SB Nation - Duane Brown

Ephraim Salaam A Texan Once Again

Tim — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 03:57:58 -0000

The circle is complete. Ephraim Salaam, once the starting left tackle for your Houston Texans, is a Texan again, thanks to the questionable health of the youngster who replaced him. It's a tale as old as time: The student becomes the teacher, yet the student suffers a knee injury, thus allowing the original teacher to sign with his former employer, even though the original teacher was deemed bad enough at his job that the Lions cut him a couple weeks ago.

If Duane Brown can't go Sunday, Rashad Butler should get the start at left tackle while Salaam remembers the good old days.

Texans vs Dolphins coverage

The Thief Of The 2009 Season: The Running Game

Jake — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:24:42 -0000

More photos » by David J. Phillip - AP

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The 2009 season for the Houston Texans has been wildly inconsistent and disappointing. For the third straight year, they find themselves looking at a 6-7 record and possibly a third consecutive .500 season. Although the numbers in the W and L columns are the same, the way they got there is different.

Back in the offseason, many Texans fans speculated that even a slightly improved defense, combined with the impressive offense, would catapult this team directly into the playoffs. Since the record is the same, the casual observer would assume that the defense failed to make this minor improvement, but they'd be wrong. Frank Bush's defensive squad is currently ranked 13th in total defense thus far after finishing 22nd last year.

So what gives? Matt Schaub is having a career year and doing his best to shake to "injury prone" description commonly associated with him. Andre Johnson is again leading the league in receiving yards and has equaled his touchdown total from last year. There's only one possibility left--the run game.

Last year Steve Slaton was seriously considered for the title of Offensive Rookie of the Year. 1,659 all-purpose yards made General Manager Rick Smith look like a genius for drafting Slaton in the third round despite widespread belief that he was too small to be an every-down back. This week Slaton was placed on the injured reserve with 437 rushing yards and 3.3 yards per attempt, a full yard and a half down from his average of 2008.

Slaton's sophomore slump was mostly mental prior to his season-ending neck injury. Slaton didn't show the conviction to hit holes when they appeared and also lost 7 fumbles in just 11 games. To put it all on Slaton would be unfair though. As of last week, Slaton had 40 more receiving yards than last year, averaging 15 more yards through the air per game than he did last season. The increased involvement of Slaton in the passing game was an attempt to get Slaton out in space, a strategy made necessary because of a lack of holes to run through.

Alex Gibbs is widely considered one of the best positional coaches in all of the NFL. Wherever he has coached offensive lines throughout his career, the rushing attacks have been good to dominant, including the Texans last year. The entire Texans offensive line starting all 16 games last year was a phenomenon that was new to even him, however, and that continuity allowed those players to gel and produce fantastic results down the stretch.

The line has not been so lucky with injuries this year. Left guard Chester Pitts was placed on the injured reserve after Week 2, and right guard Mike Brisiel followed after Week 5. The team wasn't exactly dominating the line of scrimmage in those initial games of the season, but two of the four 100 yard rushing games came during that period. By way of comparison, the Texans rushed for 100 yards in all but five games in 2008.

Chester Pitts will be an unrestricted free agent following this year. As long as it is determined that he is healthy, he needs to be re-signed at all costs. His and Brisiel's absence has highlighted how substandard Chris Myers is at the center position. Myers continually loses at the point of attack while run blocking. If you want to see for yourself, watch him block throughout the Seattle game to see opposing defensive tackles push him aside. Then watch rookie Antoine Caldwell in the one play after Myers is hurt push his man five yards down the field.

That brings me to my next point. Why isn't Caldwell getting a shot at center? Myers not only loses regularly while run blocking, but he continues to have issues with larger defensive tackles while in pass protection. Myers is a great story, going from a practice squad to starting every game last year, but without good to great guards to help him, he is simply too small to be effective.

Another factor that has adversely affected the Texans in general this year, especially in the run game, is a lack of depth. Once Slaton started his mental problems, Gary Kubiak had Chris Brown, Arian Foster and Ryan Moats to rely on, which is woefully inadequate. Furthermore, Kasey Studdard and Chris White might not be terrible guards but when both are thrust into the lineup at the same time next to an inferior center, bad things will happen. All the same, an acquisition of a more quality interior lineman for next year couldn't hurt.

One last aspect that cannot be overlooked is the absence of Owen Daniels. Obviously Matt Schaub misses him as a target, but a tight end that can run routes and catch as well as run block is an enormous benefit for the run game. Daniels has deceiving blocking ability but his prolific talent as a receiver keeps a linebacker or a safety from attacking the line of scrimmage automatically. Both offensive tackles Duane Brown and Eric Winston have played well this year, but if OD clears out a linebacker, that frees one of them to get to the next level in order to block downfield.

