The Houston Texans were underdogs heading into this matchup against the burgeoning Miami Dolphins, and have looked completely outmatched in every phase of the game. Their defense has been a sieve, they’ve struggled to get anything going on offense, and the team as a whole is full-on floundering down 30 at halftime.
Buy Texans TicketsIt’ll take a miracle for the Texans to make a comeback in the second half, and fans should start preparing themselves for Houston to mark their ninth loss of the season in Week 12.
Here are our thoughts on the Texans’ performance through two quarters:
Kyle Allen struggled as starting quarterback
The biggest storyline heading into this week was the quarterback change that the Texans made on Friday. Kyle Allen took over for incumbent starter Davis Mills after 10 games of absolute failure on offense. Fans who were bullish on Allen’s abilities may want to reevaluate their position, though, as his first half of action in 2022 has been nothing short of disastrous.
At least under Mills the offense was able to score a few times a game, but with Allen under center, the unit looks absolutely dysfunctional. The bar for improvement was already low for Allen, so for him to have not shown anything resembling a positive outcome through two quarters is concerning.
Texans' defense totally outmatched by Dolphins' passing attack
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has made mincemeat of the Texans’ defense, and is pacing for over 400 yards passing in this matchup. His exceptional play is a key reason that the Dolphins are considered among the best teams in the NFL this season, and with weapons like Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle to throw to, Miami would be a challenging opponent for any squad, let alone the 1-8-1 Texans.
The only upside to this matchup heading for blowout territory is that the Dolphins may elect to pull their starters in the second half, which would give Houston an opportunity to put together some competent drives on both sides of the ball before the final whistle.
Houston refused to feature Dameon Pierce in first half
Dameon Pierce had been the heart and soul of the Texans’ offense until last week when the team outright refused to utilize him. He was only given 10 carries in Week 11 and is on pace for even less against the Dolphins in this matchup. Pierce has run the ball just four times so far in this matchup, which should be considered a dereliction of duty by Houston’s coaching staff.
Their refusal to give their brightest offensive star more carries is nothing short of outright incompetence at work. The Texans were never going to win this game anyway, but not even attempting to show the Dolphins any kind of threat when their defense is on the field should be supremely frustrating for any Houston fan to watch.
