Official Divisional Playoff Round - Texans @ Chiefs Game Thread, 1/12/2020

[Arky]

Chiefs have to punt after running for 3 downs and forcing the Texans to use up all their timeouts.

Punt is downed at the Texan 5. Texan's ball with 3:49 left in the game.

[Arky]

Texans have 1st and goal at the Chief's 8 at the 2 minute mark (1:51 actual).

...............

Watson sacked on 4th and goal. Chiefs takeover on downs. Ball at their 15 yard line. 1:34 left in the game.

Chiefs will probably kneel it out....

Final score:

Chiefs 51, Texans 31

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Texans keep their record at 0-fer in divisional round games.

[Arky]

Early line has Chiefs as a 7 to 9 pt favorite over the Titans...

[Keith]

In retrospect, the most surprising thing about this game was that the Texans were up by 24 in the first quarter. Had they lost more conventionally by 20 points would not have really surprised anyone.

Sad fact, since O'Brien has been hired, each of the other AFC South teams have advanced to the conference championship game.

[HPF Bob]

Bob Hulsey
@BobHulseyTX
·
8m
Coming to bookstores soon: "How to Piss Away a Three-Touchdown Lead and Lose By 20 Points" by Bill O'Brien, former head coach of the #HoustonTexans .

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Hmmm. I'm finding myself agreeing with the heckler at the Broncos game.

[Arky]

Originally Posted by Keith

..........

Sad fact, since O'Brien has been hired, each of the other AFC South teams have advanced to the conference championship game.

Huh. You are correct, I looked it up. Colts went to the AFCC game in '14, Jags in '17 and Titans this year.

If it makes anyone feel better, Titans were on a 0-3 run in divisional games before getting over the hump this year. Lost divisional games in '03, '08 and '17. The last time the Titans reached the AFCC game was '02 when they lost to the Raiders - that was Jeff Fisher/Steve McNair/Eddie George era...

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Early lines have settled down a bit. Chiefs now mostly a 7½ pt favorite over the Titans. Niners a 7 pt favorite over the Packers.

[Arky]

Something has got to be done about this bondo'ed-up defense next year. This year's defense was a mix of over-the-hillers, inexperience and never-was. Some were unhealthy at the wrong time with no competent backup. A few good pieces - I'd keep McKinney, Cunningham, Watt, Martin, Reid, a couple of others... Everyone else should be on notice..... Only 3 times did they hold an opponent under 14 pts and those games were mostly in the first half of the year. Down the stretch, they declined badly.... Just gotta have a better defense than that.

The fat-boy DL had zero pass rush all year long. All those guys are questionable. No doubt they are tough guys, good teammates, blah, blah, blah but they ain't getting the job done.

I think the offense is pretty well set - it was a learning year for the rookies and new people - so, all the resources can be spent on defense next year....

[HPF Bob]

Summation by the YouTube oracle "Urinating Tree"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93lWO8lfxrs

(caution: includes profanity)

But he's spot on in evaluating O'Brien. Hit every bullet point except for Bill's talent for not challenging calls that he could win while wasting timeouts challenging calls he's guaranteed to lose.

He's right that the Texans won't fire O'Brien because they are obsessed with becoming the Patriots just like Austin/University of Texas is fixated on leaders that came from San Francisco, Sacramento or Berkeley. Hey, Houstonians, guess where Austin found Art Acevedo?

But, to be fair, let's do a quick comparison on the Clowney deal:

Clowney - 13 games, 31 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 INT, 4 FF, 2 recoveries, 13 QB hits
----------
Martin - 14 games, 11 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 0 INT, 1 FF, 1 recovery, 7 QB hits
Mingo - 16 games, 1 tackle, 0 sacks, 0 INT, 0 FF, 0 recovery, 2 QB hits
Conley* - 8 games, 27 tackles, 0 sacks, 0 INTs, 0 FF, 0 recovery, 0 QB hits

Total of 3: 38 games, 39 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 0 INT, 1 FF, 1 recovery, 9 QB hits

* - we got Conley with the 3rd that was part of the Clowney deal.

Salary: Clowney almost $16 million
Martin, Mingo, Conley combined approximately $5.4 million

[chuck]

Originally Posted by Arky

Something has got to be done about this bondo'ed-up defense next year.

Well, they have Mercilus locked up for the next 11 years. You gotta love that...

I'd somehow missed BOB's exchange with the fan until yesterday. I have to say, that gave me some additional insight into his ability to think on his feet. You suck! shouts the fan. YOU SUCK TOO! is BOB's agile retort.

I wonder how long it would take for him to explode if he were coaching in a real city with real fans and a real press. Sadly, I'll never know, but I would take the under on that one.