SB Nation - Houston Texans

Week 9: Inside the Numbers

mgrex03 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:09:14 -0000

More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

Schaub knows what's coming next. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Two weeks in a row now the Colts have taken a lead down to the wire, coming out victorious. This week, a missed field goal by Kris Brown sent the Colts to 8-0, giving them a commanding 3.5 game lead in the AFC South. The game started out great for the Colts, but slowly started to slip away when Peyton Manning threw an INT late in the first half. The defense then struggled to get the Texans off the field until the 4th quarter, when they stepped up when they were needed.

A few notes from the game:

Manning threw 40 passes in the first half, the highest number of passes in the first half since Rich Gannon threw 41 in 2002 against the Steelers. It was also a career high for Manning in the first half. (Elias)
The Colts have been great in close game as of late. From Ned Macey of Football Outsiders:

The Colts ability to win close games is uncanny, except that it seems to disappear in the playoffs. They've won 15 of their last 16 meaningful regular season games decided by one touchdown or less but are 0-2 in the playoffs in games by one touchdown or less in that same streak. Actually, counting the playoffs, three of their last four losses by less than one touchdown are to San Diego.

It didn't take long for Dwight Freeney to extend his streak of consecutive games with a sack to 9, sacking Matt Schaub on the very first play of the game. That means he had sacks on consecutive plays, as he sacked Alex Smith on the 49ers' last offensive play last week.
Dallas Clark set the franchise record for catches in a game by a TE with 14. This was third highest reception total for a TE in NFL history (~~can't find the record or who owns it~~) Thanks to skywalker, the record is held by Jason Witten and Kellen Winslow, Sr with 15. I'm guessing we won't see Brian Cushing trying to cover him at the end of the month.
Seventeen games and counting...

Overall, it didn't look like one of the Colts' best games this season, but what do the numbers say? Find out after the jump...

Here are the stats for Week 9:

Statistic	Offense	Rank	Defense	Rank	Off/Def Above	Off/Def Below	Record
DSR	78.4%	2	72.7%	16	N	N	4-1
ANPY/A	4.453	18	5.133	11	N	N	6-1
Turnovers	2	14	3	3	N	N	4-1
Yds/Drive	37.80	4	34.73	19	N	N	4-0
ToP/Drive	2:32.7	17	3:08.5	21	N	Y	4-3
Yds/Play	5.324	14	5.380	15	N	N	4-1
First Downs/Drive	2.70	1	2.00	18	N	N	4-1
3rd/4th Down	46.2%	9	64.7%	26	N	N	6-2
Avg Start Pos	31.7	9	24.0	5	Y	N	7-1
3 and Outs	2	5	5	3	Y	N	2-3
RZ Eff	71.4%	13	66.7%	8	N	N	1-2
Plays/Drive	7.100	2	6.455	21	N	N	4-2
Penalty Yds / Play	0.563	13	1.451	3	Y	N	5-2
RB Success	47.1%	15	41.7%	4	Y	N	7-4
Yds/Carry	4.00	15	3.12	4	N	N	1-3
Net Punts Yds/Game	32.67	25	41.50	16	N	Y	4-3
Ranking - Week (26)	6		11		8
Ranking - Season (258)	79		142		97

Some Thoughts:

I was wrong about the Colts shredding the Texans pass defense, as the Colts had their worst ANPY/A showing of the season, finishing 18th this week. I didn't think I'd see a game this year where the Colts' opponent would be better in this category, but it happened this week. This is a good candidate for why the Colts had to fight tooth and nail to win.
The Texans defense came into the game best in the league in First Downs/Drive and Three & Outs/Game, but that didn't matter this week, as the Colts offense had quite a few long, sustaining drives.
The Colts defense was worst in the league this week in Third/Fourth Down Conversions, as the Texans converted almost 65% of them. They flashed a stat at one point that the Texans were converting 3rd and 10+ yards at 20% this year...the Texans converted the next 2 of 10+ yards. Unacceptable.
The Run defense was fantastic once again. Top 5 in both rushing categories. Great job by the D-Line and LBs.
Overall it was a run of the mill, above average game for the Colts, both for the week and for the season.

Colts Season Totals through Week 9:

Statistic	Offense	Rank	Best	Defense	Rank	Best	Record	Win %
DSR	78.4%	1	Colts	67.2%	10	Jets	56-5	0.918
ANPY/A	8.043	2	Saints	3.890	3	Bills	68-5	0.932
Turnovers	1.00	3	Chiefs	1.88	8	Saints	57-13	0.814
Yds/Drive	40.04	1	Colts	28.55	16	Giants	60-7	0.896
ToP/Drive	2:54.5	6	Steelers	2:54.6	25	Saints	57-18	0.760
Yds/Play	6.343	3	Cowboys	4.676	4	Jets	58-11	0.841
First Downs/Drive	2.19	2	Patriots	1.69	22	Cardinals	49-11	0.817
3rd/4th Down	50.5%	2	Dolphins	44.5%	30	Cardinals	48-10	0.828
Avg Start Pos	28.7	21	Bears	26.1	3	Cowboys	63-13	0.829
3 and Outs	2.38	2	Cowboys	3.75	19	Texans	41-15	0.732
RZ Eff	68.5%	12	49ers	60.5%	10	Saints	36-21	0.632
Plays/Drive	6.313	2	Patriots	6.106	29	Giants	45-20	0.692
Penalty Yds / Play	0.655	4	Jaguars	0.846	14	Seahawks	67-45	0.598
RB Success	47.5%	11	Dolphins	47.9%	20	Eagles	47-20	0.701
Yds/Carry	3.73	27	Titans	4.30	17	49ers	27-32	0.458
Net Punts Yds/Game	40.66	11	Raiders	42.21	27	Browns	31-27	0.534
Overall	2		Patriots	14		Saints

