Official Texans vs. Chiefs Game Thread, 10/8/2017

[Arky]

Chiefs have holding call on their 1st play, ½ the distance. Ball at the 5 yard line.

Hunt gets loose for 23.

Hunt (?) for 4.

Hunt for no gain.

On 3rd and 6, West gets 1. Chiefs will punt on 4th and 5.

Punt is brought back by Fuller to the Chief 37. Texan's ball.

[Arky]

Deep pass to Hop in the end zone uncatchable, inc. 3:21 left in the game.

Checkdown to L Miller gets 3. 3rd and 7 coming up.

Eheh, Watson hits Hop in the endzone for the TD.

Texans going for 2.

Pass to Ellington inc on the 2-pt attempt.

Chiefs 39, Texans 26

2:57 left in the game.

[Arky]

Onside kick is recovered by the Chiefs. Conley injured on the recovery. Ball at the Texan 35. Chief's ball. 2:55 left in the game.

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Hunt for 5.

Hunt gets caught for a loss of -2. 3rd and 7 coming up.

Hunt gets 2 or 3. Chiefs going for the FG.

Texans use a timeout.

Butker's 49-yarder is good.

Chiefs 42, Texans 26

1:08 left in the game.

[Arky]

The ensuing kickoff is a touchback. Texans ball at their 25.

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Pass to Hop off the mark, inc.

Flat pass to Hop gets about 10 or 11.

Pass to Anderson goes for 21.

Spike with 32 seconds left.

Watson throws a jump ball that goes to the 1 yard line to Anderson.

Spike with 5 seconds left.

Pass to Hop in the endzone goes for the TD. Going for 2.

Watson keeps for the 2 pts.

Time runs out.

Final score:

Chiefs 42, Texans 34

[Keith]

Is Vrabel to blame for the big decline in defense? Is it scheme or declining talent? Has losing Wilfork, Bouye, and Cushing been that much?

Tough questions, but something isn't right. Dylan Cole has been a find, Cunningham is promising, McKinney is a stud when playing to his assets. Obvi, losing Mercilus for the year will be tough to overcome, but there is still a solid core here. I'm of a mind that Vrabel needs to figure this out.

Sucks to lose Watt again, but he was not the same this season. He seemed gassed more frequently and just didn't seem as strong. And now this injury... could be career-threatening? Depressing.

[chuck]

The way I see it, this team wasn't really going anywhere anyway. For whatever reason the FO didn't take this year seriously. (Perhaps they wanted BOB to fail so they could get rid of him without too much scandal.) They did dick to improve the OL, they let their best corner walk when they had more than enough money to franchise him (or of course sign him long term). I don't know if they were really waiting for Romo or not. If they were, in some ways that seems even more stupid than if they weren't.

I'd already come around to the sad truth that JJ was never going to be anywhere near the same player that he was when he was the best football player on the planet and I was OK with that. The defense played at championship level last year, but as we know, this isn't the same defense, and it will also be without Mercilus.

It's impossible to say how good this team is relative to the other teams in the conference. The other potentially competitive teams are such Jekyll and Hydes that I really can't get a decent handle on who is likely to be good in December beyond the team we just played. So who knows, maybe there's another 9-7 in there somewhere for the Texans and another sneak into the playoffs. I hope so, because it sure is tough for a rookie to learn on the fly in the playoffs, as the Cowboys and their rookie quarterback demonstrated last year.

So for once in my life I'm just going to throw expectations out the window, throw my hatred for the owner out the window, throw my contempt for his Eddie Haskell GM out the window, and just enjoy watching the magic that is Deshaun Watson on the football field. The Texans lose every remaining game 50-48? IDGAF. I'm just going to watch Deshaun do what he does until the inevitable moment comes when some fking castoff that the team has starting on the OL gets him sent to the ER. Then I'll probably go back to being the friendly, neighborhood poster you all know and love.

By the way, nunu, the bet's off.

[Arky]

Early line has the Texans as 12 pt favorites over the Browns next week. I suppose that is probably right.... Perhaps they'll take some of their recent frustrations out on the Browns...

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The smart Andy Reid (I hate complimenting that fat bastard) and the experienced Alex Smith really made the defense look bad. The defense is in trouble and hopefully can do a good enough job to take care of business with the Browns before they limp into the bye. They need the regroup time...

I like what I've seen so far from Gilchrist so far, don't like what I've seen from Banks. Cole and Cunningham have to grow up fast. Drummond was demoted recently and then re-signed to the practice squad. Some guy named Ben Heeney (ILB) was acquired from the Saints.

KC proved to be a strong team and deep.....weapons galore. With the growing experience of Watson and the more familiar he becomes with the offense and his personnel, I think the offense is going to be OK. But that defense, they worry me... If a possible rematch with KC happens this year, the defense needs a reload to be competitive....

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The updates to the Watt injury will probably come out in the next few days, but I'm hearing that tibia fractures come in different varieties. Small break, large break and then there's a break with ligament damage. There's a chance he's got a small break and could possibly be back by the end of the year...

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by chuck

By the way, nunu, the bet's off.

The Chuckster says no SB for the Texans this year, ah no say it ain't so.
Watt & Mercilus both out for the year, that seriously sucks and really is a giant blow, make that a double blow to the defense.
Everybody in the division is 2-3 after the Jags who are 3-2. Hey and I'll tell you the Jags are no joke this year. With the Texans playing last night they and Pittsburg were in the local AFC TV game and that defense is for real as they
forced Big Ben to do his best Blake Bortles impersonation and throw 5 pics. And for the Jags Bortles didn't throw a single pick.
Watson does make it entertaining and interesting for us Texans fans. The rookie is a magician out there and with Fuller back we've for sure got a vertical feature to the passing game now.

[barrett]

Seriously, it is sad but appropriate that the entirety of JJ Watt's phenomenal career was likely wasted with useless QBs to make his performances footnotes.

The defense looks awful. We have gotten no pressure and we haven't covered anyone all night. Vrabel needs to be let go to whatever greener pastures came calling last year so we can return to Crenell. Watching tonight, Mercilous may be more valuable to us than Clowney. Clowney has struggled with blocking attention skewed in his direction. When nobody else is collapsing the pocket, Clowney's power based moves are limited. McKinney looks good. The whole secondary was awful tonight. The defense is overpaid and declining in more spots than it's ascending. And we may never get anything real from Watt again while he's so popular there is no chance we move on from his salary in the next 2 years. I fear we need to get used to giving up 30.

The good news is Watson is a stud and that matters more than everything else combined. Hopkins is reliable and Fuller is a real weapon in a league where you need big plays to score. Any RB will work when the QB attracts that much attention. Now if we can assemble a defense and an OL around them.