The Texans’ recent run of success vs. the Cincinnati Bengals came to a crashing halt with a 22-13 loss at NRG Stadium. With a chance to make things interesting in the AFC playoff picture, the Texans could not generate enough offense & fell to 5-6 in the AFC South. Bengals QB & Katy product Andy Dalton was 24 for 35 for 233 yards & a TD, while Texans QB Ryan Mallett was 21 for 45 for 189 yards & an interception in his 2nd game as an NFL starter.
After the game, it was reported that Ryan Mallett injured his pectoral muscle & will miss the rest of the season, a tough blow for the young QB. The Texans next 3 games are within the division against Tennessee, Jacksonville, and Indianapolis, giving the Texans slim hopes of staying alive in the playoff chase if they can sweep those games.
On a week the Texans got a Pick 6, here are six observations from the game that are called the Pick 6 …
Back to earth for Ryan Mallett
After an impressive debut up in Cleveland, Ryan Mallett was terribly inconsistent on Sunday & a big reason why the Texans offense could never get on track. Mallett has a big arm, but the accuracy rumors that have plagued him since his college days were evident throughout the day against the Bengals.
Several of his throws sailed high to receivers & though he only had 1 pick by Ray Maualuga’s to start the 2nd half, there could have been more interceptions if Bengals defenders had been able to hang onto the ball.
To be fair, it was discovered after the game that Mallett was dealing with a pectoral muscle injury that hampered him & will cause him to miss the season. It is a jarring setback to a guy just getting his NFL feet wet as a starter against NFL defenses. It also gives pause to anyone who thought the QB situation was resolved for the future after the Cleveland game.
Do you give Mallett a multi-year contract at the end of the season based on 2 games as a starter? The Texans have a lot of uncertainty still at the QB position, and it is only muddled even more with Mallet’s injury. Get ready for the Beard part deux, even if we already know Ryan Fitzpatrick is not the long-term answer.
Time of possession heavily in favor of the Bengals
If it felt like the Texans defense was on the field most of the day, it is because they were. The Bengals dominated the time of possession battle, with their offense on the field for 39:10, as opposed to the Texans at 20:50.
Though the Texans defense put up some valiant stands in the 2nd half, the Bengals just wore them down, with a 49 yard Mike Nugent field goal the culmination of their final drive. Giovani Bernard & Jeremy Hill were able to account for most of the Bengals’ 139 rushing yards, helping to control the clock. The up & down Andy Dalton was also precise with his passes, particularly in the first half, and he found A.J. Green 12 times for 121 yards.
The ground game unable to get off the ground
Coming into the game, the Bengals were 28th in the NFL in rushing defense, having given up an average of 136.2 yards rushing this season to their opponents. Based on the way the Texans like to run the ball & wanting to protect a young, inexperienced QB, the Texans were primed to take advantage of it like Black Friday shoppers of sales outside a 
Walmart at 5 a.m. Instead, Alfred Blue was held to 46 yards on 16 carries a week after the rookie from LSU had 156 yards on a record 36 carries against Cleveland.
The Bengals seemed to know where the Texans were going with the ball on their rushing attempts, and the longest carry was by Blue for 9 yards. Though Blue has played admirably for a rookie, this was a game where not having an elite runner like Arian Foster really hurt the offense. He is scheduled to return from his groin injury in the next game, but it may be too late to salvage the Texans’ season.
Third down efficiency plagues the Texans
The Bengals converted 11 of 20 of 3rd downs while the Texans converted just 4 of 14, and as we have seen through 
the season, 3rd down efficiency in a game is often a predictor of the winning team. The Texans were unable to sack Andy Dalton or get a lot of pressure on him due to his quick release & protection from the offensive line, but they did manage to do a better job in the 2nd half of curbing third down conversions.
However, it was too little, too late. The score would have been more lopsided if not for the Texans defense getting points off a turnover, and Daryl Morris making a great play on A.J. Green in the end zone on a goal line 4th down to force him to catch the ball out of bounds.
Texans find the end zone with a Pick 6 from Johnathan Joseph
After a 2013 season when the Texans were victimized by the Pick 6 & ushered Matt Schaub’s exit from town, the Texans got their own Pick 6 in Sunday’s game when Johnathan Joseph returned an interception for a 60 yard TD.
A big positive for the Texans this season has been forcing turnovers, and the defense continues to be on the plus side with 82 points off of an NFL best 24 takeaways. The Pick 6 by Joseph did give the Texans some momentum in the game, but the offense was not able to pick up the slack.
As J.J. Watt said after the game, “Maybe we [the defense] need to score more points.”
The main buzz for Jadeveon Clowney these days is just hitting the field
It is a sign of how the season is going that a cause for excitement is #1 overall pick Jadeveon Clowney actually suiting up & being involved in a number of plays, even if he is not a 
significant contributor. He ended up credited with 3 tackles, but he was hardly a force on the field.
In fact, his 2 most noticeable plays on Sunday were lining up offsides on the Johnathan Joseph Pick 6, which fortunately for the Texans the officials missed, and being penalized for lining up in the neutral zone, which aided a Bengals field goal. There are still 5 games left for Clowney to show why he was such a heralded draft pick, but the reality may be that the injuries that have slowed him down may cause it to be a lost rookie season & the pressure will mount in his sophomore season to prove he is not a bust.
-R.G. Seal