A few thoughts here:

The stats in the Top 6 continue to be there, and I don't think that will change soon.
Red Zone Efficiency is lower than it should be. The Colts absolutely cannot settle for FGs going forward. I'm guessing they'll be working on that a lot this week.
The YPC is low, but the Success Rate is high. Getting Brown back healthy should help.
Defensively it is still getting opposing offenses off the field. The stats relating to that (ToP/Drive, First Downs/Drive, 3rd/4th Down Conversions, Plays/Drive) are all bad. I know it is a bend but don't break defense, but a few more stops will go a long way to helping this team keep winning.
ANPY/A still has the best record when you're above average on both sides of the ball, only losing 5 times (Giants losing to SD this week the latest). Still a good sign for the Colts.

Complaining about the Ryan Moats fumble

BigBlueShoe — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:09:35 -0000

More photos » by Tom Strattman - AP

2 days ago: Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats (21) fumbles the football as he is tackled by Indianapolis Colts safety Antoine Bethea (41) during the second quarter of an NFL Football game in Indianapolis, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Tom Strattman)

Browse more photos »

Shutdown Corner, Yahoo! Sports' dedicated NFL blog, has taken some hits from us Colts fans of late because... well, the writing has been pretty bad. I wish I could say different because there are some good people there, but in general it leaves a lot to be desired as a football blog. Chris Chase's silly hit piece on Jim Irsay was one of the worst "professional" blog articles I'd ever read, and Chris took his lumps for it. He was blasted not just on this site, but in the comments section of his own article. Now, we have Doug Farrar, who is pretty much openly saying that the Ryan Moats fumble was incorrectly corrected after a replay review, and that the resulting call affected the "landscape in the AFC South for the rest of the season."

Sorry Doug, but you're being a bit of a drama queen with that statement.

First off, let's be clear on something. Ryan Moats did indeed fumble. The replay clearly shows that. It was incorrectly not called a fumble after the whistle blew. Then, when the Texans let the clock tick to the two minute warning, that gave Colts coach Jim Caldwell enough time to digest the replays and throw a red challenge flag. The challenge was Moats fumbled. The refs reviewed, saw that he had, and then saw that the ball was recovered by Indy in the endzone for a touchback.

What Doug Farrar and Alan Burge of the Houston Texans Examiner, who Farrar quotes in his blog post, are arguing is that the ball may have touched tackler Antoine Bethea's arm while Bethea's leg was dangling out-of-bounds. If Bethea's arm was touching the ball while his leg was touching out-of-bounds, that means the fumble was not established back in-bounds. Thus, Texans ball on the two.

However, when you watch the replays, it most certainly is not conclusive that Bethea's arm is touching the ball while he is established as out-of-bounds. Burge has a still screen apparently showing it, but it looks so grainy I swear I see the second gunman hiding behind a grassy knoll in the background.

What did seem conclusive is Moats' fumble and Jerraud Powers' heads-up play to re-establish his feet in bounds to gain control of the ball. THAT is what the refs were looking at, and that is what they called. Remember, refs are only allotted one minute and thirty seconds to view all this crap.

As many of you know, I am very tough on refs, and I personally have no love for Jeff Triplette, who is better served bagging my groceries than reffing my football team's games. But in this case, he got the call right, or, at the very least, got the call as right as possible given the allotted time. And despite Farrar's dramatics, the call did not have the kind of far reaching consequences that he pathetically seems to suggest. Allowing the Colts to score the eventual game-winning TD in the fourth quarter and then missing a gimme FG to potentially force OT were the reasons the Texans lost, not the Moats fumble call.

Pollard Claims Chiefs Spoke Poorly of Him After Release

Joel Thorman — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:57:18 -0000

Former Kansas City Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard talked to the folks at 810 WHB after a 12 tackle, two interception game for the Houston Texans on Sunday.

A lot of folks in Kansas City are not happy with the safety play last Sunday. Mike Brown admitted that he gave up two touchdowns on a 28 yard run and a 61 yard pass. The guy Mike Brown replaced, Pollard, had quite a game for the Texans.

Over the weekend, there was a quote from Pollard in his hometown appear where he said he wasn't sure why he was released, insinuating there was some sort of personality conflict.

Yesterday, in an interview on 810, Pollard indicated that the Chiefs weren't speaking highly of him following his release on September 5th.

