He's got a look in his eye today.... something.... too much Gatorade or something....

On 2nd and 9, Dalton scrambles for the 1st but flags are down.... offsetting penaties..... repeat 2nd down.

Short pass to Gresham gets 3. 3rd and 6 coming up.

Pass to Gresham gets a 1st down at the Texan 47.

Bernard for no gain.

Slant to Green gets 13.

Sanu rushes for 1.

Dalton pressured, throws it away, inc. Brings up 3rd and 9.

Pass to Sanu gets 10 and the 1st down.

Bernard for 5.

Pass to Green broken up by Morris, inc. 3rd and 5 coming up.

Timeout Bengals (#1).

On 3rd and 5, Clowney jumps offsides = 3rd and less than a yard.

Dalton sneaks for 1 and the 1st down.

Bernard TFL'ed for loss of 1.

Pass to Sanu in the endzone goes inc. Makes it 3rd and 10 coming up.

Bengals use another timeout (#2).

On 3rd and 10, pass to Gresham is inc. Bengals to go for the FG.

Nugent's 31-yarder is good.

Bengals 19, Texans 13

8:48 left in the game.

Couldn't have drawn it up any better...8 min to go... Chance to take the lead...Which Mallett do we see?

Who the hell is this announcer?

He sounds as pessimistic as I have ever heard.

Yes it seemed pretty clear but damn...did he have to say it like that...

The ensuing kickoff goes out of the end zone, touchback. Texan's ball at their 20.

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Pass to Griffin too high, inc.

Pass to Grimes gets 6. 3rd and 4 coming up.

Deep pass to Hopkins is caught for 32 yards but it looks like it will go as inc. Bengals are challenging that the left foot was out and they would be correct.

Play is reversed. Texans will punt on 4th and 4.

Punt is downed at the Bengal 33. Bengal's ball.

Fouts is terrible. That call on the horsecollar..... terrible...

Hill for -1.

Dalton scrambles but is tracked down by Mercilus, gain of 1. 3rd and 9 coming up.

Pass to Gresham inc. Bengals to punt.

Martin brings the punt back to the Texan 16. Texan's ball.

Let's try it again. How many times can you say that...typically the team would have drove all the way down the field and ran the clock out. However, we have been given another shot...

6:15 left in the game.

Mallett's pass over the middle to AJ is tipped inc.

Blue for 2. Brings up 3rd and 8.

Mallett is sacked. Texans will have to punt.

Jones returns the punt to the Bengal 48 but flags are down.....illegal block in the back on the Bengals places the ball at the Bengal 32.

And we get nothing...I guess all we can hope for is a pick 6

I liked it better when Clowney wasn't playing. We could all fantasize about his being worth a shit.

Hill for 3.

Hill for 1. Brings up 3rd and 6 with about 4 minutes left in the game.

Pass to Hill gets about 9 and the 1st down.

Hill gets loose for 30. Ball at the Texan 25. Texans use their 1st timeout.

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Lewis with the nice TFL on Bernard. Loss of 5. 2nd and 15 coming up.

Toss to Hill gets 9. Brings up 3rd and 6.

Bernard gets about 9 but holding on the Bengals brings it back. Makes it 3rd and 16.

Bernard for no gain. Bengals will probably go for the FG....

2 minute warning.

As much as I wanna believe that Clowney would be the savior he has been a rotational player at best.

I can only hope that he will get better with time. JJ has been getting doubled and tripled all day with no help

Nugent's 49-yarder is good.

Bengals 22, Texans 13

1:55 left in the game.

Mallett couldn't hit the broad side of a barn today, we would have been better off with Fitz. Couple more games like this and they can dust Savage off and send him out there for a start/tryout.

The ensuing kickoff goes out of the end zone, touchback. Texans will have the ball at their 20.

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Mallett's pass out of bounds, inc.

Pass to D Johnson gets 11.

Pass to Hop broken up, inc.

Mallett's pass too high, inc. Brings up 3rd and 10.

Pass to D Johnson is dropped, inc. Texans going for it on 4th down.

Pass to Graham gets 12.

Another pass to Graham goes to the Bengal 41.

Short pass to Graham gets 5.

