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NFL Power Rankings Index: Week 13

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By: Joe Critz

JIM RASSOL/THE PALM BEACH POST / USA TODAY NETWORK

Where do the Texans land after their ugly loss to the Dolphins?

On Sunday, the stinking, smelling, cantankerous, filthy, grungy Houston Texans boiled and ruptured into Hard Rock Stadium and really outdid themselves in stinking up the joint right in front of the Miami Dolphins.

I mean they REALLY outdid themselves on Sunday:

Whatever “progress” the Texans had planned or were expecting to make in this second year of a rebuild has been dashed away in this new low for the worst team in professional football. The first half consisted of power run plays to nowhere, relentless pressure given up by guard A.J. Cann and right tackle Tytus Howard, and a net total of 35 yards on offense.

Aaron Schatz of Pro Football Outsiders gave a fitting summary of the Texans in his Week 12 DVOA Analysis:

Houston Texans aside: Houston had -86.3% offensive DVOA in this game, the second-lowest individual offensive game this season behind only Indianapolis getting destroyed by Jacksonville back in Week 2. It would have been worse if Miami didn’t relax with a big lead, as Houston had -181.6% offensive DVOA and 1.3 yards per play before halftime. Kyle Allen is not the answer.

Kyle Allen, in about 25 minutes of football action, showed what was really waiting behind the curtains cloaked by Davis Mills: more of the same. Any fleeting hopes of Kyle Allen somehow recapturing some of his acceptable play while in Carolina in 2019 got wiped away with a brutal interception and a fumble return touchdown. The game was practically over before halftime, and most players on the field seemed to think the same.

Here’s where everyone is ranking the lowly Houston Texans entering week 13 of the 2022 NFL Season:

ESPN:

32. Houston Texans (1-9-1)

Week 12 ranking: 32

Realistic expectation: Dameon Pierce getting to 1,000 rushing yards.

Pierce has 788 yards rushing so far this season. The fourth-round rookie is averaging 71 yards a game, but recently defenses have centered their game plan on stopping him. In the past two games against the Commanders and Dolphins, Pierce has totaled 16 yards. If that continues, he won’t hit 1,000 yards. The offensive line must return to creating holes for Pierce, and the passing attack must take the pressure off him for Pierce to have a chance to hit that milestone.

DJ Bien-Aime

NFL.COM:

32. Houston Texans (1-9-1)

Previous rank: No. 32

There’s always one team that drags to the finish line just a little more hopelessly than the rest of the field. That, unfortunately, appears to be the fate of the Texans in 2022. Houston was down 30-0 by halftime against the Dolphins on Sunday, just the latest indignity for a one-win team that is less and less competitive by the week. Kyle Allen didn’t do much in his first start in place of the benched Davis Mills, and the countdown is already on for which college hotshot QB Houston will select with the No. 1 overall pick in next April’s draft. Up next is the Cleveland Browns and the return of some quarterback named Deshaun. Make it stop.

– Dan Hanzus

PRO FOOTBALL TALK:

32. Texans (1-9-1; No. 32): Absent new ownership, does anyone see this changing any time soon?

— Mike Florio

USA TODAY:

32. Texans (32): Now that we’ve established this wasn’t all QB Davis Mills’ fault, what’s next?

– Nate Davis

THE RINGER:

32. Houston Texans (1-9-1 | last week: 32)

The Texans were bad but still fun to watch when rookie RB Dameon Pierce was having success running the football; now they’re just bad. Pierce has just 33 total yards on 20 touches in the last two weeks, including his eight-touch, 16-yard performance in Houston’s 30-15 loss to Miami on Sunday. Opposing defenses have essentially begged QBs Davis Mills and Kyle Allen to beat them through the air by prioritizing run defense and stacking the box in the last two weeks. As a result, Pierce is the only back in the NFL with 15 or more carries who averaged negative yards before first contact per attempt in weeks 11 and 12.

– Austin Gayle

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED:

32. Houston Texans (1-9-1)

Last week: loss at Miami, 30–15

Next week: vs. Cleveland

Not that it seems like their ownership cares much, but imagine being so bad that you’ve set the stage for back-to-back one-and-done firings. That should be a scarlet letter beyond all scarlet letters.

– Connor Orr

CBS SPORTS:

32. Texans (1-9-1)

So I guess Davis Mills wasn’t the only problem. They just aren’t good in a lot of areas, which can’t be fixed this season. Now here comes Deshaun Watson back to Houston.

– Pete Prisco

BLEACHER REPORT:

32. Houston Texans (1-9-1)

Last Week: 32

Week 12 Result: Lost at Miami 30-15

In an effort to spur one of the league’s most lethargic offenses, on Sunday the Houston Texans turned to Kyle Allen over Davis Mills at quarterback.

The signal-caller may have been different. But the results were depressingly familiar. For the game, Houston managed just 210 yards of offense. Most of Allen’s 215 passing yards came after the game was already decided. He was sacked five times, fumbled twice and threw a pair of interceptions.

However, despite another miserable offensive showing in another lopsided loss, Allen told reporters after the game that he remains confident in both his ability and his teammates.

“I’m confident,” Allen said. “I’m confident—I know I’m a much better player than what I showed today. Every team is still building, especially us. We have one win. We’re trying to just get a win every week. So, I mean, we’ve just got to keep pushing.”

Apparently he hasn’t watched many Texans games.

Dark humor aside, the Texans are barreling toward the first overall pick—a selection that will all but certainly be spent on a quarterback. Houston also has Cleveland’s first-rounder—a pick that will quite possibly be inside the top 10

Hitting on those picks is going to be critical. Because teams this bad can’t afford to miss.

– Gary Davenport, Maurice Moton, Brent Sobleski

YAHOO! SPORTS:

32. Houston Texans (1-9-1, Last Week: 32)

The Texans’ season is just going to keep getting worse, it seems. The first half against the Dolphins, when they were down 30-0, was embarrassing and an indictment of the franchise. Bryce Young is the presumed No. 1 overall pick, but I worry about any QB prospect going to play for Houston. It’s going to be a tough road.

– Frank Schwab

NFL: NOV 27 Texans at Dolphins
Photo by John Rivera/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Next week, the Houston Texans host the Cleveland Browns in the much anticipated and controversial return of accused rapist Deshaun Watson. Watson has yet to appear in any games this season thus far due a 11-game suspension he serving in response to 30 accusations of sexual misconduct made against him, all taking place while he was the starting quarterback for the Houston Texans in 2020 and early 2021.

At one point, Deshaun Watson represented the future for the Houston Texans franchise because of his athletic ability. But, in his return, now that the truth of who he really is and the harm he has caused has been revealed to the general public, he represents a past many fans have yet to reconcile with. On Sunday, many Texans fans will look upon him as a lost opportunity, a “bad story” that shouldn’t be remembered, or just another opposing quarterback. But, we all know that he is so much more than just that. He’s no longer a player within the universe of football that we can speculate and theorize on, but a real person that has repeatedly harmed and terrorized dozens of people directly, and stands to harm many more as we continue to forget his past with each passing day.

Even though he’ll be playing to beat his former team on Sunday, Deshaun Watson’s true goal is for us to forget. We, as spectators of the sport, cannot let that happen.

Originally posted on Battle Red Blog – All Posts