"I'm not going to sit here and lie to you," he said, "I don't know why I was cut. I can't do anything but assume. I know what was said about me. The things they said about me weren't right and they know they weren't right."

A reporter used the word "blackball" yesterday when he asked head coach Todd Haley about Pollard's words. I think that would imply the Chiefs were purposely trying to keep him out of the league, which I'm not sure if the case.

Pollard went into more detail on the things he claims someone from the Chiefs said about him after he was released.

"I don't know who said them. The one thing that disappointed me - I'm not going to go to into everything that was said because there were a lot of things that were said but it hurt me - it said I was argumentative and disrespectful to my teammates."

Pollard said he's "never" been disrespectful to his teammates and will always "respect every one of them as a man and a friend." He says he has "never been that type of player."

"I respect coach Herm because he went to bat for me," he continued. "He called people [for me]. No team would touch me. Nobody wanted to mess with me because they didn't want to bring that into their lockerroom."

Indeed, Herm Edwards told the guys on 810 WHB earlier that day that he had called a few GMs for Pollard.

Herm also disagreed with any description of Pollard as a bad lockerroom guy. Some tweets from Kent Babb of the Kansas City Star said even though Pollard is a better player than Mike Brown, he was a bad lockerroom influence.

Herm did not agree with any of these assessments and labeled him a great lockerroom guy.

As he did in an interview with his hometown paper yesterday, Pollard was outspoken about the way he was treated by Todd Haley and his coaching staff.

"You just can't disrespect me and expect me to go home...when you're playing on TV and your wife and kids are at the game and they see you waling off the field and the coach yelling at you for doing some that's not even your fault, cursing you out."

"This is a professional job," he said, "You're dealing with grown men."

Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations

Ted Bartlett — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:30:23 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

about 23 hours ago: Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, left, tries to elude the rush of Denver Broncos' Darrell Reid (95) and a second defender during the first quarter of an NFL football game Monday, Nov. 9, 2009, in Denver. (AP Photo/ David Zalubowski)

Browse more photos »

Happy Tuesday, friends. After being up late, and watching a hard-fought game go awry, I bet you're pretty bleary-eyed, and grumpy, but let's try to make this a good day. I don't want to think that the Broncos have fallen into losing habits here, and I really don't think that's the case.

Of course, those who speak, but don't know what they're talking about, will start screaming about how the Broncos have been exposed, and they're a fraud, and every other damn thing. A few persistent issues have emerged, but they can be corrected. If anything, losing back-to-back games against good teams can teach you a great deal about your own team.

Let's reflect on this, as I know the coaching staff is, and the players are. Next week, the Broncos face the Redskins, which presents a great opportunity to get back on the winning track. After that, San Diego comes to town. The Broncos still control the AFC West, make no mistake about that.

On the other side of the jump, we'll break it all down. Ready..... BEGIN!!!!

1. It's now midseason, and the Broncos are 6-2, and in first place by a game, and having beaten San Diego on the road. Think back to August, and if I told you that's where the Broncos would be, you'd be happy to take that deal, right? It's a little less great to win the first 6 and lose the last 2, but whatever.

I mentioned some issues, and I want to talk about them briefly. I think all are fixable in the second half of the season.

a. Ben Hamilton is getting to be pretty useless, and I think it's time to see what Seth Olsen has. Hamilton has gone from being above-average before his concussion-driven missed season, to average last season, to decidedly below-average this season. Every time the Ravens and Steelers needed to get pressure on Kyle Orton, they did it over Hamilton. Every other team in the NFL has seen that, and will try to replicate that strategy.

From former NFL scout Daniel Jeremiah, during the game:

I don't know what Olsen can do yet, but he's definitely bigger and stouter than Hamilton. I have to think he can anchor better than what we've seen from #50. I am pretty sure Russ Hochstein isn't the answer, but I'd like to see what Olsen looks like.

b. The Broncos need better execution overall on offense. The scheme is fine, and the players are fine, they just need to make the plays that they have a chance to make. They have had some bad penalties, some poorly-timed drops, some slip-and-falls in the running game putting them off schedule, and lately, some bad throws. Plays like Brandon Stokley coming just short of a first down, and Hamilton getting called for a (really questionable) holding penalty on a converted 4th-and-5 are what has been hurting the Broncos offense. The coaches need to send the message that if the players who are playing don't execute, they'll find somebody who will.

c. Signing Mitch Berger was a big mistake. I think it's worth working out some other punters, but really, I liked Brett Kern. If somebody better than Berger is available, I think he should be brought in. Getting a good punter needs to be a high priority in the offseason, too.

d. Interestingly, short-yardage offense has improved during the two losses, as the Broncos have shown a willingness to throw some in those situations. It is still a concern going forward, though. Olsen may help here, if he is given a shot.

e. No-huddle offenses have been problematic for the Broncos the last two weeks. They limit their ability to disguise coverages and rush packages, and they also make it hard to substitute as much as the Broncos want to. Not every team is effective in the no-huddle, but just about every team the Broncos might see in the playoffs is. They need to figure out who their best base defensive group is against the no-huddle.

