Spotlight #1: Baylor QB Robert Griffin  

Spotlight #2: Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill 

1^st quarter

14:56: Griffin makes the quick decision to Kendall Wright in the flat, but it doesn’t go anywhere.

13:40: Griffin showing his athleticism here. Nothing open downfield, went one way, nothing there, bounces off goes the other way, hurdles a tackler and gets out of bounds for a first down on 3^rd and 4. 11 yard run, plus a 15 yard penalty added to the play with an unnecessary roughness penalty on Texas A&M out of bounds.

12:51: Griffin play action, pump fakes, has Kendall Wright open deep, but Griffin just overthrows him.

12:46: Griffin sacked, didn’t see him coming.

10:50: Tannehill on a roll out, throws on the run for a first down against the sideline, 15 yard gain to Ryan Swope.

10:15: Tannehill throws underneath, a little inaccurate, receiver has to stretch out to catch it and drops it after a hit.

10:11: Tannehill incomplete to Swope over the middle, but a pass interference penalty drawn.

9:45: Tannehill on play action, checks down but the guy isn’t in much space, tackle for a loss on Ryan Swope.

9:13: Tannehill intercepted on a really short shovel pass. This one was really bad. Shovel pass right to the defender. He has to be better than that.

9:09: Play action, throws short, but Tannehill leaves it high so the receiver can’t do anything with it after the catch.

8:58: Griffin on a roll out, throws on the run, complete, first down.

8:38: Griffin checks down, not much gain after the catch, about 4 yards total.

8:15: Griffin quickly finds the wide open tight end underneath, complete, first down.

7:22: Griffin takes the snap, steps up, throws, right on the money over the middle for 18 yards.

7:07: Griffin threads the needle into tight coverage, right on the money, accurate, but dropped.

6:24: Griffin runs for first down this time on 3^rd and 6, nothing open downfield, but sees a seam to run in.

5:57: Griffin throws short again, complete, 5 yards.

5:39: Griffin throws to Wright in the flat, first down on first and 5 after some nice moves by Kendall Wright. Texas A&M is able to save a touchdown with a nice open field tackle.

4:42: Griffin with excellent timing on a short slant in the end zone, throws it at the perfect time in the perfect place, down where only his guy can get it, and his guy, Kendall Wright, does get it, touchdown Baylor.

4:23: Tannehill checks down to Jeff Fuller, not much of a gain.

3:56: Tannehill on a pass action rollout, sees he has open space to get the first down, keeps it instead of throwing it.

2:46: Tannehill has an open guy on an out route, hits him for a first down.

1:57: Tannehill hits a guy accurate in stride for 16 yards. He’s throwing deeper on average than Griffin is tonight.

1:38: Tannehill tries to throw with a man in his face on a play action pass, but the defender bats the pass down.

1:27: Tannehill on a rollout, not pressured, has time to set, doesn’t, throws inaccurate and incomplete, Texas A&M will go for the field goal.

1:13: Griffin sets, nothing open, runs with it, breaks a tackle for a loss, extends the play, no running room, has to release, gets it out, complete on the run for a first down.

0:15: Griffin throws for 8 yards into a tight window. He’s 11 for 13 on the quarter for 91 yards and a score, those two incompletions were on a deep pass barely overthrown and a dropped pass. However, he’s checking down a lot. I want to see him have to attempt tougher throws.

2^nd quarter

13:58: Griffin just an excellent pitch and catch to an open man for a 9 yard gain against the sideline.

12:58: Griffin hit as he threw, incomplete out of bounds deep, but called back on a Texas A&M offsides penalty.

12:30: Griffin doesn’t look to pass, designed quarterback run on 3^rd and 3, first down.

12:11: Griffin sacked for the 2^nd time tonight, Griffin needs to have better pocket awareness and feel it coming, even if the play is called back on offsides on A&M.

11:53: Griffin throws to a man in the flat again, gets a block and gets a first down.

11:38: Griffin complete with a defender in his face for a 9 yard completion.

10:04: Griffin pressured, has to throw on the throw with pressure, very incomplete out of bounds. Just getting this one away.

10:01: Griffin pump fakes, nothing there and then Griffin is sacked again. This Texas A&M defense will do that to you. Baylor will have to attempt the field goal.

