In week eight of the 2017 NFL season the 3-3 Houston Texans traveled to Century Link Field to face the 4-2 Seattle Seahawks. Two loaded rosters, two young, dynamic quarterbacks, and a great outside matchup between DeAndre Hopkins and Richard Sherman. How will this confident receiving corps that the Texans have fare against the Legion of Boom? What kind of impact will Deshaun Watson have against a stacked Seattle defensive line? Who comes out on top? Find out here with the week eight Houston Texans takeaways.
Week Eight Houston Texans Takeaways
Houston Receivers
Heading into the game, it didn‘t look as though the Texans would get much production from their wide-receivers. That is of course because the group they were up against is known, league-wide, as the best secondary in the league. Then, the game started. On the very first series of the game, Watson launched a deep bomb to Will Fuller. Touchdown. That set the pace for the rest of Houston’s pass catchers.
No Foreman?
One disappointing part of the Texans road battle with Seattle was that rookie running back D’Onta Foreman was on the sideline for the entire game. Not a single carry, no catches, not even a blocking assignment snap. It’ll be interesting to find out why the exciting rookie running back was held to zero touches in a game he could’ve helped get the win.
Evading the Rush
Watson took four sacks in the week eight loss. Throughout the game, the protection from Houston was wishy-washy at best. Back and forth it went, one play the Seahawks would have three or four guys break through and all have free shots at Watson, the next play Houston would give him stellar protection. If only the group up front would start to bring some consistency to each game that’s when we should see the offense flourish without turnovers.
O’Brien Calling Plays
Yet again, the conservative nature of head coach Bill O’Brien’s play calling came back to bite the Texans when it mattered most. After marching down the field late in the fourth quarter the Seahawks leader Russell Wilson made it feel like he was going to put ANOTHER touchdown on the board. Keep in mind the Texans are up by four with about four and a half minutes left in the game.
Wilson drops back, looks left, and throws an interception to Houston defensive back Marcus Williams. The Texans have the lead, the ball, and an offensive weapon named Watson. What does O’Brein do? Three straight Lamar Miller run plays. That short, quick sequence of offense took about eight seconds off the clock, giving Wilson plenty of time to curate a comeback.Coach O’Brien needs to break out of his safe play calling shell.
Looking Ahead
Up next the Houston Texans get to play the lowly Indianapolis Colts. The Colts are bad, and thus provide a great opportunity for Houston to get back to .500 before they must travel back out west for another tough game against another NFC West team, the Los Angeles Rams.
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