I think my underlying thought right now is that the Broncos probably aren't quite ready for the Super Bowl, but they hung with a team tonight who is a real championship contender. They beat New England a couple weeks ago, who is a real championship contender. They beat Dallas and Cincinnati, who at the least are good teams. The Broncos have a ways to go, but as first halves of the season go, you have to feel pretty good about theirs. It's not time to start anything over, or blow anything up. It's time to make a few adjustments, execute better, and keep working toward winning games.

2. Information from My Eyes, Steelers at Broncos.

a. Did I mention that I think Mitch Berger sucks? Nothing has particularly changed for me on that score. John Bena coined a new term last night, Brett Kern-backers. I liked Kern, but I don't think I am a Brett Kern-backer. I am a guy who wants a consistent good performance from the Broncos punter, whoever it is.

Philosophically, not a single player or coach on this team means more to me than the team itself. I don't care who is doing it, I just want it done. As much as I love John Elway, the team always came before him to me, too. Part of his greatness, though, was that he'd never make you separate him from the team.

b. It didn't get mentioned a lot, but Tyler Polumbus struggled at RT, especially in the second half of the game. LaMarr Woodley got a lot of pressure and forced a few key throwaways. He'll be okay against most teams, but this was a tough situation for him. Ryan Harris's absence was most definitely felt.

c. I liked the work of both Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal in this game. They consistently did a good job getting open and catching the ball. Marshall had the one drop, but it was a good effort for him overall.

d. I thought D.J. Williams had his worst game of the year, by far. He was taking bad angles all night, and didn't look like he had a prayer of getting off a lot of blocks. I'm admittedly not generally his biggest fan, but he's had the best year of his career in 2009. Monday night, not so much.

e. Wesley Woodyard played a lot more snaps than he's used to, and I thought he wore down in the second half of the game. The Steelers played a tremendous amount of 3 WR sets, which kept Andra Davis on the sideline, and Woodyard in the game.

f. Kyle Orton was actually not too bad for most of the game. He had 2 bad throws, and about 3 bad decisions (one of them was picked off). He was pretty sharp the rest of the night. He needs to cut out the bad decisions, but I was generally a lot happier with his performance tonight than I was against the Ravens. (I don't care about statistics, of course.) Nobody is saying they're thrilled with his ultimate performance, of course, but there's more nuance to the situation, than just looking at the stat sheet.

g. Rashard Mendenhall was the primary reason the Steelers won the game. He got going in the second half, and it forced the Broncos to be more aggressive in the box. I used to think very little of Mendenhall, but he has improved a lot. He runs with vastly better patience and body lean than he did even just a month ago.

h. The Steelers also have themselves a find with Mike Wallace. He's very dangerous for a 3rd WR. They don't do a lot of traditional slot-type stuff, and in nickel offense, if anything, Hines Ward is their slot guy. (I think making definitive distinctions between #1, #2, and #3 WRs is silly.) Wallace has great speed, and he showed good route-running skills Monday night.

i. I liked what I saw of Ty Law in his limited action. Champ Bailey and Brian Dawkins both mostly struggled in the game, neither making a great impact. Champ ought to be embarassed by letting Ward jump over him in garbage time. He knows better than that. He also got beat in man-to-man coverage several times by Santonio Holmes. Andre' Goodman was good in this game, though, even beyond his interception.

j. The Broncos use of the "mush rush" was very good in the first half, and very bad for most of the second. Robert Ayers played a key role in containing Ben Roethlisberger when he as assigned that duty, and that's what he was doing when Kenny Peterson knocked the ball free.

k. The Broncos got hosed on the Gaffney challenge, and also on the Haggan fumble recovery. Don Carey has joined my list of bad referees. I like how a return team becomes an intercepting team. I can't believe that he's related to Mike Carey, who is excellent. And he's the older brother? Wow.

3. Information From My Eyes, Other Games:

a. I watched a lot of the Green Bay-Tampa Bay game Sunday, for a few reasons. I haven't seen much of the Bucs this year, and I wanted to look at Josh Freeman, who I liked a lot coming out of college. He looked like a rookie at times, but he showed a lot of positives too. I thought he looked poised and confident, and I am not that surprised. I remember when he beat Texas as a freshman, and commanded the game. (My buddy lost a grand on the game, and he called me frantically looking for NFL advice for the next day, to "get back even." It was a debacle. I don't give gambling advice anymore, because of that weekend.)

Anyway, Freeman looked like a star that day in 2006, and he looked like he may be one someday in the NFL on Sunday. I think Tampa did the right thing, giving him some time to learn from the sideline, but it has to be Freeman Time the rest of the season.

b. I loved Raheem Morris's line after getting his first victory as a head coach.

Statistics are for losers, and today, we're winners.

And then, there's Chicago Bears lover/reporter/enabler/apologist Brad Biggs of National Football Post, after his beloveds got blown out again.

That's positive news? The Bears got smoked, again, Brad. Their best player, who is supposed to always play well, performed close to expectations. It's only positive news if he is on your fantasy team, which is why I don't really like fantasy football. (Well, that and the dorktastic "experts' you have to tolerate on TV.)

