November 10, 2008
Self-Destruct Button is a Success!
by Keith Weiland
Keith@IntheBullseye.com

Great news, everyone!

The Texans have in fact located that self-destruct button, and guess what? Yeah, it still works! They successfully depressed the button in the fourth quarter yesterday of a 41-13 exercise at home against the Ravens, and in turn they depressed the few fans who still believed that this team could actually play pro football!

Amazing, since I don't think there is any other way to make the Ravens, quarterbacked by rookie Joe Flacco, look so competent offensively. The Texans defense allowed their opponents more than 36 minutes of possession, 162 rushing yards, and three passing touchdowns.

It would not have been possible without the efforts of Sage RosINTchopper, the man far too many of you still wanted to quarterback the Texans even after he deployed his own self-destruct button in the final four minutes of the Colts loss. Well, merry early Christmas and happy early Hanukkah to you all.

RosINTchopper threw four interceptions against the Ravens, two of which were thrown right into the hands of a wide open Ray Lewis, linebacker for the OTHER team. Chopper's first interception, thrown from the Ravens 1-yard line, went to a defensive tackle, Haloti Ngata.

Penalties, however, had an even more destructive impact than RosINTchopper. The Texans were flagged ten times for 76 yards, but the effects of the flags were actually much, much worse than that.

Tight end Owen Daniels was called for holding on a 58-yard touchdown pass to running back Steve Slaton in the second quarter. The team salvaged just a field goal on the drive. On their next possession, rookie left tackle Duane Brown was penalized for holding linebacker Terrell Suggs in the endzone, resulting in a safety.

In the opening drive of the second half, a totally lost Morlon Greenwood was flagged for pass interference in the endzone. The play set up the Ravens for a one-yard TD plunge and a 19-13 lead. Another pass interference call in the endzone at the start of the fourth quarter helped pave the way for yet another 1-yard touchdown for the Ravens. Folllowing the two-point conversion, the Ravens had a 27-13 lead, and the rout was on from there.

Key Play

With the team only down 19-13 at the start of the third quarter, probably any of the plays leading to that next touchdown and two-point conversion could have been considered key. In particular, two plays to veteran receiver Derrick Mason, one aided by a pass interference call on a completely overmatched Fred Bennett and the other a 21-yard grab that moved the Ravens into scoring territory, helped decide this game.

But the Texans probably should have had a lead at that point in the game had they taken care of business in the first half. The interception in the endzone from point blank plus the big Slaton TD catch and run cost the Texans 11 points on the scoreboard, but even worse, it seemed to cost them dearly inside their chests.

Game Balls

Unsaid until now was a terrific 60-yard touchdown reception and run by Kevin Walter. With Andre Johnson double- and triple-covered most of the day, Walter was open often. RosINTchopper finally found Walter on a crossing pattern with Johnson, effective for a one-play 60-yard drive that gave the Texans a flicker of hope late in the third quarter.

DeMeco Ryans, perhaps provoked a bit by the loss of Zac Diles midweek due to a broken leg, re-emerged with 11 tackles in the game. Playing hurt most of the season, Ryans has not made the sort of impact we normally expect, but he was active against the Ravens. Worth noting, too - Kevin Bentley, as Diles' replacement, recorded a sack in the game as well.

Key Stat

10-76

I already covered the penalties earlier, but up until Sunday, the Texans had been one of the least penalized teams in the league. The flag on Daniels directly took seven points off the board, and the flag on Brown added two to the Ravens. Toss in the two interference calls in the endzone, and in spite of RosINTchopper's four picks, the Texans could have won this game if they weren't so buried by yellow laundry.

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