No matter how early you tuned out of the Houston Texans game versus the Miami Dolphins there's only two things you need to know:
1. The team was down 41-0 at halftime, which was really the only score that matters.
2. Arian Foster left the game in the 4th quarter with an apparent Achilles tendon tear that probably ends his active career as a Houston Texan.
Everything else that happened, the Texans 26 meaningless points in the 2nd half to bring the final score to 44-26, JJ Watt's 2 2nd half sacks that had a very Mario Williams-ish feeling to them, to Nate Washington having over 100 yards receiving and 2 touchdowns, doesn't matter. All that matters is this team looked like the same team that fell behind 42-0 to the Atlanta Falcons, they're 2-5, and have probably lost their best offensive player for good.
In the process of becoming the laughingstock of the league Bill O'Brien's Houston Texan team has made Ryan Tannyhill set the record for most consecutive completions, let Suh tally his first two sacks of the season, made Jarvis Landry appear to be an all-world WR, and took turns watching Lamar Miller run past them. The defense in the first half wasn't just bad, it was comically awful.
Vince Wilfork, he of the free agent contract that caused much excitement in the off-season, was a virtual non-entity defending the run, continually getting stoned at the line with no penetration. JJ Watt, the NFL's "Best player of 2015" continually overran plays not only losing gap discipline, but opening up wide holes for Miller to run through uncontested. For all of his talk and swagger, Brian Cushing got faked out more than a 3 year old a magic convention. His missed tackles were not only bad, they were highlight reel material, for the other side.
While most of the blame for the offensive woes will be placed on Hoyer, it would not be fair to fail to mention the utter ineptitude of the Texans offensive line. Miami spent the afternoon in the Texans backfield, holding the Texans to 0 yards by the time the Dolphins had scored 35 points. It hasn't been verified, but this has to be some kind of record. In addition to the O-line woes the tight ends for the Texans are Biblicly awful. Graham dropped a pass that was picked off for a touchdown, and Fiedorowitz doesn't appear to have the skills necessary to make things work at an NFL level. Yes, Hoyer was not good, but the game plan itself seemed to be hand it to Foster and then........
Speaking of Arian, it appears that he is out for the year with a possible ruptured Achilles. If this is true he's probably played his last down as both a Houston Texan and a starting NFL running back.
So, what does all of this mean?
Unfortunately, probably not much.
Sure, there will be calls by the fans for change and screams that "Something! Must be done." but Bob McNair is not a do Something! type of owner. The spin from the team will be that the Texans are just "one game out of first place" in the horrific AFC South and that fans just need to trust Coach BOB and GM Rick Smith that they have a plan.
Meanwhile fans will continue to provide unquestioning support to this mess of a franchise because they have bought into the lie that this is a "talented roster" that is only a step away from Houston's mythical berth in the SuperBowl. Meanwhile, McNair will keep making money and Smith will keep blowing draft picks and the team will keep hiring coaches whose game analysis begins and ends with "It's on me."
Houston Texans football is turning into a bad copy of Groundhog Day, and the fans keep lapping it up and rewarding the team and management for being mediocre or worse.
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