Cutler played alright, but he didn't do anything to elevate the play of anybody else, as usual, and the interception he threw in the 4th quarter did kill the Bears' chances of coming back.

It's amazing how the Bears team has assumed the personality of the 2008 Broncos. There's a good chance they'll get blown away on defense, and Cutler is almost definitely going to need to carry the offense. In my business, we contract with companies to take over non-core operations. We call it a lift-and-shift. You terminate your employees who work in a call center, and we'll instantly hire them. They'll work for us, and you'll pay us a fee that is less than what you pay for this operation. Meanwhile, we'll optimize, and reduce the headcount, and correspondingly, the costs.

Everybody considered Cutler's acqusition to be a lift-and-shift. The Bears got a franchise QB. Imagine what he'll do on a team that plays good defense and runs the ball. Football is such a multi-variate system, it's really amazing.

c. I would really hate to be a Bears fan. They have no high draft picks this year, and suddenly a lot of roster holes to fill. They need 3 or 4 new starters on their offensive line, to begin with. Orlando Pace is done, Josh Beekman and Roberto Garza were never starting-caliber players in the NFL, and Olin Kreutz is getting close to done. I don't care for Chris Williams, either. He's looked passable at RT, but if he was worthy of his draft slot, he would have bumped Pace, because it's clear as day that he isn't good enough. You wouldn't use a #1 on an RTO (Right Tackle Only), unless it was Jeff Otah.

They could also use some WRs, some secondary players, and a pass rusher. We're not asking for much, right?

Chicago has a cash-poor ownership group, and the cold weather and their ugly uniforms don't tend to help draw free agents. (Yes, both things matter. It's part of the problem in Cleveland too.) I just don't know how you can bring in enough players there to improve for next season.

d. On Monday I read a lot of epitaphs about the Chicago defense, which didn't get into a lot of the "why" they're so bad. As I was explaining to a friend a few days ago, a defense has to have all 11 players working well together, in order for it to be sound and effective. Because defense is fundamentally a reactive mission, there are many inter-dependencies among the three levels, and communication, like-mindedness through practice, and discipline make all the difference. That sounds simple, and it really is.

First of all, you'd better either be good against the run with 7 in the box, or have a big-time safety who can move 12 yards from a cover-2 shell to the line of scrimmage really quickly. The Bears can't stop the run with 7, so you know they'll have 8 in the box. Then, there's the passing game. When a team can't rush the passer with 4 players, they need to blitz with numbers. When they blitz with numbers, it makes it hard to play soundly in zone coverage, so you mostly have to start playing man coverage. When you play a lot of man coverage, you'd better hope you have the athletes to cover the other team's athletes - and chances are, their #3 and #4 options are better than yours. That's a simple fact of it being harder to find players with coverage skills than it is to find guys who can run a route and catch a ball, when he knows where he is supposed to go.

So you can't stop the run, you can't get pressure with 4, you can't play zone, and you can't play man. All that's left is to guess at what the offense is going to do, and play for that. The obvious problem there is what happens when you guess wrong. You get exposed, and give up huge plays. That sounds a lot like the 2008 Broncos' defense, right?

To apply this to the Bears, they used to get pressure with their front 4, but Tommie Harris is having a bad season. He was a healthy scratch for the Cincinnati game, reportedly because of some attitude issues, and they got lambasted. Then, he got ejected over some extreme foolishness 1 minute into Sunday's game. The Bears again got crushed. Harris is among the best 3-technique DTs in the NFL, when his body and attitude are right.

With no Harris, Alex Brown and Adewale Ogunleye have struggled to get any pressure, so the Bears have blitzed, ineffectively. They have all these tall, slow CBs who can't do anything except play zone coverage, and they got shredded in man-to-man on Sunday, as they did against Cincinnati. If you decide to be a cover-2 team, you'd better play a lot of cover-2, because your personnel can't hold up playing man.

If Harris can manage to get his body and mind right, and have a dominant second half, he could personally bring a soundness back to the Bears that could send them on a 6-2ish run in the second half to finish 10-6. The more likely outcome is that he continues to sulk, the Bears continue to get gashed, and they finish 7-9 at best. And the Broncos have a nice draft pick. Thanks, guys :)

e. Funny story. My brother Chris (who did join MHR as Chris911, incidentally) and I were talking on the phone the other night, like we do sometimes.

Chris: You know, Jay Cutler has a losing record in games where he throws for over 300 yards.

Ted: You know, Jay Cutler has a losing record as a starting QB in the NFL.

Yessir. I love that draft pick more and more every day.

f. Remember the spring of 2008 when many wanted Denver to become Vanderbilt West? It hasn't worked out so well for Chicago. Earl Bennett's ceiling is to be an average starter, if he puts it all together. He can't get off bump coverage right now, whatsoever. He also runs bad routes and drops the ball a lot. In other words, everything he was supposed to do well, he doesn't. Yes, I know he had 7 catches for 93 yards Sunday, but the vast majority of it was in garbage time, against soft zone coverage. (And, yes, wise guys, I know, most of the game was garbage time.)