9:20: Tannehill has an open man, but the pass isn’t thrown in their strong enough, floats and lets the defensive back make a play on it and almost pick it off.

9:13: Tannehill checks down to Swope, who is able to break a couple tackles and get a first down.

8:58: Tannehill throws accurate to Jeff Fuller, who drops it. Fuller is really disappointing this year with injuries.

8:52: Tannehill with a bubble screen to Swope, no gain on the play with a nice tackle in the open field by Baylor.

8:18: Tannehill has Ryan Swope wide open downfield, hits him perfectly in stride, touchdown A&M. This Ryan Swope kid is special. I’ve watched two A&M games, one to watch Jeff Fuller and then this one to watch Tannehill. Swope has made all sorts of big plays in both. He has 6 catches for 106 yards and a score now after this 68 yard touchdown. He has 29 catches for 415 yards and 2 scores coming into tonight after 72 catches for 825 yards and 4 scores last year. He’s been their best receiver this year. Not Fuller.

8:03: Griffin counters, takes snap, play fake, hits a guy accurately deep against coverage by Coryell Judie, a potential first round cornerback. Touchdown Baylor. 77 yards to Terrance Williams.

7:19: Tannehill finds an open man for a first down and a fairly sizable gain.

6:21: Tannehill with a shovel pass, this time accurate to the back, who makes a couple moves and just gets in for a touchdown.

6:08: Robert Griffin with a run, straight up the middle for 7 yards.

5:31: Griffin lobs a pretty limp ball for an intermediate completion to Kendall Wright over the middle. Kendall Wright is injured on the play.

5:16: Griffin with a quick throw short to his tight end, who drops it badly.

5:11: Griffin throws a jump ball up, but it’s tipped by the defender in tight single coverage. Not the best decision.

5:02: Griffin on the run to Wright, a tough player back in already, can’t convert the 3^rd down, 4^th and 2 now and they’ll punt it.

3:35: Tannehill under pressure, steps up under pressure, nice completion for a first down on 2^nd and 10.

3:20: Tannehill complete for a first again, this time to Jeff Fuller, who shows great physicality, refusing to go down on the play on first or second contact.

2:58: Tannehill blitzed, incomplete out of bounds, but off sides on Baylor.

2:25: Tannehill to Fuller again, wide open, hits him right on the numbers.

1:26: Tannehill finds an open deep guy in the end zone, but just overthrown out of the receiver’s hands.

0:33: Tannehill finds Ryan Swope on an out route underneath, puts the ball in the perfect spot and Swope is able to pound it into the end zone in the open field, touchdown.

0:25: Griffin with a questionable decision throwing into tight coverage, the defender jumps the route, almost intercepted.

3^rd quarter

14:27: Tannehill hits Ryan Swope right on the money, but the hit by the cornerback knocks the ball out.

14:19: Rollout by Tannehill, throws on the run, complete for a first down.

14:03: Tannehill goes underneath on first down, short dump off, doesn’t go for much more than 2 or 3 yards.

13:38: Tannehill throws quick and short to Jeff Fuller, who wasn’t quite ready and can’t bring in the ball.

13:32: Tannehill on 3^rd and long, money, 16 yard completion and a first down.

12:49: Tannehill on a designed run, gets 3 on the outside.

11:59: Tannehill over the middle and Swope redeems himself, establishes position and Tannehill hits him accurately for a big gain, about 14 yards.

10:38: Tannehill with 2 guys flying into his face, gets rid of it accurately to, who else, Ryan Swope, on an out route in the end zone, touchdown. Tannehill puts it where only his guy could get it and Swope makes a very nice catch going to the ground, getting his hands under the ball and staying in bounds.

9:57: Baylor answers, Robert Griffin throws a perfect spiral deep, 43 yard touchdown to a completely wide open deep receiver, caught in stride. 31-21 Texas A&M now. Is it time for another comeback against A&M?

9:40: Tannehill again with great timing with a receiver, this time with Jeff Fuller, complete for a first down.

9:20: Tannehill throws to Swope in the flat, makes a couple moves on a bubble screen, but only able to get 5 yards.

8:30: Tannehill tries to get it to Jeff Fuller, but it’s again not quite a strong enough through, gives the defensive back time to jump the route and deflect it.

