Official Texans @ Rams Game Thread, 11/12/2017

[Keith]

Defense played a really inspired first half, Clowney particularly so. Amazing how he now seems to be the model of health given how the early years of his career began. Not sure how many more years he will have left in him.

Kevin Johnson also seems to be back to form after his various ailments. Still, can't help but catch the Jags again this Sunday and wonder what might have been had the team retained A.J. Bouye.

It was easy to comment at halftime that had Care Bear converted his short FG attempt, and had Savage not thrown the pick late, that the Texans could have had a two-score lead midway through the game. But then the third quarter happened, and the Savage Texans are who we thought they were.

I said aloud just before the first pick that I didn't mind all those batted passes from Savage because chances were they would be picked anyway, being the curmudgeon that I've become. Then lo and behold, those did become picks later.

And Savage may have a tendency to get not only himself set up for disaster, but now he seems to put his receivers in harm's way, too. Will Fuller was destroyed by a clean hit & didn't return. For as often as Savage locks onto Hopkins, we should be worried that he's next.

[Arky]

I've been cutting Savage some slack because he is getting plenty of starter's minutes for the first time in his career. We as fans are too quick to judge sometimes. Many QB's have to kind of find their way when opportunity knocks.

That said, the bad signs out-numbered the good signs yesterday. There was one play where a Ram defender was making a beeline toward Savage as he stood in the pocket. Savage saw the guy coming and there should have been all sorts of red flags going off - dodge, get rid of the ball, protect the ball, something... but Savage just stood there as though he wasn't processing what was happening, took the sack and fumbled the ball. Just very bad Blake Bortles-esque looking.

There's nothing heroic about being able to "take a punch". Savage was like this at Pitt if you've ever seen those highlights. "Good" at taking a hit. There are usually other less masochistic options.

There were a few good throws yesterday.....just not enough. Still, despite the 2 INT's and the 2 lost fumbles, you could make a case that he was a bit better than he was against the Colts. One can only hope he can accelerate his learning curve before he ends up on IR...

[barrett]

Originally Posted by Arky

I've been cutting Savage some slack because he is getting plenty of starter's minutes for the first time in his career. We as fans are too quick to judge sometimes. Many QB's have to kind of find their way when opportunity knocks.

That said, the bad signs out-numbered the good signs yesterday. There was one play where a Ram defender was making a beeline toward Savage as he stood in the pocket. Savage saw the guy coming and there should have been all sorts of red flags going off - dodge, get rid of the ball, protect the ball, something... but Savage just stood there as though he wasn't processing what was happening, took the sack and fumbled the ball. Just very bad Blake Bortles-esque looking.

There's nothing heroic about being able to "take a punch". Savage was like this at Pitt if you've ever seen those highlights. "Good" at taking a hit. There are usually other less masochistic options.

There were a few good throws yesterday.....just not enough. Still, despite the 2 INT's and the 2 lost fumbles, you could make a case that he was a bit better than he was against the Colts. One can only hope he can accelerate his learning curve before he ends up on IR...

Savage is a bad backup QB. He has poor pocket awareness, poor presnap recognition, and poor accuracy. His solid arm strength and size are rendered useless by the fact that he doesn't know where to throw it.

I'd say he's near the bottom of the 9 QBs we've played the last 4 years. I'd take Yates or Weeden over him.

[Arky]

Originally Posted by barrett

Savage is a bad backup QB. He has poor pocket awareness, poor presnap recognition, and poor accuracy. His solid arm strength and size are rendered useless by the fact that he doesn't know where to throw it.

I'd say he's near the bottom of the 9 QBs we've played the last 4 years. I'd take Yates or Weeden over him.

At this point, I agree but I can recall some of these same things being said about Keenum (he of the 0-8 record) a few years ago.....

I'm convinced the term "reserving judgement" is not your vocabulary, barrett....

[barrett]

Originally Posted by Arky

At this point, I agree but I can recall some of these same things being said about Keenum (he of the 0-8 record) a few years ago.....

I'm convinced the term "reserving judgement" is not your vocabulary, barrett....

There are plenty of times it's smart to reserve judgement. When a guy has talent it's worth waiting through plenty of mistakes to see if the talent shines through. When a guy has no talent and no pedigree and has never been thought of as more than a backup, then plays below even those low expectations, there is no reason to reserve judgement.

Even if Tom Savage became the most he can possibly be and maximized every bit of potential and found the perfect situation he'd still be a replacement level player.

[Arky]

Originally Posted by barrett

There are plenty of times it's smart to reserve judgement. When a guy has talent it's worth waiting through plenty of mistakes to see if the talent shines through. When a guy has no talent and no pedigree and has never been thought of as more than a backup, then plays below even those low expectations, there is no reason to reserve judgement.

Even if Tom Savage became the most he can possibly be and maximized every bit of potential and found the perfect situation he'd still be a replacement level player.

Spoken like a true fan!

[HPF Bob]

I looked it up. Mr. Keenum has a 14-17 career record as a starter which is quite impressive since he began 0-8. The Rams, after all, were no great shakes while he was there and the Vikings are a .500 team.

He also went undrafted while Mr. Savage was a fourth-round selection.

While he was a Texan, Keenum's issues were inexperience and playing behind a shitty offensive line. Savage's issues now are inexperience and playing behind a shitty offensive line. That doesn't mean Savage will ever be as good as Keenum or even have the chance to be as good.

Just noting some similarities.