And Chad Pennington had plays like that too. Weak armed QBs can rifle the ball in occasionally, but generally they float their passes when asked to make difficult passes to the numbers or deep. 

It'd a non issue for the 5-15 yard range.

The encouraging thing is he is seeing those wide open WRs in those intermediate routes.  In these two games, I have never seen passes that left me wondering "where in the hell is he throwing?"

Yeah, he's making good decisions for the most part and recognizing when guys are getting open. We'll see how it goes, the Texans defense is badly overrated, but the constant Fournette runs up the middle made it hard on our offense early. Hopefully they cut that crap out.

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Honestly i'm on the fence about the two point conversion. It was ballsy move. It could've gone either way, but either way I would've preferred to see Minshew get the chance to make that play

I'm more concerned with how certain players are dealing with Marrone being their coach; I'm concerned that he's let these guys run roughshod over him since 2018, and now it may be that a few of them( (Ramsey) don't respect him. That does not bode well going forward. You don't see teams like the rams or New England dealing with these kinds of problems.

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This team is too talented to have coaches that hold them back.

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And Chad Pennington had plays like that too. Weak armed QBs can rifle the ball in occasionally, but generally they float their passes when asked to make difficult passes to the numbers or deep. 

It'd a non issue for the 5-15 yard range.

The encouraging thing is he is seeing those wide open WRs in those intermediate routes.  In these two games, I have never seen passes that left me wondering "where in the hell is he throwing?"

And that matters more to me than velocity 100%. He's a rookie who knows what to do and where go, some guys don't understand that until year 3 or 4

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I think the decision to go for two was a mistake. Reason, Minchew was hot, our D was playing lights out at the end of the game. O line couldn't open a door all day for Fournette. Ride that pony into OT. Plus, we were playing a division opponent. If it were an out of division opponent, yeah, go for the two. I don't know what the NFL average for successful two point conversions is but I know the success of the extra point is high and with Lambo like 100%. This loss is more hurtful because it was a division game. Should have gone for the tie then OT.

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I'm more concerned with how certain players are dealing with Marrone being their coach; I'm concerned that he's let these guys run roughshod over him since 2018, and now it may be that a few of them( (Ramsey) don't respect him. That does not bode well going forward. You don't see teams like the rams or New England dealing with these kinds of problems.

Marrone possibly losing/lost the team is a legitimate concern for me, and it has been since last year.  That's a legitimate reason fir letting him go.

But if he has lost the team, it's stunning how quickly it happened.

He is the one the implemented a more serious tone in the locker room...taking out the ping pong tables, etc., then actually producing a winning season that first year.

But last year everything went south in a hurry with the injuries and the discipline seemed to go with it.

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The encouraging thing is he is seeing those wide open WRs in those intermediate routes.  In these two games, I have never seen passes that left me wondering "where in the hell is he throwing?"

And that matters more to me than velocity 100%. He's a rookie who knows what to do and where go, some guys don't understand that until year 3 or 4

This is true.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

I haven't seen any issues with Minshew's arm strength at all since he's come in.

I mean he floats the ball a ton. He's very accurate and makes good decisions so it doesn't matter as much but he's in the below average to bottom tier of arm velocity

By that matter, so is Watson and it hasn't hindered him yet

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I don't think Allen was credited for a sack. At least not on any stat sheet I could find.

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None of them are wounded ducks either. He seems to be a natural thrower of the football. (And the sister was pretty cute)

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The encouraging thing is he is seeing those wide open WRs in those intermediate routes.  In these two games, I have never seen passes that left me wondering "where in the hell is he throwing?"

Yeah, he's making good decisions for the most part and recognizing when guys are getting open. We'll see how it goes, the Texans defense is badly overrated, but the constant Fournette runs up the middle made it hard on our offense early. Hopefully they cut that crap out.

Somehow I knew that run up the middle was coming on the 2-point conversion.

I think running inside there was bad for several reasons.

1.  Minshew had the hot hand.
2.  Conversely, Fournette and the OL did NOT have the hot hand.
3.  Running inside had not worked all game long, and it played into the strength of the Texans' defense-the front 7.

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I don't think Allen was credited for a sack. At least not on any stat sheet I could find.

They said he was given the sack on TV...FWIW.

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

1.  Criticism of head coaches comes with the territory.  Today, Marrone earned the criticism he is bound to receive after today.  Now going for the two some would argue took guts.  But others would argue that the Jaguars had the momentum and, if they took the momentum into overtime, they may have won.  My bigger problem came early in the game, when he didn't challenge that clear drop by Hopkins that continued a drive that resulted in a FG.  As it turns out, had he challenged that play and won, the Texans may have only had 10 points today, not 13.  As to that play and the resulting sideline blowup with Ramsey, that'll be evidence that Marrone doesn't have control of the team, and that Ramsey is a loudmouth and cancer.  While I think Ramsey may have gone too far with his disagreement, I think fundamentally he was right.

