Clayton: Texans are the bullies of AFC...

Clayton: Texans are the Crimson Tide of NFL...

1. The Crimson Tide of the NFL: The combination of Matt Schaub's brains and Wade Phillips' defense has allowed the Houston Texans to become one of the league's most dominating teams. Dating back to last year, Schaub has won his past eight games. Houston's average margin of victory is 20 points in those games. Watching the Texans dismantle AFC teams is like watching Alabama plow through the SEC. The Texans' schedule hasn't been grinding -- they've beaten the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars twice, the Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos during Schaub's past eight starts -- but putting Schaub behind center combined the Texans' defense is problematic for opponents.

Phillips has coached great defensive linemen in the past, but J.J. Watt is playing at a Hall of Fame level. In Sunday's 38-14 victory over Tennessee, Watt had two sacks, three tackles behind the line of scrimmage and two quarterback hits against Titans quarterbacks Matt Hasselbeck and Jake Locker.

"He's a tremendous player," Phillips said. "I said earlier in the year he's the best defensive lineman the league."

With 7.5 sacks in four games -- incredible for a 3-4 defensive end -- Watt is among the leading candidates for defensive player of the year. What is lost in the shuffle is the great play of the Texans' safeties. Glover Quin and Danieal Manning are understated for how good they are. Quin and Manning came into the league as corners. Phillips turned Quin into a safety and encouraged Texans management to sign Manning from the Chicago Bears.

"They have the speed to play corner, but the toughness to play safety," cornerback Johnathan Joseph said of his teammates.

Less than nine minutes into the game, Quin knocked Locker out of the game with a left shoulder injury, crunching him on a sack. In the third quarter, Manning put the game out of reach with a 55-yard interception return for a touchdown that opened a 14-point lead. Three years ago, Quin and Kareem Jackson were bad rookie cornerbacks on one of the worst secondaries in NFL history. Phillips brought in Manning and Joseph and now is getting the best out of Jackson and Quin. It's impressive.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/page/lastcall1204/john-clayton-last-call

 

Lol. That's what happens with a touch keyboard lol.

 

Yeah...I started to write a title...didn't feel like typing crimson tide....equated that as beating up on the opposition.