The Houston Texans just got absolutely smacked 27-7 by the Los Angeles Chargers in their first preseason game, and if you thought the hype train was rolling, it just got derailed hard. That disappointing loss at Reliant Stadium totally sucked the air out of the room, leaving everyone feeling frustrated and worried. The buzz around football being back? Gone, instantly.
The O-Line Is a Hot Mess, and Fisher Is a Huge Problem
Let’s just get to the ugly truth: this offensive line for Houston is a catastrophic mess, and it looks like a bottom-five unit in the league without Nico Collins out there. Kenneth L. from Battle Red Blog didn’t hold back, saying that even after three full rebuilds, these guys still can’t block anything. The return on investment for this O-line has to be the worst in the entire NFL. And then there’s Blake Fisher. Seriously, this dude could be the biggest bust in franchise history. He looked completely overwhelmed out there, even against third-stringers. Fisher was faster, maybe, but he got overpowered in pass protection, leading to multiple errant throws from Mills. Kenneth L. wouldn’t even be surprised if Fisher gets cut! That’s how bad it was. Joe Critz also pointed out the disappointment with how many pressures the offensive line gave up. Not cool.
Secondary Struggles and a Whole Lot of “Nothing Burger”
It wasn’t just the O-line, though. The CB4 role is still totally up for grabs, and none of the options looked good. Alijah Huzzie looked slow and was a turning point for two touchdowns. Tremon Smith is just slow and stuck in off coverage. Collin Wright? Trey Lance picked on him. Their “vaunted secondary” didn’t exactly have an exciting night. L4Blitzer tried to inject some calm, calling it a “standard acme” first preseason game and saying the loss means “nothing,” but even they couldn’t ignore the short yardage struggles. VBallRetired called the whole thing a “nothing burger” too, despite the disappointing short yardage failures, and already we’re hearing Marcus Mariota rumors for a new third-string quarterback. On a slightly brighter note, the first-team O-line did open the game, which L4Blitzer thought was a good thing, and Joe Critz was happy with how the defensive rookies and some young DBs looked. And yeah, L4Blitzer also thought the defense seemed to have decent depth, even against the Chargers’ backups.
So, where does that leave the Texans? The regular season is getting closer by the minute, and while it’s just preseason, those O-line issues and secondary question marks are screaming for attention. Houston might even need another arm to get through camp! They gotta iron out these short yardage failures and figure out their depth charts quick if they want to avoid bringing these problems into games that actually count.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Battle Red Blog.
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