Texans 28, Bucs 14: A View From Behind the Texans Bench

Here's the recap from the Texans website, the Bucs website and the AP version. You can see the game highlights here.

Yesterday, I was fortunate to sit behind the Texans bench, and I thought I might be able to give you a few game day observations and photos you won't find anywhere else (from mostly a Texans' perspective given my vantage point).

Quarterbacks

The game was a battle of the backup quarterbacks with Sage Rosenfels for the Texans and Luke McCown for the Bucs getting the starts due to injuries to the starters.

It is no surprise to Texans fans that Sage Rosenfels can move the ball, even against some good defenses. His aggressiveness sometimes gets him in trouble, but the Bucs weren't able to capitalize enough on the sacks and fumbles. This picture below shows the medical staff attending to Rosenfels chin after one of the sacks.

Rosenfels is well-liked and trusted by his teammates and is a smart, articulate guy who can read defenses. (Here's something I wrote about Rosenfels last year, though my byline isn't on it any more). He probably would have ended up the starter last year except that he got a fluke injury to his hand during a special teams' play last year.

What's been interesting about the Texans story this year is how well they have distributed the ball to different receivers. As teams account for Texans receiver Andre Johnson and his spectacular skills, it gives more opportunity for the more possession-style receivers/tight ends for receptions. Last year, the previous quarterback who shall not be named would get in trouble trying to force it to Andre Johnson even when defenses were playing exotic defenses to limit his touches.

McCown came off a great performance against the Saints, but made too many mistakes against the Texans. The Bucs were having success running the ball around the sides of the Texans defense (especially away from defensive end Mario Williams' side of the field), and probably should have run the ball more on the edges to take pressure off of McCown.

The Texans blitzed more this game than in recent games, and McCown often had problems recognizing what the defense was doing.The Texans tend to play better at home than on the road, and the Bucs have had their own road problems, and this, combined with a young quarterback and four turnovers, contributed to the final outcome.

Special Teams

This has probably been the best combination of an offensive, defensive and special teams performance of the year. Andre Davis had a spectacular tight rope return for a touchdown after the half that really pushed the momentum in the Texans favor.

After his touchdown, Davis sat down on the bench, and coaches and players from both sides of the ball gave him their congratulations.

Defense

Though I have been very critical of the vanilla play calling by defensive coordinator Richard Smith, I think this was the best called game he has had since being with the Texans and the best defensive performance.. With a young quarterback, his game plan stopped most of the running in the middle of the field, forced turnovers and mixed up the pressure.

Texans defensive end Mario Williams had yet another solid game, apply fairly steady quarterback pressure that made McCown throw the ball out of bounds, and finished off the final TB drive with a sack and a quarterback pressure. Williams has had 6.5 sacks over his last six games. He has played over 95% of the defensive snaps this year which is an absurdly high number for a defensive end, and it is clear that opposing offenses are game planning for him.

Injuries

Coming into this game, the Texans led the league in players on IR with 17. The 2007 Bucs team isn't that far behind with their losses of key players.

The Texans offensive line and running back position became especially thin during the game. At various points, guards Kasey Studdard and Chester Pitts had to leave the game, and tackle Ephraim Salaam had to get re-taped. Studdard got clocked and couldn't return, and for a while right tackle Eric Winston had to slide over to guard to let backup Rashad Butler play tackle.

This picture shows the training staff working with Kasey Studdard, getting him to open and close his hands and talking to him.

In his post game quotes, Gary Kubiak acknowledged the difficulty they were having at the line:

We had no more players. (G Kasey) Studdard was out. Lights out. He's got a neck, head...he was lights out. We were out of players when (G) Chester (Pitts) left. As a matter of fact I told the official, "Would you do me a favor? If something happens to another one of these linemen would you all go to a commercial because we're just going to take some time." He just started laughing, but I was serious. We had nobody else. We suited seven. Chester jumped off the ground, came back, and played. That's the type of effort our team gave.

Ron Dayne started the game, but started having ankle issues. You could see him on the sidelines trying to work it out, and he received a shot at the half. Darius Walker got his first game action and showed some flashes of good play, though the Texans really didn't try to run the ball much until the end.

Ultimately, the story for both of these teams in 2007 is how much they have been sidelined by injuries but are still playing with a lot of heart and effort. Injuries to starting quarterbacks and running backs and many other players can often lead to catastrophically bad season, but both of these teams are trying to hold it together MacGuyver style.

I'd like to hear other people's observations of the game, especially from the Buc's perspective from the hospitable folks at the Buc's fansite TheCaptain's Deck.