Houston Texans (6-10) Houston is the Tampa Bay Rays of the NFL. No matter how much better or more promising they get, they always have to contend with a couple of great teams at the top of the division. It does not appear to be 2008, but the Texans could be nearing a 2008 Rays-like breakthrough. The Texans average 21.3 points per game (#23) and allow 24.6 points (#20) against a schedule featuring eight games against 2007 playoff teams. Absolute Record: 6-10 Most Significant Newcomer: Antwaun Molden, CB - This is a very tough debate. The answer should come from the group of Molden, RB Chris Brown, RB Steve Slaton, CB Jacque Reeves and OL Duane Brown. Reeves and Chris Brown have experience starting recently, but Chris Brown is too injury-prone and Reeves will not help the team create turnovers. Molden seems like the best bet. He will not likely start, but he fits a need and be able to make some plays in the defensive backfield. Expect around 25 tackles and two interceptions. Biggest Strength: Young Cornerstones of the Defense - Mario Williams, Amobi Okoye and DeMeco Ryans may be a better way to phrase that. Most Exploitable Weakness: Pass Defense - When Williams is not standing above the quarterback after one of 16 sacks, that quarterback may be picking a part a secondary that gives up too many big plays and lacks the ability to force interceptions. Possible Fantasy Sleeper: Steve Slaton, RB - Ahman Green, Chris Brown and even Slaton will likely be hurt at some point this season. As the ultra-productive college product who has not yet played in the NFL, Steve Slaton is the most intriguing of the group. The sim has all three backs in the same vicinity with Slaton gaining 632 total yards and scoring five touchdowns. 626 of those yards are on the ground. Don't expect many catches in his career. Closest Game: Tennessee (Week 15) - With the AFC Wild Card picture wide open, this looks like a game that could keep the winner's playoff hopes alive. Fantasy Notables: Matt Schaub (21) 2,623 yards, 18 TDs, 10 INTs; Chris Brown (43) 735 total yards, 5 TDs; Ahman Green (47) 751 total yards, 5 TDs; Andre Johnson (7) 81 receptions, 1,192 yards, 8 TDs; Owen Daniels (11) 50 receptions, 548 yards, 4 TDs; Kris Brown (25) 36/36 XPs, 24/30 FGs http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl
It's not Fox Sports... it's some off-site called "whatifsports.com" that has this review. Don't mislead the readers, please. It's not really an analyst's view, it's part of their fantasy football part of a wider FOX Sports report. I'm skeptical of all these "fantasy" preview people who give rankings... who the heck cares about that *****? 16-0, baby. I don't expect us to lose ANY game. GO TEXANS !!!!
It's actually by whatifsports.com....that website is actually really cool though. They predicted all 16 regional finalists in the NCAA tournament correctly, and if I remember correctly, I BELIEVE they had the Super Bowl going to the Giants by a very slim margin.....I may be misremembering that though (thank you Roger Clemens for adding a new word to my vocabulary).
Yeah, it sounds like these predictions are based off of simulations. Woohoo, a computer predicted us to finish 6-10. If I fired up Madden and did 1,000 similations, I wonder what it would have predicted for last season. I'm guessing it wouldn't have had us at 8-8.
I can see the jags and titans both taking a step down, but then again I said the same thing last year. The titans, despite their obvious shortcomings at the QB spot, will always be competitive as long as Jeff Fisher is there. And the jags already have that old school 'run the ball and play defense' philosopy that Kubiak is trying to build here. But the Texans should have a pretty strong defense too. And if Schaub can stay healthy and play 14 to 16 games, I think we can be in the mix.
The Texan's record will be about what it was last year. The OL is not noticeably better. Maybe by the end of the year the rookie LT will up to speed, but until then our QB will taking a lotta hits, just like last year. It will be interesting to see what if any changes are made to the running game. Our defense should be getting better though, especially the DL and LBs. The defensive backs though still have a lot of room for improvement.
Looking at the schedule, that prediction really looks like a worst case scenario. They are basically saying that we'll likely go 0 for the division. I don't think that will happen.
The suprise is thinking the Texans will get better, but they won't. Unless there's someone on our roster who can rush for 1200 + yards i'm forgetting about.