8:15: Tannehill with another shovel pass, complete, not going anywhere.

7:49: Griffin complete short for about 6 yards.

7:33: Griffin complete for a first here, showing an excellent arm again.

6:42: Griffin flushed from the pocket, has to throw on the run, incomplete.

6:35: Griffin flushed from the pocket on 3^rd and 12, plants able to get off a great throw, 16 yard completion, first down.

6:04: Griffin finds a receiver in space and gets it to him in stride, 30 yard gain after some nice after the catch running.

5:30: Griffin, nothing opening up downfield, runs it for a short gain up the middle on 1^st down. Now 2^nd and 7.

4:52: Griffin a little too strong over the middle, overthrown, receiver can’t keep up with it.

4:48: Griffin throws quick and short to an open tight end in space. Tight end gets the first after the run after the catch.

4:12: Griffin overthrown into the end zone.

4:06: Griffin dodges a sack, runs out of the pocket and gets out of bounds for a short gain, play called back after off sides.

3:18: Tannehill picks up the first down with his feet.

2:44: Tannehill in a perfect spot to Ryan Swope and guess what Ryan Swope does with it. He breaks a couple tackles with an excellent open field run and then uses his break away speed to score. He’s at 11 catches for 206 yards and 4 scores tonight.

1:08: Griffin sacked again.

0:24: Robert Griffin on 3^rd and 16, looks to the trips bunch first, nothing there, stays with it, goes to the other side to Kendall Wright for a first down. You just knew he’d convert it.

0:00: Robert Griffin on the run throws an absolute bullet accurate deep for 50 yards. So strong. Even more impressive, the receiver makes the catch against pass interference on the defense.

4^th quarter

14:50: Griffin breaks one sack, but the defense’s 2^nd try brings him down.

14:15: Griffin does a great job of getting a lot of those yards back with what looks like an 11 yard designed run to the outside.

13:36: Griffin under pressure on 4^th and goal, does an excellent job of staying with the play and getting a throw off, but incomplete.

11:58: Tannehill on 3^rd and 5 in the shadow of his own goal line, complete to Jeff Fuller on a comeback route with pressure coming. Fuller does a nice job after the catch as well to make it a 26 yard gain.

10:57: Tannehill on a run after a play fake, gets a solid gain for the first down.

9:46: Tannehill on a play fake, sets his feet and throws deep for a 47 yard touchdown to an open deep man. That might have been the dagger. 48-28 A&M. That was Tannehill’s 6^th touchdown of the night.

9:35: Griffin flushed from the pocket, under pressure, just heaves one downfield, basically a Hail Mary, into double coverage. Picked.

6:58: Tannehill doing everything, a quarterback run this time for 34 yards.

5:37: Griffin checks down against a prevent defense, the back is able to pick up a first after the catch.

5:18: Griffin to Kendall Wright this time. Wright takes it for the first, but it’s called back on holding.

5:02: Griffin on 1^st and 20, receiver can’t keep it in bounds. Not a bad throw though.

4:57: This time 2^nd and 20, Griffin throws short and the receiver is stopped pretty quickly.

4:30: Griffin rolls out, but dropped by Sean Porter for a sack. Porter now has 7.5 sacks on the season. The junior has done a great job of filling in for Von Miller, but at 6-2 230, he might be too small to play 3-4 linebacker at the next level.

0:00: After blowing big leads against Oklahoma State and Arkansas and after a weak showing against Texas Tech, Ryan Tannehill needed a good game to safe his falling stock. It’s safe to say he got it. He completed 25 of 37 for 415 yards, 6 touchdowns, and 1 pick. He looked fairly good, completing passing to guys like Ryan Swope, who had 11 catches for 206 yards and 4 touchdowns on the night, and also Jeff Fuller, who caught 5 passes for 71 yards.

He’s got good pocket presence and mobility and an above average arm with good accuracy. He managed this Mike Sherman Pro Style offense very well and could end up in day 2 if he continues doing so. He struggled at times with decision making, especially on that one early, ugly pick. He also needs a bit of work on his footwork, both inside and outside of the pocket, but he hasn’t been playing the quarterback position all that long. He looks like a project at the next level, but the sky is the limit for this athletic kids with all the tools.