Keep in mind how inconsistent this team has been this year. The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde halves, the fourth quarter collapses...they can all be partially attributed to the lack of running success. The Texans have been successful converting 3rd or 4th and 2 yards or less 64% of the time running to the right, and a terrible 44% running up the middle. No matter how successful you are with the pass, if you continually live by the sword, you will eventually die by the sword. Take for example Matt Schaub's 13 interceptions. That sounds a little high until you take into account that equals one INT for every 36.4 attempts. That's still a little high, but when opposing defenses know that you have to pass to move the ball whether you have a lead or not, it stacks the deck against you.

Gary Kubiak has come under intense scrutiny because of game situations that have cost the Texans several games near the end. This season, Kubiak finally got a better defense, only to lose his running game. Last year's average of 115 yards per game would be the fourth best rushing output for this year's team. I'm trying to avoid the apologist angle, but if the running game was even close to last year's, I don't think that we would be discussing the jeopardy of Kubiak's future in Houston. Even yesterday's offensive outpouring included only 85 yards on the ground. In my opinion, Bob McNair should worry more about the replacement of a few offensive linemen and running backs, rather than a head coach.

Playing The Expectations Game

bigfatdrunk — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:04:24 -0000

Over the years, I've had the pleasure of working for some of the most grossly inept and incompetent managers in known history. A couple of them would make the Pointy Haired Boss absolutely brilliant by comparison. Recent games have reminded me of a conversation I had with one of those rocket scienticians.

At the time, I was managing asset portfolios for wealthy investors. My portfolios were absolutely skyrocketing, but my boss' were doing horribly. Worst of all, he had most of the assets under his control, and he refused to change his strategy, relinquish control, or just do anything different. As a result, we were bleeding clients and money.

I had the audacity to lay out a concrete plan for him to follow in order to keep clients, but he erupted into one of his typical histrionic displays. I gave notice about an hour later.

When he tried to convince me to stay, he claimed he had done a poor job setting my expectations about his portfolios' performance. His argument was asinine. It wasn't *his* fault the portfolios were doing so poorly; it was the market's fault, and I had to stay and convince clients of this "fact." I was stunned by the lack of logic and the earnestness in which he avoided culpability. Needless to say, I left, and the company is out of business today.

By now you are probably asking yourself: What is your point? Great question! I'm so glad you asked.

I believe we, and by "we" I mean we as fans and the team, have failed the expectations game. Allow me to explain what I mean.

After back-to-back years of 8-8 ball, it's fair to have greater expectations and believe we'll be better year-in/year-out as fans. The reality is this isn't so easy to accomplish. Every fan base has this expectation (except for the Lions, of course) that their team is good enough to compete. So we get excited and hopeful. Gary Kubiak should also have these expectations, especially from a younger team.

Where we have failed is recognizing that our talent is still simply not there. Talent acquisition is, sadly, a prolonged process. The team Kubiak and Rick Smith inherited was almost completely devoid of NFL-quality talent. Not only do I believe we need time to build and diversify our talent base, I'm not convinced we are adequately addressing our weaknesses.

Now, this isn't to say we aren't trying, but it is clear we have serious holes throughout our starting 22 and depth problems everywhere except for TE and WLB (which needs a real quality starter).

Here's an example: Our offensive line has become a true weakness thanks in part to injuries, but also due to the lack of talent here. Duane Brown and Eric Winston have been decent but beatable. Our G and C play has been absolutely atrocious this year, even before injuries took down Chester Pitts and Mike Brisiel.

In other words, if we aren't winning the most basic, in-the-trenches battles, how can we possibly expect to win games?

Then, of course, are our expectations of FAIL. The team, at least. I had hoped the Miami game last year moved us beyond this. Or even the first BE-SF game this year. Especially in the second game against the Colts, you could see our body language change in the fourth quarter. We played down to our expectations, and it was depressing. If the Colts were in this position, there's no way they'd be hanging their heads in the same situation.

Obviously, part of the problem is Kubiak. I don't believe the team is under-prepared as much as poorly managed, both from a personnel and in-game perspective. But the lack of quality personnel is still the primary issue. However, Kubiak has got to do a better job in getting this team to play a full 60 minute game. The closest we've come to this was against the Bengals and somewhat versus the Bills. This is not acceptable.

Do I believe we need to fire Kubiak? I don't know. The offense especially is built around Kubiak's offensive style. The simple fact he believes Chris Brown is a legitimate goal-line back is an indictment of his ability to build a roster. Kubiak needs a more firm hand, and a better grip, of building his roster to meet his needs. At the same time, he has improved his in-game skills from last year (did somebody finally buy him Madden?).

Here's what I would like to see from a purely coaching standpoint:

Replace Bill Kollar (defensive line coach), Frank Bush, or both. I'm not sure who thought either of these guys would be a solution, but they clearly are not. When a Bills fan is taunting you about Kollar, you damn well know something is wrong.
Joe Marciano, special teams coach, should clearly go away. Not only do we make copious amounts of penalties, but he's managed to turn Andre Davis into a tip-toer on returns.
And we give Kubiak one. More. Year. That's it. No mas.

