A long-awaited return
First game back in Houston just adds to list of numerous disappointing outcomes
Brock Osweiler walked out of NRG Stadium on Thursday night with good memories of past days spent with old friends, coupled with present-day frustrations of missed chances and best-laid plans that came up empty.
In his return to NRG Stadium with the Miami Dolphins, Osweiler, the Texans’ starting quarterback and $72 million lost investment of 2016, had a couple of moments to remember, a couple he would like to forget and many moments of too little consequence to lift his team to victory.
Meanwhile, Deshaun Watson, whom the Texans selected with a first-round draft pick as Osweiler’s successor, was practically perfect in every way in the Texans’ 19point win, their fifth in a row after a 0-3 start.
Osweiler, in his third week starting in place of injured Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill, completed 21-of-37 for 241 yards with two sacks, an interception and a fumble that wasn’t to wipe out an apparent Texans touchdown.
His most memorable moments may have been a backward pass to Danny Amendola, who threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to running back Kenyan Drake, and a pass that pinballed from the hands of receiver Jakeem Grant to the helmet of Texans defender Natrell Jamerson to the hands of Miami’s DeVante Parker for a 46yard gain on a drive that led to a Dolphins field goal.
His only consolation for another loss in the stadium where he played a sometimes up and mostly down during the 2016 season was the greeting he received afterward from former teammates.
“There was a bunch of guys — Nick Martin, Whitney Mercilus, Kareem Jackson, J.J. (Watt) … I don’t want to miss anybody,” he said. “It was a laundry list of guys.
“It means a lot because I have a ton of respect of those guys. We all have great relationships.”
The Dolphins’ game plan from the start was to keep Osweiler on the move to avoid the Texans’ pass rush. His first dropback pass didn’t come until Miami’s second possession, when he completed a checkdown to running back Kenyan Drake for a short gain.
His second dropback, on the first play of the second quarter, was more costly. As Amendola tried to get open against Texans defensive back Mike Tyson, Osweiler’s pass was overthrown and intercepted by safety Justin Reed to set up the Texans’ second touchdown, a 13-yard pass to tight end Jordan Thomas.
“I’m sure he wished he had that one back,” said Dolphins coach Adam Gase, “That was untimely, for sure, the way the game was going. There was missed communications, which is not what we needed, but for the most part I thought he did a good job of getting the ball out.”
Both coach and quarterback said the Dolphins attempted to revamp their protection schemes during the short week of preparation but enjoyed only minimal success.
“There were a lot of schemes we put in this week that were sixman protections, seven-man protections, we were chipping the edges,” Osweiler said. “But give Houston credit. They broke through it.”
Gase said the protection schemes were “trying to make sure that J.J. and ( Jadeveon) Clowney didn’t have a field day on us. We thought we had a good plan of protection. We had some good plays, and we had probably too many zero or negative plays.”
Another sore spot was inefficiency on third down. Miami was just 4-of-13 along with a failed fourth-down conversion.
“We weren’t in a rhythm,” Osweiler said. “This offense really gets going when we can create first down, second down, first down, and almost avoid that third down.
“They did a good job of mixing in some zones on third down, and that caused us a lot of problems.”
Osweiler’s lost season of 2016 remains a sore spot for some Texans fans, but those feelings were not reflect by Osweiler or his former teammates.
“There was no negative emotion or anything like that,” he said. “It was just great to see a lot of the guys. I had a lot of great conversations with some of the players, support staff, trainers, strength coaches.
“There’s so much time spent in the offseason and season that you build bonds with people that are hard to explain to anybody who has never experienced playing in the National Football League.”