As for Robert Griffin, his stats weren’t quite as impressive. He was 28 for 40 for 415 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Texas A&M is easily the toughest defense he’s faced this season and he struggled against their pass rush and their blitz. He needs to develop a strong sense of the blitz coming because he has the mobility to evade sacks.

He’s got a stronger arm than Tannehill and was very accurate early, but struggled a bit down the stretch, especially on his one pick. I think he’s more NFL ready than Tannehill. Remember, Griffin was facing the tougher defense of the two tonight and Griffin has had the significantly better season overall. He’s a very cerebral quarterback, but also has excellent athleticism and physical tools. Right now I think he’s the 4^th best quarterback in this draft class, should he come out. He has a first round grade from me should he keep this up.

By Trey Huguley 

On Thursday the Houston Texans administration made a new rule regarding tailgating on the grounds of Reliant Stadium on Gamedays. Beginning week 5 against the New York Giants, to be allowed onto Reliant grounds tailgaters will be required to either A) have a ticket to the game or B) have one of 2000 tailgating passess that will be issued/sold by the team. The team enacted this rule for a number of reasons, but two that stand out high above the others that are geared toward improving the experience for people who actually spend money to go to the game. One – it should alleviate some of the traffic around the Reliant area and Two – it will open up parking options that would normally have been taken by squaters who weren’t even attending the game. 

This move has created quite a bit of outrage from Texans fans who spend every home game hanging out in the parking lot, eating barbecue, drinking way too much and starting fights; the whole time wishing the whole time they were actually in the stadium. To these fans, I say, “Tough! Deal with it. Why don’t you spend time watching the game from the comfort of your own couch with your family, with friends at a Bar or have a game watching BBQ.”

Why in the world they want to deal with the masses of people to tailgate in front of a stadium for a game that starts at noon will always baffle me. 

Sure, I enjoy going to one or two games a year when I have a chance. And sure, when I do, I certainly wander around the parking lot in search of beer and barbecue, but come game time – I’m in my seat, ready to yell. Then for the other 6 home games a year, I couldn’t be happier with a beer on my couch or out at the local sports bar enjoying the game way more than I would at a tailgate for a game that I didn’t even have tickets.

Personally I see this new rule as a great thing for the Houston Texans organization, their fans and the city of Houston. Not only will this keep out the riff-raff and free up some of the parking for actual patrons, but it will also do quite a few other positive things. For one – it will help the economy of Houston. Sports bars and restaurants all over the city will see much busier Sunday afternoons when the 20,000 plus displaced fans decide they want to go “somewhere” to watch the game. If these establishment run specials and market the heck out of them, they could make Sunday one of their biggest revenue days of the week.

The rule will also keep actual transients as well as transient away fans out of the stadium grounds. In the past, there has been a bit of a problem with fans of other teams showing up just to start trouble.  Gangs, thugs and bums have also found their way out on Sunday’s to beg for food, rob people and start fights. While this wasn’t a common occurance, the new passing will keep these unwanted guests from crashing the party.

Texans fans have been notorious for not being in their seats come kick off time and spending half the game outside tailgating with their buddies that didn’t have tickets rather than cheering on the team. As we saw in the opening day against the Colts, the power of a loud stadium can be the determining factor in the game. Less people around who don’t have tickets means more people will be in their seats for the game. This will obviously result in more wins.

All in all, I applaud the Texans for making this move to expunge the non-true Texans fans who just like to be passive in their fannism treating it as a social event rather than a game. Go watch the game else where or buy a ticket, hippies.

http://www.houstonsportblog.com/ 

 

By Trey Huguley 

With the season a Quarter of the way done things are looking really good for the Houston Texans. Most people believe that Quarter Season awards don’t mean much, but I’ve decided to have a little fun and dive into the first four weeks performances of the Texans to evaluate who might be going to the Pro Bowl.  

Texans Pro Bowl Players After Weeks 1-4

Arian Foster – Obviously Foster is going to make it. He’s quickly burst onto the scene and emerged as one of the leagues top backs. The league leader in Rushing thus far, there’s no doubt in my mind that Foster would be a unanimous Pro Bowl selection.