Again, I simply do not think we have the talent, on a personnel basis, to compete today. When you throw in the tremendous number of injuries to key elements of the team (Chester Pitts, Mike Brisiel, Owen Daniels, Antwaun Molden, Steve Slaton, Glover Quin, Eugene Wilson), we are going to be in trouble. Injuries are exacerbated by our obvious lack of depth, a problem that cannot be fixed in just one, two, or even three years. This is about expectations, and thoughts that we were a 12-4 team were optimistic and obviously misplaced. With a few breaks, was this possible? Chris Brown says "yes." We are, however probably better than 5-7 as well.

At this point, I don't see firing Kubiak as the answer. We need to let our current crop of rookies age just one more year, and another year of drafting will be helpful. This team was a massive sack of shit when Smithiak took over, and we have seen improvement. We all hoped the consolidation phase was over, but it was not. I think they deserve one more year to prove themselves incapable.

Titans vs. Texans: Five Questions with Battle Red Blog

Jimmy — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:19:59 -0000

Sorry for the delay getting this posted. Here are my 5 questions to Jake from Battle Red Blog and his answers:

Chris Johnson had a huge day in the first game. Why are the Texans better equipped to stop him this time than they were in week 2?

Having better safety play is a huge improvement. Free agent signee Bernard Pollard has played incredibly well since starting in week 4. Also, rookie corner back Glover Quin is physical and plays the run effectively. I don't think that the Texans will "shut down" Chris Johnson, but if they can keep him from singlehandedly beating us the way he did in week 2, I think it gives us a much better shot. The last part of shutting down Chris Johnson is jumping out to some sort of lead. If the offense can put up some points early, that will force Vince Young to beat us through the air rather than just pound the ball.

What in the world is going on with Steve Slaton? Any shot he returns to his 2008 form down the stretch?

I hope that Slaton return to 2008 form for the rest of the season. So far it has been a combination of sub-par run blocking and Slaton's mental state. He dances a lot more than he did in his rookie season instead of hitting the hole, and the fumble thing led to him being benched against the Bills. Hopefully the bye week allowed Kubiak and the rest of the coaching staff to work through the mental issues he's been having so far.

Honestly, where do you think Matt Schaub ranks among NFL quarterbacks? Is he good enough to be in the conversation with Peyton, Brady and Brees?

I think that Matt Schaub is a good NFL quarterback, but a great quarterback in Kubiak's system. He doesn't belong in the conversation with the Manning's and Brees's of the world, but he can put up numbers similar to them in this system. He reminds me of Rich Gannon with the Raiders earlier this decade, not necessarily the way they play but the way that a system can fit them perfectly to produce results.

With all of the offensive line problems that the Texans have had, does it frustrate you that they have never stepped up and drafted an offensive lineman in the first round?

We actually did draft Duane Brown at the end of the first round last year. He showed up to camp in 2008 a little out of shape which led to his part time responsibilities as well as his average play. This year though, Brown might be the most improved player on the offensive side of the ball. The Texans have allowed less sacks than all but 6 other teams in the league this year (15), and a great deal of that can be attributed to Brown.

Write the headline in Tuesday morning's Tennessean.

In week two I told August West that it was going to be something alluding to a close game. I know it's kind of a fence sitting answer, but this week it will be about the same.

A big thanks to Jake for doing this. As always head over there to see his questions to me with my answers. Also, be sure and listen to MCM Radio Sunday night at 9 central. We will have Jake on to preview the game.

Take The Half-Season Poll: Most Outstanding Offensive Player For Your Houston Texans?

Tim — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:33:50 -0000

Let's turn our attention to the other side of the ball. Through nine games, who has been the most outstanding offensive player for your Houston Texans? Once again, note that I said "most outstanding" as opposed to "most valuable." In other words, who's been the absolute best on that side of the ball so far? The "Brian Cushing of the Offense," if you will? Vote in the poll below and let us know why you voted the way you did in the Comments.

Poll

Who Has Been the Most Outstanding Player on the Texans' Offense Through Nine Games?

Matt Schaub

386 votes

Andre Johnson

121 votes

Owen Daniels

119 votes

Duane Brown

2 votes

Eric Winston

0 votes

Apostrophe Davis

0 votes

Jacoby Jones

8 votes

Steve Slaton

5 votes

Ryan Moats

9 votes

David Anderson (feel free to factor in the hilarity that is his presence on 1560 The Game)

2 votes

652 votes | Poll has closed

Post-Game Breakdown: Texans Drop Heartbreaker To Colts In Indianapolis

Tim — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:00:38 -0000

Almost a full day later, it still hurts. If you're a believer in moral victories, yesterday's loss in Indianapolis probably counts as a moral victory. If you're like me, moral victories do very little for you eight (8) years in. Still, there's a lot to like from what we saw yesterday against the Colts, and your Houston Texans nearly beat an undefeated team (perhaps the best team in the NFL right now) at their house. Unfortunately, they don't keep track of "near-wins," and we have two full weeks to digest what we saw before the Texans get a chance to take the field again. Let's get to the specifics from the fourth loss of the season:

1. Kris Brown--you are forgiven. He has hit far too many big kicks in his career as a Texan, including but not limited to that monstrous 56-yarder he put through the uprights immediately before the half to seize momentum from the Colts (although it must be noted that said boot was the fortuitious consequence of the Colts calling timeout and erasing his first try), not to receive the benefit of the doubt. It is fair, however, to note that Brown has missed the same number of FGs thus far in 2009 that he missed in all of 2008, in 19 fewer attempts. Worth keeping an eye on.