Pass to Grimes goes to the 20.

Spike, with 20 seconds left.

Pass to Grimes goes to the 10 yard line.

Pass to Graham in the end zone broken up, inc.

Pass to Hop in the end zone off the mark, inc. 6 seconds left.

Pass to D Johnson too high, inc. 2 seconds left, 4th and goal.

Final play of the game, pass is broken up, inc.

Final score:

Bengals 22, Texans 13

Yeah, Mallet definitely has potential, however if inconsistency is his demon, then I'd rather cut my losses now. I can't deal with another inconsistent QB.

BTW completely unrelated comment, I liked undrafted Arian Foster more than Star RB Arian Foster...my personal issue...he seems too damned uninterested to me...

The Texans passed the ball 45 times for a total of I think it was 189 yards. That is damn near impossible to do.

I might give Mallett another start but unless he looks like Joe Montana I would definitely want to see Savage unless he's completely lost in practice.

Oh, and I like any kind of Arian Foster except the injured one. I don't care for that one at all.

The knock on Mallett before today was lack of accuracy. Obviously that is an accurate knock. I think there were a dozen plays where he just threw it as hard as he could at a general area of the field. The worst was the play they weren't sure whether he overthrew AJ by a lot or Demeris by a little. I'd definitely like to see him play with Arian before I move on to Savage. But either way, I love that we are 70 plays closer to knowing if we need to move on from Mallett. Knowing the answer to that question (and the same about Mallett) is the 2nd most important thing to me. The first is whether O'Brien can coach and I feel good about that.

I was wondering how Mallett could get out of today with that many passes and just one pick, but then I realized he was so erratic, so totally off mark that many of his passes were uncatchable for both his receivers and the Cinci defensive players covering the receivers. Big Ryan wasn't even in the right area code on quite a few of those passes. I can't recall seeing another regular season NFL game with a passer as wildly inaccurate as Mallett was today.

So you want to hold off on that extension a little while longer? :rolleyes:

My fear is that Mallett's talent is going to be in the middle of last week and this week, forcing a difficult decision. Smith isn't exactly known for making the right call....

We finally got "Good Andy" this time but our defenders made it easy, especially in the first half, with very loose coverage. I really didn't see the quick decision and throw plays that worked so well last week. Their defenders got in the grill of our receivers (easy to do because none of them have separation speed - AJ used to but he hasn't had separation at all this year). So when the running game didn't work, defenders could shut down our passing game.

I'd also like to see a few more crossing patterns and rub patterns to get guys open. It seems we throw too much to the sidelines.

The Bagels are an inconsistent team. When they are clicking they are tough to beat. When they aren't, like two weeks ago in Cleveland, they are easy to beat. Unfortunately, we didn't create the opportunities to beat them. The offense gave us just six points.

But this team is clearly a work in progress. Can't expect miracles right away.

I am curious how often a visiting team gets major defensive penalty flags picked up twice in one game. You sure never see that in Foxboro or Pittsburgh.

@McClain_on_NFL: Mallett played with an injury to his right pectoral muscle, will undergo an MRI and could be lost for several weeks.

@McClain_on_NFL: Mallett suffered the pectoral injury at Cleveland. He was on injury report with a chest injury as probable and didn't miss a down.

Mallett's accuracy has been a known concern. Which is why the gameplan today boggled me. Lots of plays designed to the flats. Mallett is not a Captain Checkdown kind of guy, so why employ an offense like he is?

I understand that outside of Hopkins, this team lacks deep threats, but the team really should have taken more deep shots downfield in early down situations. Blue had nowhere to run this week.

Mallett had the bye week to prepare for the Browns, and he looked smart. This time he did not have that advantage, and it showed.

Mallett threw more in the bench area during the game than I've ever seen a QB do before -- not just coming out of halftime, but between several series. I thought it might've been a nervous thing, but he must have been trying to loosen up that pec muscle.

Late news saying Mallett played hurt with Pectoral muscle and may miss a few games. So, if Mallett rests, do we see Savage?

The game today was winnable, so that's too bad, or good, depending on perspective toward wins vs higher draft pick.

