Well, it is yet another unsavory start to our week in Houston.
The Texans, our city’s beloved football team, found a way to lose their fourth consecutive game on Sunday. This week might have been the most frustrating loss of all. The Rams are a team that, on paper, the Texans should have rolled. Sam Bradford has done little since being taken No. 1 overall in the 2009 NFL Draft to show he is worth that high of a selection. The Texans’ running game should have and did control the line of scrimmage for the entire game. A secondary Matt Schaub should have been able to handle.
So why the struggle? The Texans have been playing some of the most undisciplined football I have ever seen. On their first drive of the game, Schaub made a nice throw on third down to move the chains, but the play was called back due to a face mask penalty on an offensive linemen.
Schaub got his offense on the move as he had his way with the Rams’ secondary until DeAndre Hopkins fumbled. Schaub then answered and got the team down to the red zone again, only to be hurt by a false start penalty on third down.
The Rams’ first touchdown was set up by a 40-yard pass interference call on Kareem Jackson. It was like the entire world was against the team on Sunday. Nothing could go in the Texans’ favor. Even on a day when Matt Schaub finally looked like he had his slump turned around, he went out with an injury. That is where the game got interesting.
For weeks, Texans fans having been calling for TJ Yates. But when he entered the game, what did he do? He threw a pick-six — different quarterback, same result. Turnovers again killed the Texans in this matchup as they turned it over four times.
The real monstrosity Sunday was the hometown fans praising Schaub’s injury. For those who were at the game and felt that was the right thing to do in that moment: Shame on you. It doesn’t matter what you think of Schaub; it doesn’t matter how well Schaub has played this season. That is another human being lying on the ground in pain, not knowing what is wrong. By the looks of that play, we knew that could have been the last snap of Schaub’s career. Is that really how Texans fans would like Schaub to remember this city?
Houston has always been a city that didn’t stoop to lows like that. We supported our athletes with an undying passion. But when I heard cheers coming in when Schaub went down, I was sick to my stomach. The Texans losing the game was not even close to the most disgusting performance on Sunday. As bad as the team played, the fans who acted immaturely have now cast a negative stereotype on the city of Houston and our sports culture that will be terribly hard to live down.
Going into next week, I am not sure what to think of this football team. They are a good football team, but the only stat that truly matters is wins and losses, and right now, that is the one stat the Texans are having trouble mastering.
I really hope they finally give Case a shot to show what he can do. Man, it would be something of pride to see a Cougar leading the in town pro team.
I do as well. He is getting first team reps this week but with Kubiak making the decisions who knows any more?