The Captain's Log 2015, Game 6: "Dauntless" (Texans v. Jaguars)

We won!  That just feels so good to say, doesn't it?

My apologies for this being out a bit later than usual this week.  Let's just dive right into the details.

Summary of Key Stats

	TEXANS	JAGUARS
First Downs	24	26
Net Rushing Yards	95	83
Net Passing Yards	287	311
Total Net Yards	382	394
Passing ATT-COMP-TD-INT	24/36-3-0	30/53-3-3
Third Down Efficiency	7/14 (50%)	5/15 (33%)
Touchdowns	4	3
Field Goals (made/attempted)	1 / 1	0 / 0
Extra Points  (made/attempted)	4 / 4	2 / 3
Kicking  (made/attempted)	4 / 4	2 / 3
Two Point Conversions  (made/attempted)	0 / 0	0 / 0
Fumbles / Lost	1 / 0	1 / 0
Turnovers (lost)	0	3
Penalties (QTY / Yards)	10 - 69	7 - 64
Sacks (defense)	3	1
Interceptions (defense)	3	0
Fumbles Recovered (defense)	0	0
Time of Possession	30:02	29:58
Red Zone Efficiency	2/2 (100%)	2/3 (66%)
Goal To Go Efficiency	1/1 (100%)	2/2 (100%)
Points From Turnovers	7	0
FINAL SCORE	31	20

Around the AFC South...

The Colts (3-3)

Indy was defeated 34-27 by the New England Patriots (5-0) on Sunday Night Football.  The Colts will host the New Orleans Saints (2-4) this week.

The Jaguars (1-5)

Jacksonville will be cranking up the pool and party deck as they welcome the Buffalo Bills (3-3) to town Sunday.

The Titans (1-4)

Miami (2-3) dismantled Tennessee 38-10, as the Dolphins racked up 6 sacks and 2 interceptions.  Cameron Wake led the way with 4 sacks and 2 forced fumbles in the first half alone.  The Titans host the Atlanta Falcons (5-1) next Sunday.

Sick Bay

"I'm a doctor, not a statistician of NFL records."

INJURY STATUS v. COLTS

LB - Jadeveon Clowney: Ankle

DB - Quintin Demps: Hamstring

WR - Nate Washington: Hamstring

ILB - Brian Peters: Hamstring

UPDATED POST-GAME

S - Lonnie Ballentine: Knee (Injured Reserve)

ILB - Bernardrick McKinney: Concussion

CB - Kareem Jackson: Ankle

WR - Cecil Shorts III: Hamstring

Movie Quote (name it):

"Suddenly, the future's looking a WHOLE lot better."

Bravo Zulu - DeAndre Hopkins

(Bravo Zulu is a naval signal, conveyed by flag hoist or vocal, for "Well Done")

We have a new record to celebrate!  DeAndre Hopkins is the first player to earn this "BZ" recognition three weeks in a row.  In fact, no player has earned it in two consecutive weeks.  Oh, and he also managed to earn a new "first" NFL record and notch some franchise records too.

The Mothership's John Harris reports:

Hopkins became the first player in NFL history with at least nine catches and 145 receiving yards in three consecutive games and recorded his fourth consecutive 100-yard receiving game, which ties the Texans franchise record. For the season, Hopkins has compiled 52 receptions for an NFL-best 726 yards (14.0 avg.) and five touchdowns. He also leads the NFL in third-down receptions (15) and first downs (42), while also being second in the league in scrimmage yards and second in receptions.

Hopkins’ receptions and receiving yards totals through six games are the most in franchise history and rank second in the NFL since 1960. In the month of October alone, Hopkins has caught 30 passes for 474 yards and two touchdowns, while posting three straight 100-yard receiving games. Through his first three NFL seasons, Hopkins has posted the most receiving touchdowns and the second-most receptions and receiving yards in Texans franchise history. He’s also tied the mark for the most 100-yard receiving games through as many seasons in team history.

This is the first Player of the Week award for Hopkins in his career. He is the first Texans offensive player since Ryan Fitzpatrick in Week 13 of 2014 to be named Player of the Week and first overall since Randy Bullock won Special Teams Player of the Week in Week 16 of 2014. Hopkins is also the 12th offensive player to win AFC Player of the Week in franchise history and 33rd overall.

Honorable mention goes out to:

Andre Hal for his two interceptions at critical times in the game.

Whitney Mercilus for his two sacks and significant improvement in pass rushing technique in place of Jadeveon Clowney.

Brian Cushing for leading the effort with 11 tackles and an all-around "beast-mode" performance.

