O-line tries to right wrongs after step back
Heavy hands kept shoving the Texans’ blockers backward, an unwanted retreat that included right offensive tackle Kendall Lamm being launched so powerfully into the backfield that he landed on top of running back Lamar Miller.
Miller fell to the ground as his teammate crashed into him for an unusual tackle for a loss.
It wasn’t the only ugly moment for the Texans’ offensive line as they were dominated by the Indianapolis Colts during a 24-21 loss Sunday that ended a franchise-record, nine-game winning streak.
Because the Texans couldn’t run the football or adequately protect quarterback Deshaun Watson, the offense short-circuited.
The Texans surrendered five sacks and rushed for only 89 yards on 25 carries.
Colts defensive lineman Denico Autry roughed up the Texans so badly he was crowned by the NFL on Wednesday as the AFC Defensive Player of the Week.
Owning up to their mistakes
The loss represented a major departure from the encouraging way the line had performed in the win streak. This closely mirrored the Texans’ early-season struggles to keep Watson standing and open holes for the ground game.
“Yeah, that’s a true statement,” offensive line coach Mike Devlin said. “The Colts did an excellent job in their game plan. I have to do a better job of countering that and getting them better prepared to handle what they did. … Maybe (we) overreacted a little bit instead of just doing what we do. That’s on me for not handling that.”
Devlin was far from the only culpable party, though.
Whether it was Lamm being beaten at the point of attack or guards Senio Kelemete and Greg Mancz or center Nick Martin not getting enough inside push, the Texans’ film session was basically a horror movie.
“We don’t point fingers,” left offensive tackle Julién Davenport said. “Everybody is honest with each other. … We collectively lean on each other. If someone makes a mistake, we have insight for how to get better and how to be better. … We know what we can do and we’ll be fine.”
Miller rushed for only 33 yards on 13 carries against the Colts. He had nowhere to run and had negative-5 yards at halftime.
“We always want to be able to run the ball,” Kelemete said. “That’s our bread and butter to get things going. That makes it harder for Deshaun. As a line, we have to do better up front, and we will.”
Jets certain to do homework
An overhauled line has frequently been characterized as the weak link of an offense headlined by Watson and All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.
The Texans have allowed 46 sacks, and Watson has been hit 100 times thus far.
“I think our group is very humble,” Devlin said. “We know we have … to play smart, hard and tough every game with the matchups we see every week.”
Devlin anticipates the New York Jets to study that game to try to exploit what just happened come Saturday.
“Sure, I mean, that’s coaching,” Devlin said. “As my father used to say, if you stare at it long enough, it’s not stealing, it’s research. We all do that. We have to evaluate ourselves. We have to know how a defender beat us, and we have to know that the next person’s going to do that until we fix it.”
Devlin didn’t attribute the breakdowns against the Colts or the Cleveland Browns the week before as a matter of failing to diagnose disguised blitz packages. He acknowledged it was a much simpler type of breakdown — the Texans simply got beat.
“Relative to those, I don’t think they necessarily hid them,” Devlin said. “Again, we didn’t do a good enough job of responding and reacting.”
Now, the Texans are tasked with blocking a Jets defense that includes safety Jamal Adams, linebacker Avery Williamson and lineman Leonard Williams.
“Obviously, big, athletic,” Devlin said. “They’re going to try to strip the ball.”
Kelemete expressed confidence the Texans will identify and fix their problems.
“We need to go back to the fundamentals,” he said. “I feel like we got carried away from that. We need to go back to the basics. Part of your job is owning up to what you put out on film. That’s how you show accountability. You say, ‘I’m wrong, I need to fix it, and I need to do better.’ ”
Devlin doesn’t worry about this group. They’ve weathered criticism and rough games before.
“I don’t think this is a group that ever looks beyond what’s in front of them,” Devlin said. “I think they don’t think they’re any better than what they are. They know they have to work hard every day to improve.
“Last week was not what I wanted, what we wanted as a group. Now, you’ve got to get back to work on a short week and prepare for a really good defense.”