2. How is it that seemingly every Texans fan, going into the game, knew it was folly to try to cover Dallas Clark with a linebacker, yet Frank Bush assigned Brian Cushing to the task virtually the entire game? Linebackers simply cannot cover Clark, just like linebackers could not cover Owen Daniels. By putting Cushing on Clark, the Texans were essentially conceding the matchup, and Peyton Manning blistered 'em all day. Why not put a DB on Clark?

3. The Texans cannot play zone. It's the equivalent of death by a thousand cuts. Please, please, please do not subject us to any more zone looks, Mr. Bush. It's horrific to watch and astoundingly ineffective.

4. I do not come only to bury Frank Bush, friends. The horrors of the first half (first quarter in particular, when Peyton threw 25 (!) times for about 180 yards) were profound, yes, but Bush showed once again that he can make adjustments at halftime. Say what you will about the Houston offense controlling the ball in the second half, but that was a different Texans defense we saw after the intermission. The offense kept the defense fresh and off the field with sustained drives, but the defense was darn good in the second half.

5. In years past, your Houston Texans would have trailed the Colts 21-0 at halftime. This time, it was 13-3, because the defense bowed up and held the Colts to field goals. That is tangible and anecdotal progress.

6. Total Rushing Yards for Indianapolis: 72. Granted, they only ran it 18 times, primarily because they had so much success through the air. Still...72 yards is 72 yards.

7. I think Kerns e-mailed a copy of his Friday post to Bernard Pollard, because Pollard looked like a man angling for a new deal yesterday. Two interceptions from a SS who's not really the ballhawking type. Yes, one of them was on an awful throw from Reggie Wayne, and the other may well have been the result of a Colt running the wrong route. Regardless, both were HUGE plays and occurred on Houston's side of the field. Qualify them however you like, as long as you throw "HUGE" in there as well.

8. Glover Quin played exceptionally well. I've been one of those fans scratching my head over his elevation to the starting lineup over Jacques Reeves. No more. He's legit. ~~As legit as Fred Bennett was his rookie year!~~. Sorry about that.

9. Chicken/Egg here...although Reggie Wayne had 8 catches, he wasn't much of a factor. Was that relative ineffectiveness due to the Dallas Clark-Brian Cushing mismatch, or did Dunta Robinson have more to do with it than we'd like to admit? Personally, I'm of the mind that it's more the former, but Dunta can't win at this point. If Wayne would've had a big game, we'd all be ripping D-Rob for that.

10. Connor Barwin's contributions to the Texans yesterday came in the form of two gigantic penalties. Yet another reason why Tim Bulman is highly underrated.

11. I waited until the bye week was upon us to do this. I can't wait any longer. Here goes: Jacoby Jones is having a tremendous season. He's been an asset on special teams, in the passing game, and occasionally, in the running game. For someone I thought was sure to be cut in September, I might have been more wrong about him than I was about Cushing.

12. The preceding paragraph has guaranteed that Jacoby will fumble twice on Monday Night Football for all the world to see. My apologies--I simply couldn't continue not praising the guy for having a fine season.

13. While Joel Dreessen didn't put up Owen Daniels numbers, he did have a big third down catch. He's not OD. He doesn't have to be in an offense that features Andre Johnson and Kevin Walter starting at WR. That said, we saw how much Schaub misses OD yesterday. Peyton has Dallas Clark; Schaub had OD. Without OD, Schaub is more prone than ever to lock in on 'Dre and force passes his way (e.g., the pick into triple coverage). I hope that Schaub uses the bye week to reestablish the rapport he had last season with K-Dub. As amazing as 'Dre is, he cannot be expected to wrestle the football away from three defenders every game.

14. K-Dub's catch inside the IND 5 was one of the best I've seen this season. Nice to see him become a significant part of the offense again. I repeat: We're gonna need it more than ever with OD gone.

15. When Dwight Freeney beat Duane Brown yesterday, it looked really, really bad. What we don't see in nearly as dramatic fashion, however, is the multiple times Brown kept Freeney in check. Freeney's one of the best ends in the league, so Brown's going to get beat a time or three. Yet Schaub was clean most of the day, and that's a testament to the entire OL.

16. Schaub's second INT, though? All Chris Myers.

17. Matt Schaub finished with two (2) less completions and seven (7) less attempts than Peyton Manning en route to another 300+ yard passing day. Most importantly, he operated a two-minute offense, starting from his own 15 yard line, with no timeouts, and got the Texans into field goal range. That's about as good as it gets.

