I have no idea...I suspect the Steelers are really, really good. Having said that, it's not the Texans offense that scares me most...it's their defense. I think they have the potential to make mediocre look good, and good look great. But I think the Ravens likely have a pretty good defense, too....so I'm not sure what to think of how we'll do on the offensive end of the ball. I heard a comment on the radio I agree with entirely....either we know exactly what the Texans are based on the cowboys preseason game and this game against the Steelers...or we have absolutely no idea what the Texans are. I'm hopeful it's the latter.
I agree but the only thing about it is that we're not catching much of a break (if any) against the Ravens D. They completely dominated the Bengals, holding them to 154 yards (TOTAL!) and holding Palmer to 99 yards passing is pretty sick. We do have a chance at rattling Flacco and their offense but with McGahee, Rice, and McClain, they have a very nice RB committee going for them.
You have to wonder where this franchise might be today had this guy not entered the picture.. (and no, I don't mean Bob)
LOL. "Either they absolutely suck, or we have no idea whether or not they suck." I also hope it's the latter!
The Falcons had over 300 yards rushing. I'm guessing Ryan had little to do with their victory. He had a nice game, but has done nothing to prove that he was deserved of being the 3rd overall pick. That and HOW THE F*** DID THEY PASS ON RYAN? He was the 3rd pick. The Texans were in the mid 20's. This is about as r****ded as the poster that was pissed they apparently also passed on Adrian Peterson, even though they selected well after he was gone.
Maybe, but the Bengals have been in a downward slide for years -- there are a lot of extremely ominous signs around that organization, like the Blazers a few years ago. Couple that with the game being played in Baltimore, which really helps an older, veteran defense -- and I'm not ready to say they're dominant defensively. Good, definitely, but not what they showed Sunday I don't think.
The Texans really need a win before they go play Jags, Titans and Colts Texans 24 Ravens 17 wow, I guess it's hard to detect sarcasm online.
When there's no indication of it...yeah, you're right. There was a poster in another thread saying the Texans were wrong for passing on AP when they never had a shot at him. This looked exactly the same and equally as dumb.
the steelers offense was great last year with nary a texan on the schedule. roethlisberger was arguably (and statistically) the 2nd best QB in football and parker was the nfl's 4th leading rusher. and just for good measure: their defense ranked 1st overall. the steelers are among the nfl's very few elite teams... ... as are the cowboys. look, pittsburgh and dallas have their sights set on the super bowl; we're hoping to finish with a winning record and maybe - if everything breaks just right - a playoff appearence. we’re worlds apart. if anyone thought we were on either of their levels... they were deluding themselves. if they have a similar performance against the ravens, then yeah - it may be time to panic. but if they win, they’re 1-1 and they then get jacksonville (likely missing 3/5 of its starting OL), tennessee (likely reeling from the suicide of their infallible QB/leader) and a colt team already dealing with some massive injury concerns. if they’re 3-2, 2-3 after that…
Frankly, the preseason and the first game give us no encouragement that this is the Texan's year. They got seriously pushed around in Pittsburg, and I fear the same thing will happen this week. No fire plus marginal talent is a bad combination. If this team were at least "scrappy," that would be something. "Crappy" is what comes to mind.
Ric - it's one thing to lose to those teams if you think you're a team capable of a winning record and maybe even a playoff appearance. it's quite another to have it handed to you all day long and be completely unable to stop the other team....to look as pitiful as we looked. i'm not saying it's NECESSARILY a trend. i'm not saying it's end-all, be-all. but i don't think you can make the flip side of the argument with that certainty either.
but to me, that's consistent with how far apart the two teams are: they're great and we're average. plus, they had 2-3 weeks to prepare for us and hosted the game in front of one of the nfl's greatest home field crowds. we walked into an ambush. replay that game 10 times, and i bet we lose 8 or 9 decisively. but i'm not so sure they drum us like that in week 7. but you kind of are because you're worried about a possible trend without qualifying the quality of the opponent. again, if baltimore pounds us, too - we might have a problem. if we had opened with baltimore and suffered the same loss - we might have a problem. but getting too worked up over a loss to one of the 3 or 4 - if not, 1 or 2 best teams in the league, on the road in week 1, is a little premature, imo. we'll have a MUCH better idea this time next week where they stand.
but i'm also kind of not because i'm saying i'm not. i recognize one game is one game...but recognize it COULD be a trend. i was concerned about this team before the season started. i told refman on the phone friday night they'd get pounded by the Steelers..actually, i think i used the word, "hammered." i told him i thought they'd win about 6 games this season and everyone would be disappointed....but that i hated posting that here because i didn't wanna be, "that guy." looks like i'm that guy. but i really really really hope to be wrong...and i really really really hope you're right...because that would be lots of fun.
Pittsburgh 34 Cleveland 7 First game last year for Pittsburgh. Both teams ended up 10-6. (whine: of course steelers lost multiple offensive and defensive linemen + the nfl rushing leader at the time, but somehow jacksonville beating us in the playoffs was a big accomplishment, even though the nfl came out and said the winning play was a hold on their linemen.)
