HOUSTON – Kyle Allen attempted to create some breathing room for the Texans’ offense on an ill-fated quarterback sneak near their goal line. Instead, his lost fumble further suffocated a gasping offense that’s currently on life support.
The Texans’ starting quarterback, the replacement for Davis Mills, had an extremely rough day at the office Sunday during a 27-14 defeat to the Cleveland Browns at NRG Stadium.
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The fumble by Allen skipped off the ground out of a pile of bodies directly to Browns cornerback Denzel Ward for an easy four-yard touchdown return. Later, Allen’s pass was deflected at the line of scrimmage and returned for a touchdown by linebacker Tony Fields.
And the Texans managed to lose despite not allowing an offensive touchdown against a Browns offense quarterbacked by an obviously rusty Deshaun Watson.
Allen completed 20 of 39 passes for 201 yards, a late touchdown pass to wide receiver Nico Collins and a pair of interceptions for a 53.5 passer rating. Allen’s first interception was caused by rookie tight end Teagan Quitoriano not being able to secure the throw and it popped into the hands of Browns safety John Johnson in the first quarter. The interception was signaled after an instant replay challenge from Browns coach Kevin Stefanski.
Allen has struggled to take care of the football in both of his starts, raising an obvious question: Will the Texans go back to Mills as their starter next Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys.
Texans coach Lovie Smith wasn’t in a contemplative mood after his team’s seventh consecutive loss in dropping to 1-10-1, but he didn’t rule out anything. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Smith made another change and went back to Mills.
“We’re definitely not in that mode,” Smith said. “I’m just disappointed in how we played offensively right now. We as coaches have to do a better job. Just could never get the passing game going. Even if you can’t get it going, you can’t turn it over, and those situations really hurt us a lot. Eventually, we’ve got to have some production on the offensive size. We’ve got to score points.”
The Texans entered Sunday ranked last in the NFL in scoring offense, averaging 15.8 points per game, and total offense. They manufactured just 16 first downs and 283 yards of total offense, averaging 4.6 yards on 61 total plays with oft-criticized offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton calling the plays.
Allen accounted for six points scored, and 12 points against the Texans on two of his three turnovers.
And the Texans’ offense scored only three points off two turnovers on a forced fumble by Tavierre Thomas and a Jalen Pitre interception.
The Texans went 1 for 4 in the red zone, another major reason why they lost the game.
The most glaring sequence was a 1st-and-goal situation in the second quarter. First, Allen threw incomplete to Quitoriano followed by a missed connection with Collins, who had three receptions on 10 targets with Brandin Cooks out with a calf injury, before a two-yard run by running back Dare Ogunbowale. Instead of having primary running back Dameon Pierce in the game and carrying the ball, the Texans threw it to rookie fullback Troy Hairston. Hairston got drilled by safety Grant Delpit, a former Lamar standout, and had his ribs examined in the locker room before returning to play.
Allen hasn’t provided the spark the Houston Texans were hoping for offensively.
Allen has now been intercepted four times in two games with five total turnovers.
The interception to Fields was a throw over the middle, but Allen couldn’t avoid the defense and it got batted into the air for the turnover.
“Can’t throw the ball over the middle,” Smith said. “Pretty simple on that. Most interceptions, it’s about decisions you make at the quarterback position. Holding it. Not throwing it. It always kind of comes down to that.
“Sometimes the best play that you can make as a quarterback is just not throwing it and press it, because most of the game, it’s not like it was a game that got out of hand right away. We’re right in there. We’re in striking distance. We’re a touchdown away most of the game, so you are just hoping a couple of those passes would go to our guys.”
Allen was ineffective against the Miami Dolphins last week in a 30-15 road loss.
“I wish I could give you better answers, but you’re right,” Smith said. “Last week, Kyle hadn’t played a lot of ball. We were hoping the play would be a little bit better this week. Our play overall wasn’t as good this week. As far as what it was, give Cleveland a lot of the credit. Just not quite there. We’re not a good offense right now. We’re still searching for what we can do well.”
Against the Dolphins, Allen had a substandard 67.8 passer rating and two interceptions, completing 26 of 39 throws for 215 yards and one touchdown pass to tight end Jordan Akins.
In two games this season, Allen has passed for 416 yards, two touchdowns, and four interceptions for a 60.6 passer rating. He has completed 59 percent of his passes.
Allen, a former University of Houston and Aggies quarterback who has previously played for the Washington franchise and the Carolina Panthers, has a 7-12 career record.
Allen was signed to a one-year, $2.5 million contract with a maximum value of $3 million during the offseason. He played in two games last season and completed 12 of 19 passes for 120 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions. He rushed for 11 yards on two carries.
“I mean, similar to last week with the turnovers,” Allen said. “I don’t remember how many points the defense actually gave up on their own, but with the pick-six on the tip and then the fumble and the sneak and giving up 14 points, you’re just not going to win games like that.
“I don’t think our energy changed. I think it’s the big mistakes that gave them points. We had two defensive touchdowns and then you’re just down big.”
The fumble recovered and returned by Ward for a score was a crusher.
“We were just trying to get the ball off the goal line,” Allen said. “And it’s just one of those things you work on all the time. You just have to hold it all the way to the ground. I was right next to the ground and went to brace myself for the fall and hit it and punched it out.”
Although Allen hasn’t generated the results he’s hoping for, he emphasized that he’s getting up to speed on the offense and improving his timing.
“No, nothing really surprised me that much today,” Allen said. “I felt more comfortable this week with another full week of preparation. But, I didn’t think much surprised us. Just a couple of big mistakes put us in a bad spot.”
Although the offense is struggling, there’s no clear move that Smith could or should make to change the play-calling.
The Texans are who they are. Nothing is going to change that at this point.
“This late in the year, different combinations, personnel changes, we feel like we’ve let most of the guys that have been around here have an opportunity to show us what they have, and we just have to look first to us as coaches and what we’re doing to try to get a better game plan and then eventually get a game plan that the players can execute,” Smith said. “Right now, we’re not there. See the results: not good enough. Can’t win any football games until we get it done.”
The Texans’ usually stalwart special teams allowed a 76-yard punt return for a touchdown to wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones in the second quarter after leading 5-0 early in the game.
“One statistic that tells the story of a game is the turnover ratio,” Smith said. “Whenever you talk about non-offensive touchdowns, you give up three, that’s going to be tough to win.”
Aaron Wilson is a contributor to KPRC2 and click2houston.com