18. I hope Ryan Moats enjoyed that starting gig, because I don't think it's going to be his when the Titans visit on November 23rd. That's not to say he played poorly; he didn't. But when a guy gets the gig on the strength of not fumbling the football, then proceeds to fumble the football, all while the deposed starter does not fumble the football, I'm guessing Steve Slaton goes back to the first string.

19. Much was made in the Comments during and after the game about the Texans failing to snap the ball from the IND 1 after Moats appeared to fumble; as you'll recall, Houston let the clock run to the two-minute warning, which gave the Colts extra time to consider challenging the play. Which they did, successfully.

I don't blame Schaub for failing to snap the ball. I blame Kubes. More to the point, I blame whoever he's got in the booth. Kubes may not have been able to see it from the opposite sideline, but there's no excuse for his staff in the booth not to see what was going on. In the past, we've all given Kubes a lot of flack for his horrific and ill-timed challenges. Inevitably, this has led us to question exactly who he has watching over this stuff in the booth. I still don't know who it is. All I know is that the person or persons seem to be doing a very poor job. Even worse, Kubes doesn't seem to think it's a problem worth addressing.

20. Fake Game Balls: Offense--Matt Schaub (chiefly because of that final drive; Andre Johnson deserves it too); Defense--Bernard Pollard; Special Teams--Matt Turk (Jacoby actually did very little on punt returns, and I can't give it to the dude who missed the game-winner).

Now we get to work ourselves into a frenzy for two weeks until Bud Adams' Army of Darkness and Monday Night Football return to Reliant Stadium. It's gonna be a looooooooooong fortnight.

Texans vs Colts coverage
Texans vs Colts recap
Titans vs Texans coverage

Texans Lose To The Colts--What Else Is New?

Jake — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:36:05 -0000

More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

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The Indianapolis Colts pushed their series record against the Houston Texans to 14-1 on Sunday. As that record indicates, the Colts have regularly dismembered the eight year old franchise en route to multiple AFC South championships. Even though the result was the same, this didn't feel like the normal Colts vs. Texans matchup. This may still be a little raw for many Texans fans who saw Kris Brown's 42 yard field goal sail just wide left, but here is what I saw of note from Sunday.

I was worried that we would lose this game, but if you told me Saturday that the defense would outplay Gary Kubiak's offense, "disbelief" is an understatement of what I would have felt. To say that a game in which the opposing quarterback threw 50 times for 38 completions and 318 yards is successful is bold, especially since the tight end set a franchise record for 14 catches and 119 yards, but I believe that was the case. In a pre-game post, I wrote that the defense would have to adopt a "bend don't break" philosophy against the Colts, and that's exactly what they did. It was FAR from a perfect effort, but they gave the offense a few chances to win that game.

Antonio Smith - I feel that everyone maligning Smith as an overpaid free agent are watching different Texans games than I am. Smith added one sack to his tally, but his regular pressure forced many early throws from Peyton Manning and set up Mario Williams for a sack of his own. He seems to be getting better as the season progresses.

Connor Barwin - I've been huge on this guy since he was drafted, and I still feel that he will be a valuable contributor once he learns more than a speed rush, but those two penalties were unacceptable. Barwin is a smart guy, so for him to put the team in those situations, especially the infraction that gave the Colts field position at around the 50 in the fourth quarter, is frustrating.

Brian Cushing - For the first time since the beginning of the season, Cushing looked like a rookie. Frank Bush kept Cushing on the field for all downs, despite Dallas Clark shattering his career record for receptions in a single game. It seemed that Bush was willing to concede the soft underneath throws to ensure the defense continued to stymie the run by selling out against it. The Texans played the run well again, holding Joseph Addai to only 63 rushing yards, although he did get a touchdown and 49 receiving yards that were part of the previously mentioned underneath routes.

DeMeco Ryans - I guess Rick Smith will not negotiate with Ryans for a new contract until after the season, even though Ryans increases his value every game.

Bernard Pollard - By far the best game he's played in a Texans uniform, and he was the most valuable player on defense. The dig on Pollard coming out of Kansas City was that he was a liability in coverage, but he helped disspell that notion with two interceptions, three pass deflections and nine tackles. Granted, one of the interceptions came off a terrible playcall involving a lame duck pass from Reggie Wayne. All the same, how silly do the Chiefs look for cutting this guy?

Glover Quin - Quin is playing extremely well, especially for a rookie. He is physical, which can get him into trouble sometimes, but I love the reckless abandon he plays with. Several of his 4 pass breakups were on pivotal plays which allowed the Texans defense to get off the field. Call me crazy, but I think that he's the best cornerback we have on the roster right now, followed by Jacques Reeves and then Dunta Robinson. Whether you agree with my order or not, I think it's hard to argue that Dunta deserves to make $10 million dollars this season.

Matt Schaub - Schaub seems to be developing a tendency to start games slowly. Not many people would have thought he was in for a 75% completion, 311 yard day after the first quarter. The second interception was caused by a hit, but the first was because Matt locked onto his receiver and then threw into triple coverage. The Texans have now been outscored 47 to 31 in the first quarter, which is partially because of Schaub's performance.