Vonta Leach – Behind every great running back like Foster is a good Fullback. Perhaps instead of “behind” I should say “in front.” Vonta Leach is having a great year lead blocking for Foster and laying out defenders. He also has a talent for making catches out of the backfield and charging down field like a bull. Count him in as the second Texans player that is a sure fire Pro Bowl candidate.

Matt Schaub – Schaub barely makes it in, but he does due to his ability to lead the team to victory and command games. Averaging 260 yards per game even while his running back is leading the league in rushing is pretty strong. Oh yeah…then there was the Redskins match-up where Schaub threw for nearly 500 yards leading the team to victory. 

Mario Williams –  Super Mario is off to an excellent start with 5 sacks – third in the NFL. Incredibly, Williams is on a pace to have 20 sacks, which will be a record year. Probable, no. Possible, yes. Tenacity has been something that Williams had lacked in the past, but he is exuding it this year – except in the Cowboys game. Hopefully he’ll keep it up all season long making every Quarterback he faces hate life.

The Offensive Line – Someone on the Texans offensive line would be going to the Pro Bowl for sure. Heck, all five of the starting linemen have been playing so well, you could make a case for all of them.  These beasts have been leading the way and opening holes for Foster and show some strength on every play. If they can improve a little more on pass blocking, they will be the best line corp in the league.

Also Receiving Votes 

Kevin Walter –  Walter is a beast who has been flying under the radar. Week after week he does what he has to do to get the job done. Whether it’s throwing a key down field block or making a catch over the middle, Walter does the dirty work.  He may have barely missed the Quarter Season Pro Bowl, but if he continues his pace I’d bet he makes the real deal. 

Andre Johnson – His injury high ankle sprain has been limiting Johnson this year. His game tying catch against the Redskins, might have gotten him into the Pro Bowl alone, but it’s just too hard to call until we get to see more action. As long as he gets healthy, he’ll be in the real Pro Bowl.

While I realize the Quarter Season Pro Bowl doesn’t mean diddly, but it’s definitely a fun evaluation tool for how the Texans are doing this season. The team itself would have 5-7 Pro Bowlers and would be 12-4 at the end of the season. We’ll just have to see how it all turns out. First we have to get passed the Giants though. 

http://www.houstonsportblog.com/ 

 

 

The Houston Texans have never made the playoffs. They have been trendy sleeper picks for the past few years and have never come through. Some people have sworn off of making them sleepers. I am not one of those people. In fact, this is the first year I can really call Houston one of my sleepers. Peyton Manning had offseason surgery and will miss most of if not all of the preseason. The last time that happened, he struggled early in the season. The Texans play the Colts week 1, a game they won last year. If they win again, they might not look back. They could take this division.

Offense has never been the problem for this team. With Matt Schaub, Arian Foster, and Andre Johnson, they might have the best QB/RB/WR trio in the league. They also have quite possibly the league’s most underrated offensive line. They’ll be fine offensively and I’ll get back to that later. First, I want to focus on their defense.

Their defense was bad last year. It was really bad last year. Like really, really, really bad. They allowed the most passing yards in the league and were 2^nd in passing yards per attempt. They allowed the 3^rd most total yards and the 4^th most points. The only thing that wasn’t terrible was their run defense, ranked 11^th. However, this is a passing league and if you can’t stop the pass, you won’t make the playoffs.

The Texans have fixed that pass defense this offseason. They brought in two starting caliber defensive backs, in the offseason, Danieal Manning and Johnathan Joseph. Joseph was the market’s #2 cornerback behind Nnamdi Asomugha. He is extremely talented and will definitely add to this pass defense. As for the other 2 starting spots in the secondary, 2010 2^nd round pick Kareem Jackson will be the #2 cornerback. He was very, very, very terrible last year, but rookie cornerbacks tend to struggle. He’s talented and I expect him to bounce back, especially now that he’s not the #1 guy anymore.

At free safety, Glover Quin will start. He makes the move from cornerback to free safety and he can’t possibly be as bad at free safety as he was at corner, though that’s not saying much. If he does badly, the mediocre Troy Nolan would take over at free safety, so this position is definitely still a weakness. 2^nd round rookie Brandon Harris will be the nickel corner. I had a first round grade on him, so naturally I thought it was a steal when they got him in the late 2^nd. Another rookie, Rashard Carmichael, as well as Brice McCain, a 3^rd year player, provide depth at the position.

