HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610) -- The Texans fell to the Panthers 24-9 in their third game of the season Thursday night, falling to 1-2.
Let's not waste any time and get right into these takeaways from the game.
1. Not having the roof open was a travesty. There wasn’t a single fan I spoke to that thought it was a good idea and the notion that it was a competitive advantage is silly. Missed opportunity.
2. Whitney Mercilus and Charles Omemihu got benched. Jacob Martin and Jonathan Greenard started, that has to be humbling for Omenihu and Mercilus.
3. Carolina OC Joe Brady vs Texans DC Lovie Smith is the ultimate New School vs Old School mismatch. It’s like when the kid hits puberty and whoops up on his pops in backyard hoops. At least it looked that way early, but see No. 6.
4. The drop off at safety from Justin Reid to Lonnie Johnson was noticeable, but not as noticeable as expected.
5. Carolina’s decision to go shotgun on 4th-and-short inside the 10-yard-line shortly after moving the chains on a QB sneak under center was the ultimate example of the Football Gods punishing them for their sins. They failed to convert because and deserved to do so.
6. Lovie Smith’s defense fought their ass off in the first half. You couldn’t have asked for a better effort.
7. Please get Andre Roberts outta here. The staff is losing credibility by his presence.
8. I thought the Texans should’ve been conservative and taken the 7-0 deficit into the locker room at the end of the second quarter. Instead they got aggressive, made me look silly and made it 7-6 at halftime.
9. My eyes have BOB PTSD.
10. If Nick Saban hired this Texans offensive staff to replace Bill O’Brien and his staff at Alabama then the Tide offense would average over 100 points per-game.
11. Anthony Miller showed a lot in his debut. It will be fun to watch him develop, especially his chemistry with Mills.
12. Panthers WR Alex Erickson, who was in Texans camp this year before being cut, made plays for Carolina on offense and actually caught punts cleanly. Can’t say the same for Andre Roberts, who only returns kicks and is five years older.
13. Carolina head coach Matt Rhule’s decision to settle for the field on 4th and 1 inside the 10-yard-line with 12:44 left to go up 17-6 was the right decision. A two possession lead against this Texans offense seems like a comfortable situation.
14. With that said, Mills looked really good based on what he has around him and the lack of a run game.
15. Christian Kirksey always seems to be making plays and flying to the ball.
16. Omenihu seemed to have a nice game despite coming off the bench. “I’ll have to check the tape.” - Watch The Tape Johnson
17. The Texans' inability to run the ball is a problem that has a lot to do with personnel, but Scottie Phillips deserves at the very least a look in the near future.
18. The Panthers drive to seal the game felt a lot like Cleveland’s Sunday. Superior talent just bullying the Texans defense. I don’t mean that as an insult, but that’s what it felt like today and four-days-ago.
19. What is the spread going to be when the Texans go to Buffalo? I’m thinking at least Buffalo -16.
20. There are some positives to take away from the debut of Mills, but he needs an effective run game to succeed, which will be hard to produce.
21. After watching Sam Darnold, I’m not convinced Carolina won’t be in on the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes after the season, IF his many legal matters are resolved.
22. Is it weird I’m coming away from a 15-point feeling like the Texans didn’t play bad? That’s where I’m at.
Landry Locker is the co-host of In The Loop, weekdays from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
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