Before, and after, flea-flicker
After fast start in first half, offense can’t convert short-yardage situations in second half
Nothing about a flea-flicker signaled a collapse.
There was only surprise. Surprise that Mark Ingram flipped a handoff back to rookie quarterback Davis Mills. Surprise that Mills threw a 37-yard touchdown to a wide-open Chris Conley. Surprise that the Texans were beating the Patriots 22-9 in the third quarter of a game in which they entered an eight-point underdog. Suprise that a Texans offense that was shutout against the Bills last week seemed to have solved its problems.
Offensive coordinator Tim Kelly’s creativity sparked in a bevy of personnel packages that produced favorable opportunities against the Patriots’ defense. Mills was making snap decisions and connecting on downfield passes. Texans coach David Culley held enough faith in the offense’s momentum to authorize three fourth-down attempts in the first half, and the offense held enough endurance to convert on all three.
This was an offensive meltdown that can only be explained in two phases:
Before the flea-flicker. And after.
As the Patriots stormed back toward a comeback victory, the Texans produced just 74 yards and punted four times on its final five drives.
“We let one slide, man,” running back David Johnson said. “We let one get away from us.” So what happened? Culley once again blamed penalties for the offensive issues, but the offense committed four of its five penalties (40 total yards) in the first half, and the penalties mostly revealed just how much more effective the offense was this week.
Wide receiver Chris Moore’s holding penalty on Houston’s first drive negated an 11-yard run by Phillip Lindsay, but the Texans still overcame the setback on an
18-play, 79-yard touchdown drive, the franchise’s longest of the year.
Moore’s penalty wasn’t as much a problem, because it was called downfield after Lindsay picked up the first down, so the Texans essentially re-started at first-and-10 at their own 43. Two plays later, Kelly deployed a twotight end formation with a screen play designed for tight end Jordan Akins, who picked up 8 yards, preceding a third-and-1 quarterback sneak by Mills that moved the chains.
Kelly’s two-back sets were at their most effective in this first drive. The Texans kept the Patriots off-kilter with Johnson runs and catches. The dual-threat back was split out wide on a fourth-and-2, and Mills delivered an 8-yard slant to Johnson that continued the drive to the Patriots’ 30.
Even Kelly’s favored three tight end formations contained plays
that caught the Patriots by surprise. The grouping was deployed on third-and-1 at the New England 11, signaling run, and Mills dropped back and threw a touchdown strike to tight end Antony Auclair in the back of the end zone.
It was the first career touchdown catch for Auclair, a blocking tight end who previously played for the Buccaneers in four seasons.
“They couldn’t get a bead on what we were doing,” said Johnson, who finished the game with five catches for 46 yards and two carries for 5 yards.
The Texans even overcame three penalties in a single secondquarter drive that eventually produced a field goal.
Center Justin Britt’s holding penalty produced a third-and-17 in which Mills dumped a screen pass to Johnson, who weaved 16 yards to create a fourth-and-1 that was favorable enough for Culley
to elect to go for it again. The Texans deployed three tight ends again, the Patriots stacked the box anticipating run, and Mills fired a 6-yard slant pass to Brandin Cooks in one-on-one coverage.
“They kind of put people on islands out there playing a lot of man-to-man coverage,” said Mills, who finished 21-of-29 passing for 312 yards and three touchdowns. “We were able to take advantage of that.”
Two plays later, tight end Pharaoh Brown was called for a false start, and Mills, on third-and-15, completed a 13-yard pass to Chris Moore in the seam. Culley called to go for it again on fourth-and-2, and Mills completed a 40-yard pass to Conley near the Patriots goal line.
Left guard Tytus Howard was penalized for another false start, but Mills was twice sacked by outside linebacker Matt Judon, which preceded Ka’imi Fairbairn’s
33-yard field goal that pushed Houston’s lead to 15-6 with 1:37 left in the first half.
The Texans run game, which totaled 67 yards on 24 carries, was enough to set the offense in favorable positions. Ingram’s seven-yard run on Houston’s first drive of the second half set up a second-and-3 situation in which the playbook opened significantly. The Texans remained in the same personnel group the following play, and Ingram tossed his handoff back to Mills for the fleaflicker.
Right guard Max Scharping’s holding call later in the second half did produce a Texans threeand-out, but that was the team’s only offensive penalty of the half.
Two special teams gaffes produced the difference in the game, and Houston’s inability to convert short-yardage situations kept them from pushing the ball downfield.
On second-and-3 in the third quarter, Howard missed a block on blitzing safety Adrian Phillips, who tackled Ingram for a oneyard gain. Mills couldn’t connect on a third-down pass to Cooks, which produced a fourth-and-2 at Houston’s 36.
Punter Cam Johnston initially lined up for a fake, backed up when the Patriots adjusted, then punted the ball directly into the back of teammate Terrence Brooks. The ricochet produced a net punt of zero yards, leading to a Patriots field goal.
Culley then called for a 56-yard field goal attempt in the fourth quarter on a fourth-and 4, which Fairbairn missed wide right. The Patriots scored again on the next drive, tying the game at 22.
Another Mills sack on the next drive produced a failed long third down attempt and another Texans punt.
The Patriots then unfurled a 15play, 84-yard field goal drive that gave them their go-ahead lead with 15 seconds left in the game.