Look for the Tight Ends to have a huge game against Washington, and to be DW4's emergency valve the remainder of the season.
CORRECTION: Andy Reid killed us through the years. IMHO Reid is the second best head coach of the past 20 years.
Their defense is very good I’ll give you that, but I was more concerned about Denver’s D than I am Washington. Their safeties are very good, but as someone else said Josh Norman is not good anymore(always thought he was overrated) and I’m not scared of their front as I was with Denver. I think if the OLine continues their improvements we will do ok on offense. They just lost 3 key players on offense including their 2nd best OLineman and Alex Smith still can’t throw the downfield. Hopefully we can keep everything in front of us and get to Alex. It’ll be close but I’m confident we can pull it out somewhat comfortably.
Spot on, the Texans running game should be back to at the very least 125-150 total yards against the Redskins. They'll likely be even in the 150-175 total yard range. This of course will open up the play action and allows DW4 the possibility at 300+ yards. The Texans offense only really struggles against solid run defenses, Washington is far from a great run defense. Look for a huge offensive output day, unless the defense struggles, then BoB will try and grind out the win by being conservative and limiting mistakes and turnovers.
You must be thinking pass defense. The Jags and Broncos have very good defenses; but its mostly because of their pass defense and pass rush. They are both bottom of the league against the run. Not only the eye test but also stats prove it (24th and 27th in rush yards per game). The Texans have been feasting on bad run defenses (the dolphins are really bad too) and it works to their advantage since the offense insists on run-first. The Texans ran the ball (largely ineffectively) almost ten more times than they passed this past Sunday. Denver knew it and sent more defenders to stop the run, especially on 1st down. Washington's one of the best at stopping the run (#5) without having to "stack the box" and they've bottled up teams with much better run offenses {i.e. Saints) than the Texans. Will they abandon the run and force Watson to make more than 30 pass attempts or keep running and hope to tire down Washington's D? That's what I'm interested to see. Yes I'm expecting the Texans Defense to generate a consistent pass rush against their injured offensive line. Alex Smith proved you wrong about throwing down the field last season but he doesn't have any home-run threat receivers now (Paul Richardson is injured) so it won't matter. The Texans are more talented and should come out on top; but that run D is nothing to be ignored and I'm interested to see the Texans' game plan against it.
lol Washington is one of the best run defenses in the league this season. #5 in rush yards per game (90 yards per game) and haven't allowed a 100 yard rusher.
You're looking at total yards, and they've had their bye - terrible stat. They've allowed 4.2 yards per carry which is 13th over all, far from a great defensive front. The Texans run defense comparatively are 3rd overall with 3.6 yards per carry in more games. They've also allowed 7 rushing touchdowns which is tied for 16th overall, the Texans have allowed 3 having played 1 more game.
Actually I was looking at per game stats. Not total yards. Not sure why you would think that. No matter how you look at it, Washington is a better run defense than the Denver and Jacksonville. It might be the best run defense they have faced so far. Look at how they fared against the teams with good rush offenses. They just got tore up by Atlanta and still that is a head scratcher but it still didn't kill their per game stats. Of course the Texans defense is better. But that's not who Bill O'Brien is facing.
glad Kareem is getting the respect he deserves. Is wearing ankle socks with a suit fashionable? seems weird.
Total yards has and always will be a terrible metric. A few years ago the Texans had the "#1 Defense" when it was a really mediocre defense. Pretty much every rushing metric, like average per carry, touchdowns and 3rd down conversions for Washington are mediocre at best. The Texans offense was hamstrung against Denver which allowed them to stack the box. Nuk was the only fully capable receiver dressed for the Texans.
The Bills released Phillip Gaines for some reason. Texans should be bringing him in for a look soon....like yesterday.
I didn't just use total yards. I went to the game logs to see how each game went. Even watched some highlights. I didn't just use one stat. I told you about specific games. The Saints, for instance, blew out Washington but still rushed for less than 100 yards (3.1 yards per carry). McCaffrey averaged 2.5 yards per carry against them. DJ Moore has one long run that skews the overall ypc for the game. So where do the Broncos (Brandon Marshall being out for sure has been hurting them) and Jags rank in your metrics?
