Here's a nice read from the New York Times with a season preview of the Texans: http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/30/houston-texans-2012-n-f-l-season-preview/ Please note that this article was written before the 4th preaseason game and roster cuts.
If the texans play football, they'll win easily! (boom.) Man, I've missed the game threads! So happy it's football season! yeaaay.
I lack the embedding know ho, but here's a link with the video I wanted to wet yalls appetite for some Arian Foster. (If anyone could embed that would be nice) It's Pretty cool that he is the story that kicks off the football discussion this morning on national TV. He really wants to leave a legacy before he is done by being among the best RB in NFL history. Good for us! ... http://www.khou.com/sports/Texans-Foster-opens-up-on-national-TV-168620216.html
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I have no problem with any of the above guys. I really like Jim and Phil. Dierdorf is an A-hole. As long as its not YOU KNOW WHO!?!? I am ok with it.
My thoughts on the team at present: Liking what we've got with Schaub and the wide outs. I know there's some concern over Jean and Martin not being polished yet....but then I remember Jacoby Jones and am over it. I think we've got some explosive playmaking potential again. Foster and Tate are Foster and Tate. I'm glad the team made a move to add a pure blocking FB to take pressure off Casey. It probably became more important with the right side of the line becoming spotty. I'm concerned about the right side of the line, as well as the disturbing lack of depth behind it. Caldwell and Newton didn't do much to relieve the post-Winston and Brisiel concerns, though I have some hope that Newton gets a feel for things over the first couple of months. Glad they brought over Harris as insurance. Disappointed that Brooks had such a bad OTA-camp-preseason. Hopeful that Ben Jones can cover the 3 interior spots if needed. Terrible timing, especially when you couple it with the loss of Dressen. The O-Line saved our rear end on offense last year....it could be a liability this season. You can't boot right if left ends and strong side LBs are flying through unchecked. Love the D-Line. Love the starters, love the improved depth behind them. I just hope Cody's back isn't going to be a lingering issue...but backs rarely rebound quick. Mitchell's okay on the right set of downs, but I'm hopeful someone like Crick might emerge shifting inside. Outside Backers are fantastic. Can't wait to see Mercilus in real game action. Simply deadly to be able to rotate 3 rush-terrorists over 4 quarters. I'm slightly apprehensive of the ILB situation. I like Sharpton much more than James...and that was before watching James blow it on the field in preseason games. I recognize that team's hand was forced regarding Ryan, but all that BS about "we got back everything we lost and more" is one more example of Wade & Co's habit of fluff hyperbole. Cushing makes up for everything....but I'm petrified of losing him for any game. The ILBs around him aren't inspiring. CB is similar. Joseph can't miss time, or we'll be a fright fest. Many of you like him now, but Jackson hasn't done enough to make me comfortable. Alan Ball ~ Jason Allen? Maybe? McCain and Harris should be okay, but neither are especially strong. I have plenty of confidence in our starting safeties....but for the life of me, I don't get how Nolan got cut instead of Keo. Nolan has displayed all the ball hawking instincts that Keo lacks. Demps is fair, but Keo is a disaster. I don't get that move at all. Secondary is historically the Achilles Heel of Wade's defense, along with disciplined nickel-and-dime interior rushing. The scheme relies on the pass rush to prevent deep plays from developing and creating hurried throws. However, sharp West Coast attacks and two minute drills can take advantage of the defense putting 5 forward and pick the stretched zone apart. This defense looks like it can be even better than last years....but an injury to the wrong guy would immediately break the dam. I don't see us having the depth at ILB or secondary to play Next Man Up like we did a year ago. As long as the right side of the line treads water, the offense should bounce back nicely and regain the balanced attack we lost after last season's bye.
My take on this is that Keo seems to really excel on special teams. Since Keo or Nolan would be like 3rd or 4th string safety, the thinking was probably that a plus contributor on special teams nets you more gain over the course of a season than the few times that Nolan or Keo would get on the field as a safety. That is assuming we have no signficant injuries at safety. If we do then that decision could bite us in the buttocks because Keo is definitely a liability at this point on the field as a DB.
To Sunday's game: Painting broad strokes, this should be in the bag. The Dolphins were subpar a year ago and managed to get worse. Tannehill is in for it. Pocket awareness is already one of the main issues he's working with. His line has a strong LT and C but is otherwise average. Like us, their right side is not getting the job done. I'll be interested to see if we opt to have Watt feast on John Jerry or have him neutralize Long and free up Barwin. Another reason not to envy Tannehill is he doesn't have reliable targets to throw at. Marshall's gone, making #2 Davone Bess the best remaining receiver. That said, the Dolphins staff would be fools not to game plan 60% run. Reggie turned things around a little last year, and he's always a danger to break off a few good runs. The Front 5 can't be so overeager that they allow Bush to escape into the flats behind them. I don't trust James to get there, and Cushing can't be expected to cover sideline-to-sideline every down, so it's critical that Barwin and Reed catch Bush on most off tackles and stretchs. Dolphins run a 4-3, which should make things a little easier on our line. Interior guys are okay, but not world beaters. Wake is going from OLB to putting his hand down, and we should hope that he needs a couple games to adjust. It's possible he won't be adept at shedding run blocks yet. Odrick is opposite him and isn't much of a threat in the pass or run. This shouldn't be a game where our right side has major difficulties. If they do, it's a terrible sign going forward. Miami did make a solid upgrade at CB when they added Richard Marshall...but I suspect that Vontae Davis took a demotion to CB2 poorly and asked to be traded (back to being a CB1 in Indy). Sean Smith can be exploited, so this ends up being only a marginal upgrade overall. The happy news is that Miami has poor safeties. They lost a decent box safety and now have two guys (Clemons, Jones) that can't protect the back end. They should be extremely vulnerable to the home run ball in the PA. If Johnson is sucking the secondary over, Martin may have an opportunity to have a big game. I'd like to think that this is a nice blowout opener. Don't cough up the ball, and we could be looking at 31-13, Texans.
Texans 35 Dolphins 6 Arian gets 211 yards rushing with 2 tds We get 5 sacks with 2 by Reed, 1 by Mercilus, 1 by Barwin, 1 by Cushing schaub passes for 280 yards with 2 TD Trindon gets 1
I suppose. I'm just a fan and don't have insight to the decision. Personally, I'd rather have the guy with some experience starting at S and giving another option in a 3 deep package than a box safety special teams only type. But I've always been higher on Nolan than the staff and the staff has always been higher on Keo than I. Maybe I'm completely wrong - I'm not on the field when they practice.
