Official Texans vs. Panthers Game Thread, 9/29/2019
 

The 2-1 Texans host the 1-2 Carolina Panthers this Sunday in an early game at NRG stadium. The Panthers got their first win last week in a road game at Arizona, winning 38-20. Panther backup QB Kyle Allen impressed in place of Cam Newton and is expected to start against the Texans. The Texans got a road win last week at the LA Chargers 27-20.

This is the kind of game that the Texans cannot afford to lose - they are mostly healthy, they are at home and they are favored. I think the Texans can make Allen uncomfortable and limit RB Christian McCaffrey. I've got the Texans winning and covering the 4½ pts.

Texans 30, Panthers 20

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TV = FOX (channel 26 local), Sunday, noon, 9/29/2019

Announcers = Kenny Albert, Ronde Barber

The line = Texans by 4 to 4½

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Other Sunday viewing in the Houston area:

CBS (early) = New England @ Buffalo, Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts

CBS (late) = Minnesota @ Chicago, Jim Nantz, Tony Romo

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Prime time:

TNF = Philadelphia @ Green Bay (FOX/NFLN)

SNF = Dallas @ New Orleans (NBC)

MNF = Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh (ESPN)

0-3 Cincy at 0-3 Pittsburgh - great matchup, ESPN.
Green Bay gets their second Thursday nighter in one month - who the heck drew up that schedule?

Back to the Texans, the real question is whether Kyle Allen is that good or Arizona sucks that bad. We'll know by about 3:00 pm Sunday.

Other Sunday viewing in the Houston area:

CBS (early) = New England @ Buffalo, Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts

CBS (late) = Minnesota @ Chicago, Jim Nantz, Tony Romo
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While local team is at home but has competition from another NFL game on the tube. That's not customary is it ?

A little late..

No score with 4:55 left in the 1st qtr. Panthers ball at the their 41.

Panthers going for a 48-yard FG.

J Slye is good.

Panthers 3, Texans 0

2:23 left in the 1st qtr.

1st qtr ends with the Texans at the Panther 38 and Stills pulling up limping.

Texans going for the 52-yard FG.

Fairbairn's kick is no good.

Panthers 3, Texans 0

13:35 left in the half.

I think it has something to do with who has the "official" double-header. Since CBS has the double-header today and the Texans are on FOX, CBS is still guaranteed to show two games. Had the Texans been on CBS this weekend and therefore part of the double-header, there would be no competing game shown on FOX.

I think that is the way it works.... Wikipedia can explain it better than I can...

Fairbairn is good from 37. Texans tie it up.

Texans 3, Panthers 3

7:59 left in the half.

Mercilus strikes again! Strips the QB and the Texans fall on it.

Texans ball at the Panther 46 with 4:18 left in the half.

Oy, bad trick play, Hopkins passing to Hyde is INT'ed. Panthers bring it back to their 46. Panther's ball with 2:16 left in the half.

After the Texan turnover, the Panthers march down the field and McCaffrey punches it in from 3 yards out.

Panthers 10, Texans 3

1:08 left in the half.

Bill O'Brien, offensive guru.

First half ends with the Panthers still leading 10-3.

Texans winning the turnover battle 2-1 but 0-2 in the red zone.

Time of possession: Texans 18:07, Panthers 11:53

Watson misses the deep ball to Hop.

Texans don't do much with the 2nd half kickoff and punt it away.

Panthers will start at their own 21.

12:22 left in the 3rd qtr.

Big turnover! Watt strips Allen and recovers it at the Panther 18!

Texans ball!

Watson keeps around left end for the 1-yard TD run!

Texans 10, Panthers 10

8:39 left in the 3rd qtr.

3rd qtr ends with the Panthers driving and facing 3rd and 4 and the Texan 37.

Score remains:

Texans 10, Panthers 10

Watson not having a good day....

Slye is good from 55. Panthers take the lead.

Panthers 13, Texans 10

14:55 left in the game.

Critical strip of Watson leads to a turnover and the Panthers move the ball to set up a 26 yard FG with 31 seconds left.

Slye is good from 26.

Panthers 16, Texans 10

Texans with no timeouts.

28 seconds left in the game.

Hail Mary goes unanswered.

Final score:

Panthers 16, Texans 10

What a stinker....

I believe I'd rather go to church than watch this bullshit.

I think the only thing worse than losing to a beatable Carolina team at home would be losing to the Raiders or Browns at home. A very contrary day around the NFL......

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The running game is fine. 22 rushes, 136 yards, 6.2 avg.

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OTOH, the passing game was only good for 160 yards, subtract 32 yards in sacks and it gives a net of 128 yards. Pretty pathetic by modern NFL standards..........

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Before the season started, I was thinking I'd take a split with the Panthers and Falcons coming in back-to-back. Lately, I was thinking maybe 2-0. Eheh. Beating the Falcons is now mandatory.....

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I'm not going to go into the coaching and QB problems. I think everyone can see the dysfunction for themselves..... I get so tired of hearing "we got to do better". (Well, then do better, a--hole! Get better or you will be looking for another job!)

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Next up, Atlanta Falcons. Early line has the Texans as a 3½ to 4 pt. favorite over the Falcons....

What a terrible game. The OL goes back to being awful and Watson looks lost in the pocket multiple times while running into rushers who are behind him. No downfield passing game, and multiple times losing track of their one offensive weapon. A free home win given away.

If misery loves company, 11 of the 13 road teams this week were winners so far. For what the fans pay for NFL tickets, there are a lot of pissed off season ticket holders around the league.

