The Colts' 2011 1st half drives (Peytonless): 4 punts, 2 TO's and a possession that ended when the half ended. 9:28 elapsed on these 7 possessions and zero (0) points scored. Compare that to the Colts' 2010 1st half drives at Reliant (Peytonful): 4 punts, 1 TD and 1 FG. 17:24 elapsed on 6 possessions with 10 points scored. The first four (4) possessions for the Colts in the 2010 game ended with punts. However, those four punts consumed 10:56. The subsequent two (2) drives to end the half for the Colts resulted in 10 points and took 6:28 off the clock to give a half-time score of 13-10 in the Texans favor. I am not suggesting the Colts would have won with Peyton, and while every game counts this past game was no real barometer for the Texans.
Why can't we just be happy with an epic beatdown? On any given Sunday, any team no matter the talent is capable of beating another. There is just too much parity in football to take any game for granted. Case in point: Buffalo destroying KC on the road. Collins started to find a rhythm in the second half, and last year it would have resulted in a close victory. But our defense held the whole game and the offense went conservative in the second half. If it was close, Slaton would have never seen the field. This is a good team, better than last year. But the test of whether or not we're a great team is yet to come.
That's just disrespectful. If I were Jim Caldwell, I'd post that in the locker room this week. I fully expect the Colts to lay the wood to the Browns.
/stopped-reading-after-this-great-post: "Peyton was always amazing at stopping those routes across the middle that we picked apart the Colts with yesterday. If he's out there playing safety, no way we win that one. Also, I heard he wasn't in Japan the day of that massive earthquake. So there." Seriously, folks. Can we just enjoy the game of NFL football rather than handwringing over whether a win was legit or not? What a fun game to watch.
It's pretty bizarre. Maybe our heads are just so screwed up from being Texan fans that we don't know how to react when we play well and win? But yeah, this isn't Alabama vs. Kent State, this is the NFL and we just picked apart a division rival to open the season. We're 1-0 and hope springs eternal. Why not just enjoy it?
Enjoy it, absolutely - but we all realize (90% of us) that this has to go down as our 5th preseason game and we can't go on the road for two weeks with Feel Good Syndrome. Miami's offense looked very competent last night across the board and extended forecast is suggesting wet (or extremely humid) conditions out there Sunday. If we thought we were getting two junk QBs in a row, Henne sent a shot across the bow last night. They'll test our secondary next week with Marshall, Bess, Fasano, and Bush. Team Watt won't see another wet toilet paper line. Their secondary is expected out of Miami Hospital's Burn Ward by the weekend. We're very equipped to go in there and be a wrecking crew....but we've got to bring every bit of the passion and sharpened teeth that we did against the Colts. Say No to Feel Good Syndrome!
Disagree. Had we beaten... Carolina, OK. But we didn't. That "5th preseason game" counts as a division win. It's hugely important and exactly what a team changing systems with a shortened offseason needed. You have to be good to win in the NFL but you also have to have some luck sprinkled in. New England's defense is simply not a good as ours. Or, rather, it was very nearly as bad as ours was last year and doesn't look appreciably better this year. Henne may have arrived; but it's far more likely if he's throwing for 400, you've got a problem with your defense. And our offense is every bit as good as NE's. I suspect another business-like a-kicking. Not 34-7. But they'll win going away, IMO. The Texans have rarely, if ever, handled success so it'll be interesting to see if they're focused and ready. But this feels like a different team. There's a quiet confidence lurking. You don't do what you did to the Colts without total buy-in and commitmment. I'll be extremely disappointed if they come out flat.
It's going to be fun watching the new lighter version of Brian Cushing chasing former teammate Reggie Bush all over the field.
man, the houston fan shoulder chip is so freakin annoying no one's putting an asterik on this game, the entire sports media is pretty much in agreement that this is the texans year to put up or shut up
There's a fine line between a "feel good syndrome" and a swagger. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE it if this team, especially the defense, developed a swagger. That's something we've been wanting for 10 years now. Not a "Dunta Robinson celebrating a tackle while Peyton Manning quick-snaps for a 30-yard gain" swagger, but a very cool business-like "we're not going 6-10 this year" kind of swagger that I think Wade is already developing on the defensive side of the ball. I can see it on the O-line as well. It's amazing what happens when the O-line plays together for a few years and really starts developing some chemistry. Haven't seen that in Houston since the ol' Run and Shoot days.