Chris Williams, I already discussed. He has definitely been a disappointment. This year, the Bears took D.J. Moore, a CB, who is somehow not good enough to beat out any of the pu pu platter of guys who take turns opposite Charles Tillman. He has been a gameday inactive all season, and is not even a special teams contributor.

I watched the Florida-Vanderbilt game Saturday night, and was reflecting on this. Vanderbilt has no hope in the SEC. They can't recruit talent that is nearly good enough to compete, and most of their guys have tended to underachieve in the NFL. They are on my list with Texas and Ohio State of schools whose players I am naturally suspicious of, although it's all for different reasons.

I wonder if Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Stanford, Duke, Rice,and Baylor ever thought about forming a football-only, high-SATs conference. Actually, this year, Vandy would be in the bottom half of that league, too.

g. Staying with the college theme for a minute, the best all-around QB I have seen this season at any school is Cincinnati's sophomore backup, Zach Collaros. He has completed 76% of his passes for 1,229 yards, with 10 TDs and 1 interception in the 3+ games he has appeared in. He has also rushed 43 times for 281 yards, and 4 TDs, while only being sacked 10 times.

Cincinnati's original starter, senior Tony Pike, is expected to start this week, although head coach Brian Kelly did cop to it being a tough decision. Pike is likely to be drafted on Day 1 next spring. Collaros is going to contend for the Heisman Trophy next season, and he'll be a high pick too, when he decides to leave school. He's the total package, with an above-average arm, very good poise, and outstanding accuracy and athleticism. The only knock on him is that he's 6 feet tall, but he has some definite Drew Brees-like qualities as a thrower. This is a 75-yard TD run against a South Florida team with lots of athletes. The guy is real.

h. A guy I really like on an otherwise not-great unit is Atlanta Guard Harvey Dahl. He has been getting very good pad level, and driving guys, in helping Michael Turner have his best two games of the season. I beat up Sam Baker for his pass protection last week, but he did well in the running game Sunday, too. The Redskins are normally solid against the run, but Atlanta gashed them repeatedly.

i. Michael Lombardi stole my thunder, which is an occasional hazard of writing for Tuesday mornings. (The) Other smart analysts see(s) the same things and beat(s) you to talking about them sometimes. Ray Lewis definitely looks like he's doing it more on guile and want-to than skill anymore. I respect his effort greatly, and sometimes he makes a huge play, like against the Chargers, but he's clearly hit his downside. Big up Lombardi, for consistently seeing what the reporters don't see. (By the way, it's weird and unnatural to see Lombardi stand with a mic and interview players and coaches for NFL Network. Stop the madness, and be an analyst, Mike. You're better than some locker jockey.)

j. I was pretty critical of Dallas' Mike Jenkins earlier in the season, and he deserved it. Lately, though, he's been playing fantastic football. He did a great job Sunday night, and was the largest part of the Dallas secondary's outstanding effort not to give up the big plays that Philly wins with every week.

k. The Eagles are reputed to be a West Coast team, but they are not that, and never have been since Mr. Game Management, Andy Reid, came to town. Donovan McNabb isn't a West Coast QB, who does really well with timing throws. The Eagles are a vertical, downfield team, and they finally have guys in DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and Brent Celek, who can get down the field and make the plays they want to make.

l. By the way, everybody knows I like Tim Tebow, but McNabb is the guy who Tebow most reminds me of. They played in similar-ish option-heavy offenses in college, and they have very similar profiles as throwers coming into the NFL. Tebow's stats are down this year, mostly due to bad pass protection, but he's throwing the ball better than ever when he gets some time.

m. The Chargers might be back. I haven't seen their LBs look as good as they did on Sunday in two years. Some of that may be due to the Giants offensive line, though, which is good in the running game, and below-average in the passing game. All this stuff about them having the best line is hogwash. (I've actually seen Michael Lombardi say that this season.) They have a natural LG, David Diehl, playing LT, and he gets owned by good pass rushers.

n. Brandon Jacobs looks really slow to the hole this season. He was never quick, but he's a different player. I have to wonder if he is hurt. Of course, I am prejudiced against tall RBs, because, definitionally, it's easier to hit them, than it is the compact guys. It's fair to say Jacobs has never been a favorite of mine.

o. I'd like to say that ST&NO favorite Alex Smith has established himself as a clear-cut solution at QB for the 49ers, but the fact is, they've lost all three games which he has played in. Two of the three interceptions he threw on Sunday were off the hands of his own players, so I don't really put those on him, personally. On the positive side, that play he made for a TD pass at the end of the first half was an All-Pro caliber play, that not many QBs could make. He kept himself alive with his feet, and made a perfect throw on the run.

This is what I know about Smith. His biggest problem is that he struggles with the mechanics of drops from under center which are more than 3 steps. It's not natural to him, and his footwork is slow, like he is thinking about it. That got him sacked on A-gap blitzes two or three times Sunday.

