Jackson and J-Jo trying to cover D-Jax and that French dude _ with RG3 coming home and ready to prove his critics wrong... That's an L for the Texans. The might can get 1 or 2 wins out of the other 3 games.
There's just no sense in making predictions. People thought last year that KC, Arizona and Philly would be soft/easy games... and they weren't.
KC played a bunch of backup quarterbacks during the regular season... Arizona already had a talented team and added a head coach who coached Indy to the playoffs the year before. And Philly had plenty of talent in a division that was in shambles and Chip is a very innovative head coach.
WAY TOO SOON How do you predict games when you don' t even know who the starting quarterback is. Who's on the D-line with Watt? Who is the starting right tackle?
Look at the Texans' core: Arian Foster, Andre Johnson, Duane Brown, JJ Watt, Brian Cushing, Kareem Jackson; throw in DeAndre Hopkins, Garrett Graham, Jonathan Joseph + the first overall pick, as well the 33rd and 65th (presumably) not to mention a new coaching staff... if we could wipe last year's record off the books, MiB style, no one in their right mind would pick that core to lose 8, 9, 10 games; certainly not 14. I think too many people here were burned and thus putting way too much stock in what happened last year. There are still a lot of very good players - at key positions - on this roster. If the QB situation is even remotely competent, 8.5 wins would probably be the minimum. They quit on Gary Kubiak. It started late in 2012, carried over when Schaub imploded and then snowballed as the team lost all confidence and quit. The move away from Kubiak and Schaub alone makes this a better team. And two national games, on top of the Vegas line, confirms that more objective observers agree. Last year was very likely a giant anamoly.
I said before last year I could see this team only winning 7-8 games. I think we're wrapped up in names that give the idea there's more value there than there really is. If the O/U is 8.5, I'd be firing on the under. I have zero faith in this franchise. I wish that weren't the case. I'll root for them every Sundays, but I don't trust them to get it right.
Early point spread for week 1 against the Redskins is -2.5. A little surprising since I thought the Texans would be underdogs for that game.
And you were off by 5-6 games- WTH do you know? If you'll recall, I took the same stance in 2011 when they hired Wade Phillips... and was pretty much dead-on Coaching is soooooooo important in this league, followed closely by players buying into that coach. I'm not suggesting it's a 12-win team; I just don't think it's a 2-win team. There's too much talent. Talent isn't irrelevant; you need talent to win in this league. They have enough to win 8+ games. And I'm apparently not the only one foolish enough to think that, either.
IMO the schedule this year is full of "winable games", now how many of them we actually win will be determined largely by what we do in the draft. If we fix our defense, I could see 7-10 wins, if we draft poorly, maybe that number is around 4-7 instead.
No, you're not. Looking at the odds to win the Super Bowl, there are only 5 AFC teams with better odds than the Texans. The Broncos and Patriots are at the top, of course, at 6 to 1 and 8 to 1, respectively. Next come the Colts, Chiefs and Steelers at 35 to 1. The Texans come in at 40 to 1, the same as the Ravens and Chargers.
Why? The Redskins finished a game behind the Texans and it's in Houston. Besides, any spread less than 3 is basically a pick'em, with the home team getting the slight advantage.
I'd argue KC as a yes, everyone saw them being a creampuff. But AZ had a legit defense and Philly had a legit offense, even before the coaching changes. They were viewed as easier games, but not the softball that a team like KC, JAX, or Cleveland was supposed to be. With the amount of change the Texans have endured, it's impossible to make an even educated guess as to what will happen. Let alone factoring in the general rule of NFL parity/turnover.
You're assuming the Texans will draft Clowney... And you're also assuming DJ is any good. Lol... RG3 got up after every hit last year and Washington has been very busy during the off-season with signing free agents... So we'll see...
Texans have the best 53 man roster in the AFC South (and I'm picking them to win the division). - Hub Arkush However, not picking them to win the Super Bowl or even a playoff game. Colts have been lucky the last couple years. Don't like the WR group. Don't get what they're doing with the running game. They have to re-think their OL if Richardson is their guy. They have zone-type guys. Colts won't collapse like the Texans but hard for them to win a <strike>third straight division title</strike>.
Just heard that as well. Mike pretty much summed up my thoughts on it. Yes the Colts have major holes offensive and defensively, although, they have Andrew Luck who will undoubtedly improve every year which will eventually counter balance the lacks they have on each side of the ball. I think the Colts still have the advantage cause they have no worries as to who their starting QB will be to start next season. Thanks J.R.
The Colts have the right QB to make it easy for any type of WR they draft, a draft that's supposed to be lush with WR talent. They only need a guy to step up in the grass games when TY seems to disappear. Right about the running game though, and they still haven't shown any ability to find defensive talent in the draft.