That would be some kind of explanation for the difference between Malletts performance last week vs this week. Inconsistency is one thing, but night and day are much more than that. In the meantime, I say by all means take advantage of the opportunity to play Savage if Mallett is out for a couple weeks, how could the team stand to gain anything by going back to Fitz at this point in the season ?

Considering the next two weeks are Tennessee and Jacksonville, I would start Fitz if I wanted a 7-win season and a mediocre draft position. If I wanted a five-win season and a higher draft position, I would start Savage who probably hasn't seen much action, even in practice, while they were grooming Mallett. Yes, I'd like to see Savage under pressure too but I don't think he'll be very good, even against sub-par teams (that are getting better, btw). So, if you can stomach losing the way we did last year, switch to Savage and if you'd prefer to have the best chance you can to win, you'll go back to Fitz.

O'Brien is a new coach, and a new coach needs wins, so I expect Fitz to return. Go with Savage, and I suspect the players will think the team is tanking the season. Could turn the locker room on O'Brien.

That said, I am not the new coach, and I am very curious to see Savage in action. Just guessing it won't happen as long as Fitz is healthy.

O'Brien has already won more than twice as many games as last years team did, besides this whole season is a mulligan for O'brien. The pressure for him to rack up wins doesn't really begin until next year. I think he'd be foolish to waste this opportunity to see what he's got in Savage. At this point what's the upside in winning with Fitz ? I don't see one ?
Division competitor Tennessee has for several games now been starting its 6th round QB from the 2014 Draft, can't O'Brien start his rookie 4th round Draft pick @ QB ? This is the perfect opportunity, probably the only opportunity he'll get to find out what if anything he's got in Savage (and Mallett when and if healthy) and what he might need to do @ QB in the upcoming off seasons free agency and/or Draft.

I think there's no chance we see Savage. This is his "redshirt" year.....

It's gonna be Fitz till Mallett is over his injury. I really wanted to see Mallet the rest of the year to get an evaluation. So far, all we have is the Cleveland game (good!) and the Cincinnati game (bad!). I don't think he's as bad as what we saw yesterday..... probably some (most?) of it due to the injury.

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Early line has the Texans as a whopping 7 pt favorite over the Titans.

I thought Mallett looked good in that drive before the half that ended in the FG. He had good zip on his passes, including the one that Hopkins had to grab. Where I think the injury may have hurt was in the follow through which can make passes sail if your release point is too soon.

As long as either Fitzpatrick or Mallett is healthy, I don’t think Savage will play (outside of garbage time) until the Texans have been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, and probably not unless they have no chance of finishing with at least a .500 record. O'Brien doesn't need to win from a job security standpoint but he is trying to establish a winning culture.

Mallett done for season and likely the Texans...

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‏@McClain_on_NFL Just left Texans dressing room and I'm told Mallett is out for rest of season.

Gotta feel bad for Mallett. This was his big chance to shine and now this injury.
So what do you do if you are O'brien re Mallett ? It's now clear yesterdays drop off in performance was related to Malletts injury, so how do the Texans evaluate Malletts long-tern potential and therefor contract value based on his performance in a single game ?

Not sure how much he's making or what someone else would offer him, but I'd offer the same contract they gave Fitzy. 2yrs, ~$8MM or so.

I wouldn't expect Savage until week 16 or 17.

I would let the market set Mallett's price and then decide. I don't think there will be too many suitors. He is not a guy any team is going to invest in as a QB of the future. And he doesn't have the experience to be a veteran backup on a team with a young QB. So that means he's likely limited to the handful of teams with established and rarely injured QBs, and probably less than Fitz got from us. I have got to believe he'd come back here cheap if we offered him a chance to compete for the job (more than he'll get elsewhere).

So I guess that means Fitzpatrick and official lame duck status for the Texans 2014 season.

@RapSheet: #Texans didn’t find out if Ryan Mallett is their franchise QB. But they told him today they want him back for 2015

@RapSheet: Likely scenario for #Texans QB Ryan Mallett: A short-term contract extension, while the #Texans bring in a young QB to compete with him.

O'Brien wants a second opinion. Mallett may not be done this year after all.

Personally, I'd give him an incentive-heavy contract and say he's the starter coming into camp. I'm not sure he does any better on the open market.