Facing their final NFC East opponent of the year, the Houston Texans were not able to defeat Chip Kelley’s high octane Philadelphia Eagles, who piled up 483 yards of offense & won 31-21 on Battle Red Day at NRG Stadium. Eagles backup QB Mark Sanchez replaced starter Nick Foles, who broke his collarbone in the 1st half, and went 15 for 22 with 202 yards with 2 TDs & 2 interceptions, including one that was not his fault. The loss dropped the Texans to 4-5, and left a lot of questions for the coaching staff to ponder heading into the bye week.
Here are 6 observations from the Texans-Eagles game that have been dubbed the “Pick 6” …
Jadeveon Clowney grabs the headlines without even suiting up
The #1 pick of the entire ‘14 draft was supposed to be playing in his 2nd consecutive game after missing several games due to an injury. Instead, he had a flu bug & his only contribution on Sunday was liking photos on Instagram.
This comes on the heels of a report by Ian Rapoport on NFL.com that the coaching staff has become frustrated with the rookie not coming back sooner from injury & wants him to mature.
The knock on Clowney coming out of college was his work ethic & ability to play through pain. While illness & injury are always debatable issues, it is troublesome that the whispers are already circulating about his maturity level & ability to play through adversity.
The injury bug strikes the Texans
In addition to Jadeveon Clowney missing the game with an illness, the Texans lost their 2 starting cornerbacks, Kareem Jackson & Johnathan Joseph, early in the game due to injury. A.J. Bouye, Jumal Rolle, and Andre Hal had to come in & pick up the slack & did well enough to force some turnovers, but they also had some mistakes due to their inexperience.
Arian Foster also left the game with a groin injury, and if he misses any significant time, the offense will really be in trouble. Even a former Texan, Demeco Ryans, now a LB with the Eagles, suffered a serious ankle injury & will miss the rest of the season. Fortunately, the Texans have a bye week to heal their injuries before returning to the field against the Cleveland Browns on November 16th.
The Texans were not able to win with all the turnovers
The Texans got an interception return for a TD from A.J. Bouye, 2 interceptions from Jumal Rolle, and a fumble recovery by DeAndre Hopkins, but were not able to translate all the turnovers into a win on the scoreboard.
The Texans have significantly improved on their ability to force turnovers from a year ago when the team had one of the worst takeaway/giveaway ratios in the NFL, and have a total of 21 takeaways so far this season. That has kept the team in games, which bodes well for the rest of the season, but the offense will have to do a better job converting these gifts into scores.
Shaky pass protection & an unimaginative offense lead to another loss
Ryan Fitzpatrick was sacked 4 times Sunday vs. the Eagles, and that 
does not count some mad scrambles he used to avoid other potential sacks from the Eagles pass rush. The offensive line play has been inconsistent all season, and the pass protection & the play of the overall unit have to improve in the coming weeks.
The Texans were also 5 of 13 on 3rd-down attempts, and week in & week out we see too many 3 & outs with Fitzpatrick at the helm. Eagles CB Cary Williams generated controversy after the game by saying that WR Andre Johnson “is not the same guy” & questioned his happiness in O’Brien’s offense.
Despite the limitations of the QB Fitzpatrick that have been well documented, Texans head coach Bill O’Brien was supposed to be an imaginative offensive mind, but for whatever reason, that has not been evident in the Texans playcalling all season.
Whether there will ever be a QB change to see Ryan Mallett or Tom Savage is still up in the air, but after the game, Bill O’Brien said that the offense “is too inconsistent” & did not rule out shaking things up for the Browns game, including a quarterback change.
The kicking game is all about what have you done for me lately
For placekickers in the NFL, unless you have a history of game winning kicks like Adam Vinatieri or a string of success like Dan Bailey, then you’re always going to be second-guessed once you miss a kick.
Randy Bullock has been kicking really well since the 2nd half of last season, and for the season has made 15 of 18 FG attempts. However, on his only FG attempt of the Philadelphia game, he missed on a 39 yard attempt.
For a team like the Texans that does not have an explosive offense & keeps games tight, any missed FG is going to have huge consequences.
Randy Bullock has been 6 of 6 from 40 yards or greater this season, including 2 over 50 yards, so his leg is not the question. It just bears watching if he can get back on track after the miss, because the kicking game is often more mental than physical.
Whitney Mercilus has awakened in Crennel’s defense
The silver lining to all the missed time from Jadeveon Clowney this season is that it has given greater prominence to 
Whitney Mercilus, and he has seized the opportunity. The former 1st round draft pick was on his way to being a bust with his reserve role & little to show for it, but in recent games he has become the player the Texans thought he could be when they drafted him.
His standout performance on Sunday versus the Eagles included a team high 9 tackles & 2 sacks of the quarterback. With his 1st sack, Mercilus also moved into 5th place on the team’s all time sack list.
As O’Brien noted about Mercilus, “He’s played better & better every game.” With slim playoff hopes on the line, Mercilus is going to have to keep progressing so that the pass rush is not all on J.J. Watt.
That, by the way, was the 1st J.J. Watt mention for anyone keeping record, despite another standout game with 7 tackles & 1.5 sacks.