Now let’s look some more at the front 7. DeMeco Ryans is back at middle linebacker. That’s a huge plus. This team was 4-2 when he got hurt last year and finished 6-10. I’m not saying his injury had everything to do with that, but he’s definitely a valuable member of this defense. He’ll line up inside next to stud linebacker Brian Cushing. At rush linebacker, the Texans added Brooks Reed in the 2^nd round of the draft, another good pick. He’ll compete with 2009 2^nd round pick Connor Barwin for the starting job. Barwin is largely an unknown commodity. He didn’t play much as a rookie and went down for the season with an injury week 1 last season. Still, having Barwin back is a plus. He and Reed should see plenty of the field, no matter who wins the starting job.

At the other rush linebacker position, they have Mario Williams. Because he’s about 285 pounds, many doubt Williams ability to play rush linebacker, a position where you need speed and pass coverage ability in addition to being a good pass rusher. However, Williams has plenty of speed. Remember he ran a 4.6 at The Combine coming out.

Plus, he’s not playing any old rush linebacker position. He’s playing rush linebacker in Wade Phillips’ defense. This works to his advantage for several reasons. One, Wade Phillips asks his rush linebackers to drop into coverage less than almost any other coordinator out there. Just ask DeMarcus Ware. Ware is terrible in pass coverage, but he’s still frequently mentioned among the best defensive players in the league. He has Wade Phillips to thank for that.

Two, while Wade Phillips does use a base 3-4, he uses sub packages more than just about any other coordinator in the league. Most of these sub packages use 4 man lines, in which Phillips will line up at his old spot from 2010. Tamba Hali made the successful move to a 3-4 as a rush linebacker at 275 pounds. Williams can do the same at 285 pounds in a Wade Phillips scheme that will highlight his strengths and mask his weaknesses.

The defensive line might be the most troubling part of this defense. They added JJ Watt with the 11^th pick, yet another talented rookie coming in, but he is still just a rookie, coming off of a lockout shortened offseason. At nose tackle, Earl Mitchell is penciled in as the starter. He only weighs about 290-295 pounds. Wade Phillips has had success with smaller nose tackles before, particularly Jay Ratliff in Dallas. However, Ratliff was still about 10-15 pounds heavier than Mitchell. If Mitchell can’t hold down the job, the mediocre Shaun Cody would start.

Opposite JJ Watt, things are a little better than at the nose, but not much. Antonio Smith is a better fit for the 3-4 than the 4-3, but he’s still a borderline talent. He could be easily upgraded. However, this defense is going to be, at the very least, average. Add in DeMeco Ryans and Connor Barwin back from injury, Brooks Reed, JJ Watt, and Brandon Harris through the draft, and Johnathan Joseph and Danieal Manning through free agency, that’s a lot of talent coming in.

Kareem Jackson will be better. Glover Quin probably will be better. They add a legitimate defensive coordinator in Wade Phillips and he’s instituting a 3-4 defense, important because Peyton Manning’s struggles against 3-4s in his career are well documented. If this defense is average and the offense keeps doing what it’s doing, they can easily win this division, provided they beat the Colts week 1. I think this is the year they make the playoffs.

 

Now, onto that offense. You all know about Matt Schaub, Arian Foster, and Andre Johnson, as well as other talented receivers like Kevin Walter, James Jones, and Owen Daniels. However, what about that offensive line? Duane Brown (left tackle), Wade Smith (left guard), Chris Myers (center), Matt Brisiel (right guard), Eric Winston (right tackle). They might not be the biggest names, but they work well as a unit, they don’t miss games, and they fit the zone blocking scheme like a glove. They allowed a mere 27 sacks last year and they were one of the best run blocking lines in the league, helping Arian Foster lead the league in rushing.

A lot of people are doubting Arian Foster. He is a one year wonder, they say, or he will really miss talented fullback Vonta Leach, they say. However, the offensive line was just as big a part of his success and he’s very talented in his own right. He’ll be fine, even with Lawrence Vickers replacing Vonta Leach. Plus, he’s a solid pass catcher.