Andre Johnson - 10 catches for 103 yards on paper won't blow anyone's skirt up, but those catches were amazingly clutch. Johnson gets better when more is on the line. 4 of his 6 receptions in the second half were on third down and all of those produced first downs. Also, it speaks volumes that Schaub and Kubiak had the confidence in Johnson to throw to him on fourth and 1.

Jacoby Jones - Don't look now, but someone is becoming a wide receiver. I probably just jinxed him.

Duane Brown - Brown is much better than his rookie season, but Dwight Freeney showed him and us that he still has progress to be made.

Ryan Moats/Steve Slaton - Many of the offense's inabilities to sustain drives were due to lack of production in the running game. This wasn't completely Moats or Slaton's fault, although seeing both on the field in the same game made Moats appear as more of the one-cut back at this point. Slaton is more explosive in the open field and probably a better receiver, but the fumbles need to stop for more than one game where Slaton's splitting time before his starting role is given back.

Lastly, I have a huge bone to pick with the coaching staff. Without even seeing the replay, I was scared that Moats fumbled the ball before being down/going out of bounds and was screaming for Schaub to snap the ball. Watching him run out the clock until the two minute warning was like watching a scene in a bad horror movie when you know exactly what is coming and are powerless to stop it. I just don't understand how if a majority of fans watching in their living rooms can tell it might be a fumble, no one on the entire Texans coaching staff couldn't determine the same thing and made sure the next play was executed with haste. Although there are employees of the team charged with watching for the booth for challangeable plays, this ultimately falls on Kubiak's shoulders.

Texans Five on Five: Week Nine

Jake — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:44:26 -0000

More photos » by Ed Reinke - AP

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Many people are calling the game on Sunday between the Texans and the Colts the biggest football game for the City of Houston since the Oilers played there. The Texans have their best record in franchise history but are staring down the barrel of an undefeated Colts team. The Texans will have to play close to perfect to come away with what would be the most important win in their history thus far. These are the five matchups I feel will make or break the Texans on Sunday.

1. Amobi Okoye vs. Mike Pollak - Pollak, the Colts' right guard, had issues last week against San Francisco. The 49ers' defensive line was able to get penetration early and often, which did not allow Manning to step up in the pocket. Even though the Niners lost, I think they showed exactly what we need from Amobi Okoye this week--penetration.

2. Dunta Robinson vs. Reggie Wayne - I hate this matchup. I have visions of Wayne running loose all over the place on Sunday. Last time I said that Robinson had to prove he was worth the money he demands, he was burned for 5 receptions for 103 yards and a lengthy pass interference penalty to boot while covering Chad Ochocinco. Dunta will have to limit Wayne as best he can if he wants a leg to stand on next time he writes on his shoes.

3. Duane Brown vs. Dwight Freeney - Last year, Freeney abused Brown for three sacks in two games. That means that roughly 30% of Freeney's sacks in 2008 came at the expense of Brown in his rookie season. Brown has probably been the most improved player on the offense and a big reason that Matt Schaub has performed so well. Brown needs to continue to give Schaub the time he needs despite the history he has with Freeney.

4. Steve Slaton/Ryan Moats vs. Clint Session - The Colts have given up the fewest points in the NFL, but opponents have rushed for an average of 4.5 yards per carry against them. Outside linebacker Clint Session has the second most tackles on the team, but safety Antoine Bethea has the most, and it's never a good sign to have a member of your secondary lead that category. Whoever runs between the combo of Slaton and Moats needs to run well in order to open up the passing game.

5. Frank Bush vs. Peyton Manning - Everyone knows this is the guy you need to at least slow down in order to have a chance. If you blitz him too much, he'll gouge you with huge plays. If you don't apply any pressure, he'll nickel and dime you all the way down the field. Bush will have to come up with the right mixture to try to limit #18 as much as possible. Even though 347 yards passing doesn't sound like a bad day, San Francisco was able to frustrate Peyton for zero touchdowns. Three words will have to sum up the Texans defensive philosophy on Sunday--"Bend, Don't Break."

Texans vs Colts coverage

Your 2009 Houston Texans - Week 7 Version

bigfatdrunk — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:27:56 -0000

We can't just make anything easy, can we? We have to make it difficult and complicated (insert a personal relationship joke here).

I'm not sure what happened during halftime, but we saw two different teams emerge at the break. As many, led by Rivers, mentioned: our zone coverage in the second half was abysmal. We were ripped apart by Alex Smith. Alex Smith. He of the 65.2 career QB rating (which I'm pretty sure he doubled with this game).

I'm gonna let that sink in for a moment.

....

Alex Smith.

OK, let's get to my ramblings.

1. Alex Smith/49ers Offense: So much for their vaunted rushing game. Our run defense completely nutted up, and we even registered a pair of rare sacks (Mario Williams and Jeff Zgonina). They couldn't move the ball at all in the first half, even with Frank "Winged God" Gore.

Then, here comes Alex Smith and the spread offense. Look, I'll admit I have no idea what scheme we were using in the second half. I just couldn't tell. We were in a zone coverage scheme. We were mostly rushing four, though mixing it up a little. Oh, and we were sucking ass.