BTW, Texans are still tied for first in the division at 2-2 with... the entire division. The AFC South defines mediocrity or mendacity, choose your adjective.

A lot of injured quarterbacks in this league (which means another round of candy-assed "protect the quarterback" rules next year) so the Texans could benefit if they can somehow keep Watson healthy. Then again, Texans are 1-1 against backup quarterbacks so far.

We'll be happy to have you, Chuck. Just hold down the swearing. We have some elderly folks with heart conditions.

Shock no one has started the fire Bill thread.

I think he's a decent offensive coach who got the most out of bad QBs. But we now have a QB who doesn't really function in the system. I don't think we need an offensive HC since Watson is going to Watson no matter what. He's shown little growth under BOB and still runs into awful plays on one down before making the whole league look foolish on the next down. And neither have much to do with BOB so what exactly is his function?

If our system and offensive staff are superfluous, then I'd prefer a defensive HC and a guy who can manage a game (challenges, clock, timeouts, not calling idiotic trick plays near the endzone). Or find an offensive guy who speaks Watson and can harness his gunslinging nature and get him to pick and choose when he goes off script.

So fire BOB.

Are you looking for Jerry Glanville, he called the Stagger Lee, dumbest call ever in a game, and he reminds me of BOB, a head coach that is in the way of his talent.

I hate slow smash mouth football, OK Earl Campbell exception to that. Spread them out, and run the ball, and Wear them out. Bill seems to outsmart himself, over and over.

It was one way as long as McNair was in charge. The GM had to explain *why* a coach needed to be fired before he was fired. With Son of Bob owning the team and really nobody actually running the team, I don't know what momentum is needed to fire the coach. My guess is a 6-10 season may be enough.

At least the Stagger Lee had the quarterback throwing the football.

I guess most of us are old enough to remember that play. Dang we are all old.

How far back do you guys go back in Houston Football?

I have no idea how old barrett is but him aside, I'm pretty sure Keith and I are the youngest idiots in here. Which feels nice, let me tell you.

I go back to the Luv Ya Blue days.

My father had his kids sitting in end zone seats at Rice Stadium before the Oilers moved to the Astrodome. Watched Joe Namath get humiliated in his AFL debut in 1965. (note: I never watched a game in Jeppesen Stadium and never watched the Colt .45s in Colt Stadium). I remember the stench of cigar and cigarette smoke under the stands at Rice Stadium. I was a kid and I was watching live sports so it was all good.

This was the year that made me a football fan - watch how often defense and special teams made up for a relatively weak offense that had to trade for a starting QB after the first four weeks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLmaE3l8jzE

I was at all the home games.

I had an uncle that would come get me and my dad on Sunday mornings and take us to Oiler games. He always had tickets (probably gratis). 1963-64 IIRC. The Astrodome was just a skeleton in those days.

Saw games in both Jeppesen and Rice stadiums. I can remember my uncle complaining about George Blanda in the shotgun formation (shotgun was considered "gimmicky" back in the day). I can remember a Chargers game. Of note was Lance Alworth (U of Ark), aka "Bambi". My dad and uncle were both Arkansas boys so they were taking notes. Alworth didn't so much as walk as kinda floated along.....a real light stepper. Probably the most graceful white-boy on the football field that I've ever seen...

Pretty sure we attended the AFL all-star game that was moved from New Orleans to Houston because of racial tensions. A very different era to be sure....

Bob, did you spend your childhood in Houston?

Roughly the elementary school years (Spring Branch area) and high school (Inwood Forest). Graduated from Eisenhower H.S. Also spent one year at Univ. of Houston before transfering to Univ. of Texas.

I did not know that. I would never in a million years have imagined that you grew up in Necktown much less that you went to high school at Eisenhower. I don't know why not. I guess I always imagined you were an Austin native.

Is Eisenhower even still a high school? I remember playing basketball games there when I was in high school. It was clearly going through a transitional period at that time, losing lots of students and changing demographics and so on.

My father had Oiler tickets all the way back to Jeppesen Stadium, and I do remember going to a Colt 45 game in the temporary stands in the Domes parking lot. My first memory of the Oilers is during the Pastorini, Lynn Dickey as the QB days. Somehow I have a foggy memory of Sid Gilman on the sideline at a game.

My becoming a football fan was when George Webster, Curly Culp and Elvin Bethea. Another memory was being mad when they traded Kenny Houston. Seemed back then all of our stars were traded away. But I regress.

So most of you have confirmed we are a lot of "Old Goats" in here.

At just shy of 40 I'm definitely younger than the rest of you, but it encourages me to know my fandom will neither mellow nor grow wiser with age. Instead you bring me confidence I can stay the same miserable fan I am right now.

I was born in Massachusetts and football in particular and the Patriots in specific were totally irrelevant. Even the 1985 super bowl appearance was ignored. The Red Sox were king and the Celtics were close. The Bruins were a distant 3rd and the Patriots were ignored. So I had no actual favorite football team. Later in childhood I lived in Fresno California and fell in love with all things Fresno State. I held onto that even after moving to Texas in the mid 90s for High School.

In 2001 I moved to Houston 2 months before the Texans kicked off against the Cowboys. David Carr was my favorite ever Bulldog and the first draft pick. It felt ordained for me to love the Texans as Carr became the greatest player ever.

The opening win over the hated cowboys only confirmed the greatness of Carr and my lifetime commitment to the Texans. Neither of those things has worked out like I thought.