Texans vs. Chiefs
To everyone’s dismay, except the Texan coaching staff and the Kansas City defense, Deshaun Watson’s return included two hand-offs and a short 5 yard throw to the right flat. Even in the limited time, he moved well and stepped into that one throw easily – always good to see post-ACL surgery. DeAndre Hopkins DNP, which was unsurprising. Bruce Ellington and Braxton Miller looked pretty good, getting in and out of cuts, but most importantly catching the majority of their targets (6/7). Sammie Coates, Jr. drew two long penalties with his speed/size combination. He later had a nice six yard catch in traffic to convert a third down. Lamar Miller looked in mid-season form, rushing for 30 yards on four carries, with a long of 19 yards. One big thing to take away from this game from Houston’s point of view is that, while bringing Brandon Weeden back might seem laughable to most, he had some life to his throws and did not turn the ball over. Having a good backup quarterback is paramount, especially in Houston’s case. Defensively, I’d say they fared well despite missing all of Watt, Clowney and Mercilus.
If I were a Kansas City Chiefs fan, I’d be repeating, “RELAX”, as I went about my day – both from an offensive and defensive standpoint. Yes, Patrick Mahomes did not turn the ball over and he completed 5/7 throws, but it was like watching Alex Smith all over again. Could Andy Reid have been holding him back? Probably. But when he did take a deep shot, he overthrew the Travis Kelce by a country mile. The worst part is that Kelce was wide open on a deep flag route against a zone defense, meaning he wasn’t even running full speed. Let’s give Mahomes some leeway, for now. Tyreek Hill caught two screen passes for seven whole yards. Big free agent pickup, Sammy Watkins did not even make it onto the box score and Kareem Hunt barely made an appearance with one rushing yard. Defensively, wow. Their cornerbacks struggled mightily, both by allowing 10 yards per pass and committing dumb coverage penalties. They also allowed almost 5 yards per carry.
Ultimately, this was what usually happens during the first week of exhibition games. The training camp rules against physicality has a lot to do with it. Teams come out all fired up, but look like baby deer running around, out of position and with bad technique. It’ll work itself out by the third week. For now, the Texans should be feeling pretty good, while the Chiefs have a lot of work cut out for them heading into week two against Atlanta.
-Joe Hanretty
If you count that INT as a knock against Dalton I can’t take seriously that you actually watched the game.
He forced it to a receiver while he was under pressure…
If you’re not taking Saquon or Odell in the first round id like to be in your league.
I agree with a lot of Mr Bevins assessments.. I liked how Hill looked, and Webb deserves to be watched closely…McCoy also looked good
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