Why did Frenchy Reeves struggle in Dallas? Because Dallas used an under zone scheme. It doesn't fit his style. And he struggled today in roughly the same scheme. Smith used our LBs and safeties at will. They adjusted at half, a pretty radical adjustment, and we just laid back and took it.

To me, this is yet another example of simply not understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the talent on the roster. And if you don't think the Colts are salivating at the thought of exploiting these gaping weaknesses, you're drunker than I am.

2. Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Missing Pass Rush: See, here's the other thing about zone coverage: if you can't get pressure on the QB, even Alex Smith is going to pick you apart.

Alex. Smith.

We showed the occasional blitz, but on the whole, we rushed four. This pass rush consistently fell flat in the second half, and they weren't even double-teaming Mario on every play. When we blitzed a linebacker, it was an event in futility. We aren't creating sacks or hurries like we need to, and we do need to in order to cover our secondary/secondary coverage schemes.

During last week's game, which is so fresh in my head from just having watched it, Randy Cross talked fervently about the genius that is Bill Kollar. If he's a genius, I'm skinny and sober, and all you people want to watch me dance naked in the streets.

3. Steve Slaton just fumbled this post: I haven't been worried about the run game for a number of reasons. But I am now officially worried about Steve Slaton. We need to send him to the Tiki Barber School of Not Fumbling stat. He is our legit home run hitter out of the backfield, and we need him on the field.

4. The offensive JUGGERNAUT: Slaton's fumblitis aside, this team is one serious offensive force. Subtract the fumble and Duane Brown's stupid penalty, and we have a much more effective second half offense.

5. Jacoby Jones pwnz you: Even with the punt return touchdown negated by a penalty, he did a fantastic job fielding punts today, a job in which Arnaz Battle couldn't compete.

6. Owen Daniels pwnz you: I'm talking to you, Rick Smith. With every game, he's costing you more money.

7. The oddest thing about a bar that caters to lesbians? They aren't like the ones in the magazines or on my internet.

8. Michael ~~Westbrook~~ ~~Jackson~~ Crabtree: Methinks he's gonna be a pretty good pro.

9. The offensive line: It's not that Chris White and Antoine Caldwell have played poorly. It seems as if the entire line is struggling. Buffalo has 14 sacks. Seattle has 16. These games are becoming worrisome.

10. Rams, 2005: Anybody else have a flashback?

That's all I've got for today. We escaped with a game we should've won. And we did. That's nice. We're also 4-3, and as tGC mentioned, we're all alone in second in the division. AND, we're in pretty good shape for taking a Wild Card spot.

But we need to start showing up for all four quarters. Until we do so, we are pretenders. It's up to Gary Kubiak, Baby Shan, and Frank Bush to get us to this next level. Right now, today, this is the best Texans team in history. It's time to close the deal.

Texans vs. Bengals - Game Recap

Jake — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:22:29 -0000

More photos » by Ed Reinke - AP

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Hard to be a Texans fan and not be pleased with the game yesterday. Despite some lingering issues here and there, the Texans beat the Bengals in every facet of the game. I still think that the Bengals are a good team, so the fact that the boys in Liberty White were able to go into Cincinnati and get a win is impressive. Here's what I saw for the good, the bad or the significant in the third win of the season for the Texans.

Gary Kubiak/Kyle Shanahan - I wanted to start with Kubes and Baby Shan because I was critical of them in the last week. The offensive play calling was amazingly better this game. The fact that the Texans again lost the ability to run the ball after showing proficiency in the first half is disconcerting, but the offensive play calling created ways to adjust for the problems in the running game. The swing passes and screens worked extremely well especially given how aggressive the Bengals' front seven were playing. 87 yards rushing will not get it done, but at least Kubiak and Shanahan showed that they will use the weapons that are still viable if the run is not.

Matt Schaub - Matt played one of the best games I've ever seen him play in a Texans uniform. I got the distinct feeling that his ankle is still really bothering him from watching him limp between plays, which makes his performance that much more notable. If an opposing defense gets him moving laterally out of the pocket the chances of an incompletion are pretty high, but he's proving that if he can step up in the pocket he's going to make the throw whether he gets hit or not. I just wish he would quit throwing that sideline, out route throw that Johnathan Joseph almost intercepted and took to the house the same way that Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie did a week ago.

Steve Slaton - Stevie Wonder looked much better than he has all season, but he is still not up to the level that he was playing at last season. One thing that I saw yesterday that I hadn't since 2008 was his ability to slip out of the first tackle and get extra yards. I would feel much better about his performance if he hadn't fumbled the ball twice. Granted, one of those he was ruled down by contact (Kubiak won a challenge!) but I would rather he not put that decision in the refs' hands and just hold on to the ball.

Andre Johnson - What can you say about this guy? He's as close to automatic as a wide receiver can be in this league. Leading up to the game I read a lot of articles lauding the Bengals for their ability to shut down elite wide receivers this year. After Andre's 8 receptions for 135 yards, I don't think they'll be writing that again next week. I hate myself already for saying this because of how superstitious I am, but as long as he stays healthy for the rest of his career I think we are watching the first future Hall of Fame inductee in Texans history.