Smith is much more comfortable from the shotgun, and I think I would go to a medium-gun alignment with him, that is often called the Pistol. It's run a bit at some colleges, notably Nevada, and the Chiefs used it with Tyler Thigpen last season. The QB lines up 3 yards behind the center, with the RB 3 yards behind the QB. It provides better directional evenness to your running game than lining up in a full shotgun with the RB to one side or the other of the QB.

Smith can do all the things you need your QB to do; it's just a matter of putting him in position to be successful. I'll be interested to watch this game on Thursday night, against Chicago, because he could have a huge game.

p. I did like what I saw of Vince Young, again. He has played like he's fine with being part of a conservative game plan, which is what he needs. The option stuff he was running with Chris Johnson was effective, and he did hit Justin Gage deep on a couple throws. One, in particular, used all of Gage's vertical. He was actually a starter on Missouri's basketball team in his college days.

q. The Titans are suddenly playing some defense again too, especially Michael Griffin at safety. I also was impressed with William Hayes, who has taken over at LDE for Jevon Kearse, who may have finally had it, at this point. The Titans are a threat to make noise as a spoiler in the second half of the season. The return of Cortland Finnegan has helped them a lot, too. He's not the greatest cover guy, but he's a hitter, and he is always close to the ball. He compares favorably to Asante Samuel in that way.

r. The Panthers just make me shake my head sometimes. They are almost completely back to their 12-4 level from last year lately, except for their QB play. They really erred by not getting one, but John Fox and Jake Delhomme are almost married. Delhomme is going to cost Fox his job, for his sentimentality.

Remember when the Chargers whacked Marty Schottenheimer coming off the 14-2 record? It was the right move. So would cutting ties with Delhomme have been, after last season. Of course, the Chargers blew the second part by hiring Norv Turner. The Panthers will get their chance to do something in the offseason, but they have no first-round pick. If San Francisco decides Alex Smith isn't their guy, he'd be perfect for a team like Carolina, who runs the ball and attacks downfield off of play action. Marc Bulger might be a possible fit too, as the Rams will almost certainly be drafting a QB this year. The Panthers will likely need to get a retread, though.

s. The Saints deserved to get beat on Sunday, but they managed to win anyway. That's something championship teams do, is win without their best stuff.

t. The Texans are really close to being a serious playoff contender, but a Chris Brown goal-line fumble and a Kris Brown missed field goal have basically cost them two games. People haven't noticed, but Matt Schaub is putting up Pro Bowl numbers in Houston. Old friend Gary Kubiak needs to get his team to execute better in key situations.

u. I said I wasn't going to pick the addict Jaguars again, but I did on Sunday, because the Chiefs are horrible. The addicts then proceeded to almost give the game away. Shocker! ST&NO favorite Reggie Nelson had a very good game for the Jags, and so did Brandon Marshall's best friend from college, Mike Sims-Walker.

v. Matt Cassel was the bright spot for the Chiefs, again, and he continues to do pretty well with very little help. I guarantee that the Chiefs don't regret trading for him, especially at the price they paid.

4. In honor of Veterans' Day, I wanted to blaze a different path by doing something apolitical and propaganda-free. It's Tangential Story Time, in ST&NO. Yay!!!

Most regular readers are at least generally aware that I spent 4 years in the United States Navy. I don't think I have ever mentioned that going to sea is basically my family business, though. My dad was in the Navy for 14 years, and then has worked as an executive for companies which supply the Navy for the last 20+ years. His brother recently retired as a long-time civilian mariner for the Navy, and his other brother was a Marine, who rode a Navy ship or two. My youngest brother is currently employed as a Naval civilian mariner, presently working for a ship stationed in Gaeta, Italy. There's lots of salt in my family.

So, I woke up early on Sucker-Free Saturday, and a headline popped into my RSS reader that grabbed my attention.

Navy ship built with WTC steel to go into service

I clicked the link to read the article, and saw something very interesting in the first sentence.

NEW YORK — The Navy is commissioning its newest battleship with a bow forged from steel that once held up the World Trade Center.

The Navy decommissioned its last four remaining Iowa-class Battleships in the early 1990s, and I didn't think that they had any plans to bring them back, despite some misgivings from parts of the Marine Corps that current Naval Gunfire Support programs wouldn't be sufficient for a Normandy-like shore landing.

A Battleship is a specific type of ship, like in the children's game of the same name. The Iowa class had wooden decks, and three turrets with three independent 50-caliber 16-inch guns each, for a total of 9 guns. The shells were 16 inches in diameter, and weighed 2,700 pounds each. (Modern Cruisers and Destroyers have one or two (mostly two) 5-inch, 54-caliber guns each, by comparison. Those shells are 5 inches in diameter, and weigh 70 pounds.) Each Iowa-class turret took a crew of 94 men to operate, and I actually served with a guy who was working in Turret #3 on the Iowa in 1989, when Turret #2 exploded and killed 47 men.

