It’s only the 3rd game of the season, but the Houston Texans will definitely be watching a lot of game film to determine what went wrong in the 30-17 loss to the New York Giants at the Met Life Complex in the Meadowlands.
Ryan Fitzpatrick was 20 of 34 with threw three interceptions, while Rashad Jennings rushed for 176 yards on 34 carries & Eli Manning was 21 of 28 for 234 yards & 2 TDs to lead the Giants over the Texans.
The Giants were in danger of starting the season 0-3 after an 0-6 start in 2013, so the victory pushed them to 1-2 in the NFC East while the Texans fell to 2-1 in the AFC South. On the bright side, the Texans are still alone in first place after 3 games!
Here are the 6 things to take from this loss heading into next week’s home game vs. Buffalo that we have affectionately dubbed the “Pick Six” …
Is this the Jekyll & Hyde Ryan Fitzpatrick we are going to see all season?
In a nutshell, yes – this is the Ryan Fitzpatrick that he has shown himself to be over his career & why he has been an average signal caller in the NFL. Coming into this season, he had 106 touchdowns & 93 interceptions in his career. So 
expecting him to be turnover free & keep his 2nd overall QB rating next to Peyton Manning after two games was a pipe dream. He can look great at times with pinpoint throws that we saw against the Redskins & Raiders, and awful at times with inaccurate throws that resulted in interceptions vs. the Giants.
The Texans are hoping he rebounds from the Giants loss to have a steady game vs. the Bills, but if not, the calls for Ryan Mallet are certain to begin. Fitzpatrick is not the long-term answer at the position, but he can be an effective game manager. Throwing interceptions is not surprising considering his resume, but it will earn him a spot on O’Brien’s bench with more games like this.
Must J.J. Watt do it all?
J.J. Watt scored a touchdown last week as a tight end on offense & he anchors the defensive line, so maybe he can do it all! Short of cloning J.J. Watt, the defensive line, & front seven for that matter, were not up to par in getting shoved around by the Giants. J.J. Watt had the only sack in the game, dropping Eli Manning for an 8 yard loss in the first 
series. Other than that, the pass rush was essentially non-existent & that is worrisome.
The Jadeveon Clowney injury has been worse than expected, because it took an exciting defensive playmaker off the field & let opposing coaches concentrate all their efforts on stopping J.J. Watt. Tim Jamison, Jerrell Powe, and Jared Crick were pushed around on the defensive, as the Giants ran all over them. Additionally, linebackers like Whitney Mercilus & Brooks Reed weren’t able to help out & get pressure on Eli Manning in throwing situations, so the Texans were picked apart.
Rookie 3rd round defensive tackle Louis Nix has been inactive to start the season, but maybe it’s time to give him a look & see if he can stuff the run. And we keep saying it week after week, but Whitney Mercilus or some other outside linebacker is going to have to improve the pass rush. With Clowney still out a few more weeks & J.J. Watt being double & triple teamed, the defense is going to have to figure out ways to get the most out of its personnel to stuff the run & pressure the QB, or it’s going to be a long season for Romeo Crennel’s unit.
Turnover ratio turns around
The Texans had been one of the best teams in the NFL with a plus 5 in the takeaway-giveway ratio, and a reason 
why they were undefeated after two games. Despite a fumble recovery by Jonathan Joseph, the 3 interceptions by Fitzpatrick dropped that plus number. The Texans had problems throughout 2013 in forcing turnovers on defense & of course Matt Schaub had the string of pick sixes, so unless the Texans want a flashback to their disastrous 2-14 season, then they need to be on the positive side of the ledger for turnovers in their upcoming games.
With Foster out, start singing the Blue
Arian Foster sat out the game with a hamstring injury, which 
hamstrung the Texans offense of a big-time offensive playmaker, a week after he rushed for 138 yards on 28 carries. It will be worth watching if this was just a precautionary maneuver for one game only, or if this will be something that lingers on for the season.
Even so, the Texans did get a sterling effort from his replacement, Alfred Blue. He carried the ball 13 times for 78 yards, including a 46 yard run. Even if Arian Foster returns from his hamstring injury, which would be a boon for the Texans the way he is starting 2014, Blue deserves to get more playing time.
4th down decision-making
The Texans went for it on 4th down on a few instances, and did not go for it when there were times a strong argument could have been made to go for it. Head coach Bill O’Brien was aggressive early on, going for it on fourth-and-one 
with some trickery by having punter Shane Lechler throw to Alfred Blue for a first down. The Texans also went for it on a fourth-and-one at the beginning of the 3rd quarter, running Alfred Blue twice on short yardage.
The play-calling came into question, with the Texans unable to convert the 4th down with basically the same play running it up the middle. The Texans had an opportunity to go for it with a fourth-and-one inside the red zone down 17-0, but elected to kick a field goal. At that point, the defense hadn’t shown an ability to stop the Giants (remember, 10 points were erased off the board in the first half by a Giants turnover inside the 5 & a botched FG attempt), so to settle for 3 after being aggressive other times in the game raised eyebrows.
And of course, the Texans did not go for it down 10 points with a fourth-and-one in the 4th quarter, and the ensuing punt by Shane Lechler was blocked by Damontre Moore. That essentially iced the game for the Giants, because they scored a TD after that.
Hopkins high-wire act
One of the few bright spots in an otherwise forgetful game for the Texans was DeAndre Hopkins’ strong effort. The Texans’ wide receiver finished the game with 6 receptions & 116 yards, including a catch for 49 yards. “Nuk” Hopkins even had an acrobatic one-handed grab that will be all over the highlight reels, but unfortunately for the Texans, the play was called back because of a penalty. It was that kind of a day up in the Meadowlands for the Texans.