Duane Brown - Brown is quietly coming into his own. He did give up a sack yesterday, but otherwise he was very good in protection of Schaub. What makes Brown so good though, is his ability to get out wide and block on screen plays. He made the block that sprung Slaton on his touch down reception and made several other great blocks in space throughout the game. His level of physical shape has made a huge difference this year.

Owen Daniels - Owen is proving that no matter how good Joel Dreessen or James Casey may be, he is irreplaceable. He has great receiving skills that go beyond the soft hands required to make that amazing one-handed grab in the end zone, although those are nice. There was at least one play where OD sensed the zone coverage to his right so he instinctively slid to his left so that Schaub had a chance at a completion. Not many tight ends in the league have his mix of blocking and receiving.

Jacoby Jones - I've never hated and loved one player so much. When he muffed that punt that went out of bounds, I told a buddy who was watching the game with me, "That's good. He's good for one a game, and that one went out of play so we should be good now." That's how conditioned I am to his dropped punts. On the other hand, he did tally his fourth TD of the season. Even though the dropsies are still there on punt returns, this is the most productive season by far of his short career.

Mario Williams - The lack of sacks this year is a problem (only 2), but Mario is playing the run better than he ever has. He seems much more comfortable at left defensive end against right tackles, where he played quite a few snaps yesterday. In my opinion, the Texans need a pass rush specialist to play on the right side so Mario can play on the left.

Connor Barwin - Speaking of hoping for a pass rush specialist, Barwin recorded his first NFL sack yesterday. As big as it was, he simply beat the Bengals RT with an old fashioned speed rush. Barwin shoes flashes either in coverage or on special teams, but he is still green and needs time before he can make a difference on third downs. Still nice to see him get a sack in the city where he played his college ball though.

Amobi Okoye - Yesterday wasn't nearly as good of a day for Okoye as the previous two weeks, but Amobi still let his presence be known in the middle. We tore the defensive line to shreds many a time this season, so we might as well give them credit for holding the NFL's leading rusher to 16 rushes for 44 yards. Okoye has 18 tackles in 6 games now, which is 6 short of what he tallied in 14 games last year.

Glover Quin - The more GQ develops, the more that Dunta is expendable. I by no means think that Quin is a shutdown cover corner, but neither is Robinson. Glover plays with a very similar style to Dunta as well; he may not be an absolute lock in coverage but he supports the run extremely well. He did also break up a pass in the end zone yesterday, although Cedric Benson scored a play later anyway.

Dunta Robinson - Dunta is playing better, but he is still a liability in coverage. He had two instances of pass interference yesterday, one of which was called. Carson Palmer was throwing the ball well where only his receivers could get it, but even so if the Bengals WR's hadn't dropped a couple of those passes Dunta would have been burnt a lot more. He had a couple of huge plays (blowing someone up, great open field tackle on a screen), but I still get nervous when opposing quarterbacks target him.

Bernard Pollard - To dismiss the progress the defense has made in the last three weeks since Pollard was put into the starting lineup would be unfair. He is slow to react in coverage, but he plays the run very effectively and delivers some big hits. As much as you need a complete safety in today's NFL, he's a huge improvement over Dominique Barber and John Busing who weren't playing the run or the pass very well.

DeMeco Ryans - The rookie is getting most of the attention lately, but DeMeco is still playing lights out. He led the squad yesterday in tackles (12) and had a couple of nice pressures on Palmer. What's more impressive about Captain 'Meco is how intelligently he plays the game. As Solis already pointed out, he immediately ran to Cushing after the game-sealing interception and made him go down, thus not risking any turnovers (remember Wilson's interception against Miami last year?). Why hasn't this guy been paid yet?

Brian Cushing - I've never been happier to be wrong in my life, and on the spectrum of being wrong, I was Crying Game wrong. Cushing had 9 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, 2 pass breakups and a coffin nailing interception that was so nice I'm sure it made the Bengals wide receivers embarrased for all of the drops they had. For being six games into his career, this guy is a beast. My ultimate act of contrition is coming soon in the form of a #56 Battle Red jersey.

Frank Bush - As terribly as the defense played in the beginning of the year, it seems as if they're making progress. I definitely don't like that the Texans were up 14-7 with 1:35 to go in the first half and yet found themselves down 17-14 going into the break, but other than that it was a dominant performance defensively. A lot of those holding/tripping calls being called on the Bengals were due to the fact that the Texans defenders were beating them and illegal plays of desperation ensued.

The Texans defense continued a unique phenomenon yesterday; second half dominance. The relinquished 0 points and 78 total yards in the second half to a team that had thus far been known for its late game heroics. After yesterday's outing, the defense is now averaging 7 points allowed in the second half. Not everything is fixed, and I still have nightmares about good passing teams (ahem... Colts), but I was complaining about lack of progress, and the defense is definitely making strides.