J.J. Watt for leaving everything out on the field.  The Mothership shared this bit on Watt's performance:

J.J. Watt played his guts out. Literally. After A.J. Bouye intercepted Blake Bortles last pass of the game, Watt walked over to the sideline, squatted down a few feet from me and took a few minutes or more to gather himself before walking off the field. He may have lost his lunch but I didn’t want to watch. Even though he didn’t come up with any huge numbers, he was a football warrior on Sunday. He chased Bortles all over Duval. He drew a huge holding call on a third down in the fourth quarter. When you hear coaches/fans/players say, leave it all on the field, J.J. did that and then some. He’ll cringe on a few plays when he got knocked up field on draws or zone runs but he was gassed from the outset. However, the second half was just, I’m not sure I have words for it. He knew his team needed him and he responded.

Stories From The Brig

Eddie Pleasant:  He was charged with "unnecessary roughness," and has now earned the yellow laundry in 5 out of 6 games so far this season.  With a whopping 6 penalties on the season, he is now tied for third in the entire league.

The Texans have been flagged with 50 penalties on the season, good for second overall in the league behind Buffalo (62).  The timing of these penalties have mostly come at the worst times, especially when the opponent is on third down.  They still need a lot of improvement in discipline and execution to avoid these costly mistakes.

Movie Quote II (a/k/a the hint)

"If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour... you're gonna see some serious shit."

(Just to be clear, this is not a reference to DeAndre Hopkins.)

Liberty Call!

When the Texans play the Dolphins on Sunday, Shane Lechler will be reunited with former Texas A&M teammate/roommate Dan Campbell who was recently appointed head coach for Miami.  While Lechler preferred to listen to country music, Campbell loved Metallica and earned the nickname "Dan-tallica."

An interesting twist of fate happened years later, as Lechler had the pleasure of dining with Metallica's lead singer James Hetfield.

The Mothership published this article on the details:

The Texans punter and the Miami Dolphins head coach played football together for the Aggies in the late 1990's. Campbell was a top-notch tight end who went on to play for a decade in the NFL after college.

Campbell loved, and still loves, the band Metallica.Lechler's musical taste leans far more heavily to the country and western side of things.

But Lechler's the roommate who actually broke bread with the heavy metal band's lead singer, James Hetfield.

"I was with Robert Gallery, the lineman from Iowa who was with us in Oakland," Lechler said. "He has a house in Tahoe and so does Hetfield and he came over for dinner and got to meet him and hang out with him and his family. Dan still won't talk to me too much about that. That's funny."

Campbell, who's nicknamed 'Dan-tallica', still laughs over that turn of events.

"That makes me mad," Campbell said. "And now I am going to find a way to get to James Hetfield and tell him that he got to meet Shane Lechler and he's not even a fan of you guys. But I can sure see Lechler, he was hob-knobbing it with him, he was just loving life."

Campbell's a big admirer of Lechler's, and said the punter should be headed to Canton, Ohio when his career is over.

"He's already earned that as far as I am concerned," Campbell said. "I mean the numbers he has put up and the longevity and everything that he has been able to do, I don't know how you keep him out of the Hall of Fame."

Lechler and the Texans face Campbell's Dolphins on Sunday at noon CT in Sun Life Stadium.

Ship's Galley

Let's go below deck and see what's cooking.

"Drago's Charbroiled Oysters"

Let me take a moment and state that I enjoyed several dozen of these earlier this week.  They easily rank in the top-10 best things I have ever eaten in my life.  The recipe is from Drago's in New Orleans:

INGREDIENTS

• 8 ounces (2 sticks) softened butter
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• Pinch dried oregano
• 1 1/2 dozen large, freshly shucked oysters on the half shell
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan and Romano cheeses, mixed
• 2 teaspoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

• Prep Time:15 minutes
• Cook Time:5 minutes
• Total Time:20 minutes
• Yield:18 Drago's Charbroiled Oysters

PREPARATION

1.    Heat a gas or charcoal grill. In a medium bowl, mix butter with garlic, pepper, and oregano.

2.    Place oysters on the half shell right over the hottest part. Spoon enough of the seasoned butter over the oysters so that some of it will overflow into the fire and flame up a bit.

3.    The oysters are ready when they puff up and get curly on the sides, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the grated Parmesan and Romano and the parsley on top. Serve on the shells immediately with hot French bread.

That French bread is best used to mop up the amazing garlic butter juices left in the bowl as you knock down the oysters.  This is seriously good eats!  I'll be putting this recipe to work this weekend.  I encourage you to visit Drago's if you are ever in New Orleans, and hopefully you give this recipe a shot too.

On The Horizon...

Houston heads to Miami with some good momentum from the recent win in Jacksonville.  They'll be looking to keep a perfect franchise record against the Dolphins.

GO TEXANS!

Texans vs Dolphins coverage