Last year was a great turning point for our team, but the Colts are still a top 3 team in the NFL, and frankly, we aren't...yet. Now, there were some costly mistakes in the passing game, and Andre wasn't in the game, and our running game was non existent, but we still put up a decent amount of points. Our defense was our downfall. We went through the same thing we've been going through the past few years. No pass rush and too many completions allowed by the secondary. Besides giving Marvin Harrison a 10 yard cushion by Faggins, how do we stop this passing game with the personnel we currently have? Remember, we have to face them again this year. 24 points is more than enough to beat a team if the defense is doing their job. So how do we beat them next time around?
We lost by 6 points man. That's nothing to worry about considering we didn't have Johnson, Green, or Dayne. I'm pretty sure if they were all healthy, we would've won. But yeah, we need to do something about Faggins. He's almost as bad as Stevens.
I actually thought the pressure was decent, especially from the middle. Okoye had a fairly strong game, from my perspective. I don't think the defense was the problem. The offense gave them 7 points off the tipped INT. Other than that, 23 points against the Colts and barely over 300 yards is nothing to be ashamed of. The Colts will move the ball on anyone -- the key is to get pressure and rush throws in the red zone and hold to field goals, and the Texans did a good job of that. The key is to generate more offense and establish the ground game, which we couldn't do. Having the threat to go downfield (Johnson) would be huge to open up more running lanes.
The cliche "The whole LEAGUE is still trying to figure that out" should be mentioned. - More secondary help to keep with their pass catchers - STAY HEALTHY - Get even more adjusted to Kubiak's system as they go - Limit penalties, fumbles, INTs - Have SOME kind of running game, preferably a pound it out/chain moving attack to keep Manning off the field. - Be in a game where Colts have nothing to play for. Then Texans have a decent chance against the Colts. A game like that against everyone else its like the Panthers game where they win convincingly.
I think we need to be healthy first off. Also we need to cut down on those big turnovers. Finally.and probably most important,gotta get pressure on Manning... where is the blitz? I know our safeties need to get integrated into what we're doing,but Bennett also needs to start opposite of Robinson.
Manning had to throw the ball away several times against our four man rush. Several other times he made the completions with the rush in his face. All in all, the DLine did well, especially considering how young they are. The absolute killer TO was the INT David Schaub poorly threw into triple coverage. A score after the long return from JJ could have changed the momentum. Schaub was also lucky on that long pass to Davis, in that it did not get intercepted since it was way underthrown. I got the feeling on the last drive by the Colts, that if they wanted to, they could have marched down the field for a TD. Manning is such a tool.
it didn't get intercepted because it was underthrown. that was just lofting it up. the receiver was looking at the ball and the DB wasn't. davis did not have his man beat by any stretch of the imagination. just trying to make something happen. great play by davis.
I disagree. As pointed out by others, 23 points (minus the gimme 7 off the tipped INT) against that offense is nothing to be ashamed of. Add this to the mix: a running game that keeps the ball in the Texans's hands longer. Throw that in, and the Texans win. It happened last season, and even with the 2 INT's it was pretty much the only missing ingredient this game. Peyton can't score if he's on the sideline. Additionally, perhaps one or both of those int's doesn't happen if we can run the ball Sunday. Ultimately, yaneverknow. But I think Green and Dayne both being down was the big killer. We can be proud of that effort. Minus three legitimate weapons (four, really) the Texans came within a properly executed (and fortunate enough) "hail Mary" of beating the champions *again*.
Kind of a strange game. I didn't feel like it was as close as the score indicated, however, I DO feel like if Dayne would have played, we would have won. Just like last year. It's all about establishing the run and keeping P-boy off the field. You can't do that with your 3rd and 4th string RBs. We will be fine if we can get healthy. Problem is... CAN we get healthy? I'd hate to see this season blown because of injuries.
This is a tough division, The Texans and Titans are up and comming, the Jags are pretty good, and the Colts are the World champions. There are going to be some hard fought division games. DD
Good game by the Texans. To be able to hang with those injuries shows how far they have come. Plus, the D looked like they were hitting hard, which I liked to see. Ryans is a machine I think they can come away from that game confident that they can beat the Colts next time.
WTF were the Texans doing in the 4th quarter with 8 minutes left down 2 scores? they were just taking their sweet time on the drive almost as if THEY had the lead. that was the most frustrating part of the that game. i kept screaming at the tv, "Hurry the **** up!"
Yeah, seriously. That would have been really impressive had it been a tie game. Looks like they need to implement a hurry-up offense.
I think part of this was the injuries. If you have your normal starters out there, you run the hurry up. But with a bunch of receivers and running backs who haven't played much at all, the last thing you want is a critical mistake. I doubt many of those guys out there had all that much experience in hurry-up mode, and I would guess the idea was to just get the drive right and worry about the 2nd score later. And if they could have gotten one stop, they would have had a chance with 2 minutes left - that's all you can really ask.