Divas gonna diva.

As to Marrone, I can't comment yet.  I'll have to go back and watch the game on Gamepass.  All I saw was Redzone, being out of market.

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Fix the O-Line!

Yeah, he's making good decisions for the most part and recognizing when guys are getting open. We'll see how it goes, the Texans defense is badly overrated, but the constant Fournette runs up the middle made it hard on our offense early. Hopefully they cut that crap out.

Somehow I knew that run up the middle was coming on the 2-point conversion.

I think running inside there was bad for several reasons.

1.  Minshew had the hot hand.
2.  Conversely, Fournette and the OL did NOT have the hot hand.
3.  Running inside had not worked all game long, and it played into the strength of the Texans' defense-the front 7.

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I don't think Allen was credited for a sack. At least not on any stat sheet I could find.

They said he was given the sack on TV...FWIW.

Fans and observers undoubtedly will criticize both the decision to go for two, and to run Fournette. Marrone said the decision to go for two was made well in advance of Chark’s touchdown. As for the run to Fournette, the Jaguars had multiple plays called. The Texans’ defensive formation for the play determined the run.

Watch it back, Conley has half the endzone open.

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Somehow I knew that run up the middle was coming on the 2-point conversion.

I think running inside there was bad for several reasons.

1.  Minshew had the hot hand.
2.  Conversely, Fournette and the OL did NOT have the hot hand.
3.  Running inside had not worked all game long, and it played into the strength of the Texans' defense-the front 7.

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They said he was given the sack on TV...FWIW.

Fans and observers undoubtedly will criticize both the decision to go for two, and to run Fournette. Marrone said the decision to go for two was made well in advance of Chark’s touchdown. As for the run to Fournette, the Jaguars had multiple plays called. The Texans’ defensive formation for the play determined the run.

Watch it back, Conley has half the endzone open.

None of that is surprising...but I'd like to see Conley on that play. 

Was he on the bunch side or the right?

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Worst to 1st.  Curse Reversed!

Fans and observers undoubtedly will criticize both the decision to go for two, and to run Fournette. Marrone said the decision to go for two was made well in advance of Chark’s touchdown. As for the run to Fournette, the Jaguars had multiple plays called. The Texans’ defensive formation for the play determined the run.

Watch it back, Conley has half the endzone open.

None of that is surprising...but I'd like to see Conley on that play. 

Was he on the bunch side or the right?

Yeah, hes the slot WR on the left. He runs a simple drag over the middle. The Texans are lined up against the run, the WRs are in man coverage. I saw some debating if it was an RPO but Minshew hands it off pretty quick, doesn't look to be reading the Mike or anyone.

Oh dear, Marrone has also said he 'cant remember' what him and Ramsey argued about. Um....yeah right!!

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That drop by Ramsey sucked, but we got to give the guy a lot of credit. Wash allowed him to play man coverage (THANK GOD), and Ramsey OWNED this match up against Hopkins. Made him his... you know.

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https://twitter.com/i/status/1173342119580356609

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According to Marrone we had numerous plays ready but we let how the Texans D lined up pick it.

Oesher and Sexton banging the Marrone drum and victory in defeat same old.

Oh for heavens sake that is a cop-out excuse. The team that has the ball should dictate the tempo of the game. 

In our case it doesn't matter though because the NFL and the refs hate us.

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I mean he floats the ball a ton. He's very accurate and makes good decisions so it doesn't matter as much but he's in the below average to bottom tier of arm velocity

By that matter, so is Watson and it hasn't hindered him yet

Watsons arm is more like average and he's one of the best playmakers in the league at QB. 

Minshew has played well, idc about arm velocity if you play like he does but it's just the reality of who he is as a QB.

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This is as fireable of an offense as anything else Marrone has done...which is a lot...

https://twitter.com/MikeClayNFL/status/1...3910501376

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1.  Criticism of head coaches comes with the territory.  Today, Marrone earned the criticism he is bound to receive after today.  Now going for the two some would argue took guts.  But others would argue that the Jaguars had the momentum and, if they took the momentum into overtime, they may have won.  My bigger problem came early in the game, when he didn't challenge that clear drop by Hopkins that continued a drive that resulted in a FG.  As it turns out, had he challenged that play and won, the Texans may have only had 10 points today, not 13.  As to that play and the resulting sideline blowup with Ramsey, that'll be evidence that Marrone doesn't have control of the team, and that Ramsey is a loudmouth and cancer.  While I think Ramsey may have gone too far with his disagreement, I think fundamentally he was right.

