as always, dear readers. Happy Monday!
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