As I said before, if this defense can be even average, I think this team can win the division. In order to win the division, they’ll have to beat the Colts week 1, but I think they have a very good chance to do that, and even if they don’t, I think they can sneak in as a wild card. I have a little bit higher of a projection for them. Every year, one team that didn’t make the playoffs the year before gets a first round bye. I think this is that team this year. There was a point when the Saints were a team that couldn’t win anything. They won the Super Bowl the next year.

Quarterback: B+

Running backs: A

Receiving corps: B+

Offensive line: A-

Run defense: C+

Pass rush: B-

Pass coverage: B-

Coaching: C-

Projection: 12-4 1^st in AFC South

 

 

Nose Tackle

Wade Phillips has always had success with smaller nose tackle, especially Jay Ratliff in Dallas, but guys like Shaun Cody and Earl Mitchell, barely 300 pounds, are small even for Phillips’ scheme. Neither of them are particularly talented either. Phillips could be looking for his Jay Ratliff this offseason.

Wide Receiver

Andre Johnson is a great wide receiver, but he turns 31 this offseason and has had a history of injury problems. With him out of the lineup this year, their lack of depth was exposed as neither Kevin Walter nor Jacoby Jones are very good. They’ll look for a receiver to start opposite Johnson and eventually take over as his long term replacement in 3-4+ years.

 

Safety

The Texans did an excellent job of fixing their defense this offseason, but they could still upgrade Glover Quin at safety. He wasn’t awful this season, but the former cornerback struggled against the run.

Guard

The Texans have a great offensive line, but Wade Smith is the weak point at left guard. Meanwhile, right guard Mike Brisiel is a free agent.

Center

Center Chris Myers is also a free agent. If he’s resigned, he could move to guard depending on what happens with Wade Smith and Mike Brisiel.

 

By Trey Huguley 

After a very frustrating loss last week against the New York Giants, the Houston Texans face a “must win” situation hosting the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 6.  At 3-2 and first in the AFC South, the Texans are having a decent year, but the negative aspects of their games make that winning record look like it doesn’t mean that much.  

If the Texans can beat the Chiefs this weekend and go into the bye Week 4-2, things would definitely be looking up. Not only would it help the Texans maintain their top positioning in the Division, but it would also help them go into the break with some real momentum. Then the bye week will give them time to fix the problems that have been plaguing the Texans defense all year long….pass coverage and pass rush. 

Ironically, in order to beat the Chiefs though, they’ll need to correct those issues a week sooner than the bye; or at the very least, put a metaphorical “band-aid” over them. Luckily, Matt Cassell doesn’t lead a very powerful passing game, but the Chiefs offensive line has been top notch – only allowing 3 sacks so far this season.  The Texans defensive line will have to do all they can to put pressure on Cassell and disrupt his passes. 

The even more difficult challenge for the Texans defense, however, is the fact that they will have to be on the look out for the Chiefs decent running game as well. The line should be able to handle this, but the Texans secondary better be on their toes so they aren’t caught out of position. Often in the games where quarterbacks have thrown for over 300 yards against the Texans secondary, it was because Safeties Eugene Wilson or Bernard Pollard were caught out of position in zone coverage. They better be paying attention this week’s “must win.”

If the Texans were to lose this game, half of their fan base would jump ship. This could be really bad considering that the Texans are finally getting national media attention and expanding their fan base. The last thing they want to do is turn that around and start losing fans again. 

Perhaps the biggest issue that makes this game a “must win” is the remaining schedule. Throughout the rest of the season the Texans will face the Colts, Titans (twice), Ravens, Jets, Eagles and Chargers – all of which they could lose. They’ll pick up a few wins against the Jaguars and Broncos. Most likely they’ll pick up one against the Titans and the Chargers game too. The Eagles and other Colts game are a toss up. All in all, the Texans could realistically be looking at losing five more games -even if they get better over the bye.  If they beat the Chiefs and go into the rest of the season at 4-2, they have a better chance of taking 5 losses and maybe making the wildcard at 9-7. On the flip-side, if they take a loss against the Chiefs and drop to 3-3, they’d need a miracle to have a winning season. And that hurts to even think about. 

The Texans SHOULD win this game without too many difficulties, but usually when I feel that way they end up losing. Let’s hope that isn’t the case this week. 

http://www.houstonsportblog.com/