2.   For a long time I have liked James Lofton.  During his Hall of Fame career, he was an electric receiver.  A Stanford grad, he's a smart guy, to be sure.  But for goodness sake, his name is pronounced Min-SHOO, not Min-SKEW!!!!!!

3.  Granted, it was in a loss so it doesn't mean too much, but this game represented some redemption for the defense.  The Texans put up, what, 28 points against a good defense in the Saints, but the defense shut them down.  In giving up 13 points, had Marrone challenged that play referenced above, the Texans likely have a FG off the board, and a Minshew fumble in Jaguars' territory led to the Texans' lone TD.  Thing is, they did it without two key starters in Yannick Ngakoue and A.J. Bouye.  I think there were some very nice, Capers influenced blitzes that we haven't seen under Wash before that were nice.  The main thing I had a problem with is the run defense, which has been a problem for years.  But as a whole, they played well this week.

4.  Last week was Richardson's first snaps at LT since high school and he did pretty well.  This week? Not so much, as Whitney Mercilus gave him a hard time.  I still think he can be a good player, even at LT.  But whether at LT or at G, he will have his share of growing pains, like he did today.

5.  Back to the defense for a moment, I would be remiss if I did not give kudos to Taven Bryan.  Throughout last year and more in the preseason, I have been among the many who have been critical of Bryan.  Today, he seemingly had his best game as a pro, with two impressive pressures on Watson.  If he continues to play at this level, I will feel much better about his selection.  In fairness, he was going against Tytus Howard, a rookie making his first start.  howard struggled mightily.  But also in fairness, I had doubts that bryan could even succeed under those circumstances.  So kudos to him for his play today.

6.  Zero problems with special teams today.  Lambo and Cook had good games, as did the coverage teams.

7.  Rookie Watch:

• Josh Allen-Got his first official sack today, though it was more the result of a fumble than it was him beating a tackle.  He had a pressure that impacted a throw, resulting in an incompletion, and had another TFL.  Early on, I saw him dropped into coverage on some plays, and I didn't care for that.
  
• Jawaan Taylor-Had a tough assignment in J.J. Watt, and held up decently.  had at least one false start penalty, and there was another that could have been called but wasn't.
  
• Josh Oliver-DNP
  
• Quincy Williams-Wow.  Had numerous instances where the closing speed that Marrone gushed about was in full display.  Filled the hole on a running play and hit with authority on one play, and it left me thinking Telvin Smith never makes that play.  He did have the play where he was in great position to stop their TE in the left sideline area well short of the first down, only to be dragged by the bigger guy past the marker.  But I'm not sure how anyone seeing the game can question the wisdom of investing that pick on Williams at this point.
  
• Ryquell Armstead-DNP
  
• Gardner Minshew-I have to say I liked a lot of what I saw.  One thing I notice about him thus far is he doesn't seem to make too many bad decisions.  The last drive he showed some guts.  He wasn't afraid to attack downfield, either.  However, the big thing were the 3 fumbles, including the one inside Jaguars territory that gave the Texans the short field they needed to score the TD.  I'm still not sure his arm will let him be a starter, but I think he'll be a great backup.   But I would gladly eat crow on that point, and I'm willing to say there is some substance to the popularity he enjoys.
  
• Dontavious Russell-I did not see him.
  

8.    I have to give kudos to the WRs.  During the preseason, even though as a general rule, I know you can't take too much from preseason, I expressed concern about the WR position in part due to the lack of productivity in the preseason, and in part due to the lack of production Conley and Chark have had in the past.  But I'm thrilled to see the confidence I had in Chark was not misplaced.  Furthermore, Conley has exceeded my expectations and has given us some good receptions. Last week you could kind of mitigate their contributions as the result of going against a poor defense with a big lead.  Not today.  While I think the Texans are vulnerable in their secondary, they have a better defense overall than KC.  Bottom line, I am much more confident in the position than I was before.

9.  I really wish Ramsey had held onto that INT.  If he does, we win that game.

10.  Bottom line-I fully expect there to be some growing pains involved with Minshew as more and more film on him becomes available.  I fully expected him to be a big liability early on.  But generally, he has acquitted himself well.  If the team can execute a little better, cut down on penalties, stay health and make a play or two, we can win some games with Minshew in the lineup. That said, this was a tough one to lose, and we come home on a short week to face the tacks, who torture us in these circumstances.

To summarize, quit over thinking it.  Minshew is the QB.  He has not shown any reason to believe the game is above him. Take the hand cuffs off, give him the full play book, let the defense loose and stop playing scared!

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Original Season Ticket Holder - Retired  1995 - 2020


At some point you just have to let go of what you thought should happen and live in what is happening.