Battleships played a large part in the Pacific theater in World War II, and somewhat minor parts in Korea, Vietnam, and the first Persian Gulf War. The primary missions of Battleships were shore bombardment, and ship-to-ship combat. The advent of precision-guided munitions (like Harpoon missiles, for ship-to-ship combat), and the reality that 5-inch, 54-caliber guns are considered by the Navy to be sufficient for Naval Gunfire Support, largely made battleships unnecessary, and the last Battleships were decommissioned not long after World War II, with a few held in reserve status. Iowa, New Jersey, Wisconsin, and Missouri were each re-commissioned several times over the coming decades, with the Missouri being the last active battleship, being decommissioned for the last time in 1992. (The picture below is of the Iowa, shooting her guns to starboard.)

So, there's this new ship, called the USS New York, and the AP says it's a battleship. At first, I was skeptical, because I know that the Battleship mission is obsolete. Thinking about it, though, it is named after a state, like US battleships have historically been. I also know that the Bush Adminstration Pentagon had some meat-heads in high places of their procurement organization, who favored weapons systems with some badass factor to them, whether they were strictly necessary or not. But I would have heard about new Battleships, right? Hmmmm.

I called the guy who would know, my father Ed, who has appeared in ST&NO before, and I got my answer.

Ted: Hey, what do you know about this new ship, New York, that was partially built from World Trade Center steel?

Ed: Well, it's being commissioned this morning.

Ted: What kind of ship is it?

Ed: It's a piece-of-(bleep) LPD-17 class. A Gator Freighter. (Note: Gator Freighter is the ~~somewhat~~ very derisive name for Amphibious Navy ships which primarily carry Marines. Surface combatant guys, like me, don't think too much of Amphibs, or the people who ride them.)

Ted: Oh, OK. This AP reporter called it a battleship, and it's named after a state, which lends that some coincidental level of plausibility. I was skeptical, so I thought I'd ask somebody who knows.

Ed: <Scoffs> The media doesn't know what the hell they're talking about.

The media doesn't know what the hell they're talking about. Hmmm... Where have I heard that before?

5. What's New In Cleveland Update:

We have a great local brewery here called Great Lakes Brewing Company, that puts out this great stuff they call Christmas Ale every year, at this time. It tastes like cinnamon, but it's 7.5% alcohol by volume, so if you're like me, and you drink them like they're just expensive Bud Lights, they can really creep on you quickly.

So, I was at a the Cleveland State University bar called Becky's last Thursday, for my fraternity's monthly alumni happy hour. I was pleased to discover that they had Christmas Ale on tap, which I would later find out was running me $18 per pitcher, times 3 pitchers. Whatever. I am drinking some fine seasonal beer, and one of the guys says, "Hey, that's Mike Trivisonno right there, like 5 feet away."

Trivisonno is the local Radio Idiot, who I have disparaged on here before a few times, as being part of the Browns problems. I am not sure what he was doing at Becky's, of all places, but he was hanging out with some uglo-Americans, who may or may not have been related to him. He's holding court, and talking about the Browns, and how the city is cursed, and blah blah blah. (I hate it when people say "blah blah blah" in a conversation, but for some strange reason I just felt the strong need to type it there, like my ex-wife possessed my body momentarily, or something. Deal with it.)

It seems the work of the Radio Idiot is never finished. He bloviates even off the clock. I wonder if Rush Limbaugh does too.... That was a little deeper than a Shallow Thought. Focus.

OK, here's the deal. There's no such thing as curses. There's only confusing hope for a plan (hat tip to Michael Lombardi). That's what they do here, in all sports - even the Cavs, to some extent. (Let's face it: the Shaq acqusition is all about hope.)

Randy Lerner, by all accounts, is an OK guy, and he wants to win. He doesn't know anything about football, and I don't think he particularly wants to, either. He's actually a soccer guy, and he owns Aston Villa. He needs somebody to establish and run a program for him. It can't be a Head Coach, because he's too hands-off for that kind of arrangement. (That works fine with appropriately engaged owners like Robert Kraft, Bud Adams, and Pat Bowlen.)

He needs a Bill Parcells-type situation, which is why he is reportedly pursuing Mike Holmgren. I think Holmgren is going to end up saying he'd rather coach than head a front office, but it's a good idea to try. Whoever ends up being the head honcho is going to fire Eric Mangini, and start over from scratch, again. This is increasingly clear. The trick is going to be hiring the right honcho, for the first time since they came back into the NFL in 1999.

Ron Wolf and Ernie Accorsi aren't going to want the job, but if I were Lerner, I'd put on a full-court press to get one of them to help me find the right honcho. A guy I would make a run at is Jimmy Johnson, but only as a team president, not a coach. You hire him, tell him he only has to work 30 hours a week, some of it from Florida, and let him hire a focused GM, (maybe Chris Polian, or Marty Hurney if he is let go at Carolina?) and let them decide what to do with the coaching staff. Then, the chain of command is clear: Owner, to President, to GM, to Head Coach.

As a side note, I expect Mangini to struggle to find future work in coaching. His credibility in the NFL is shot at this point, and what college is going to hire a guy like that? Can you see him talking a kid into coming to play at State U? Absolutely not.

6. So, I know you've been wondering what a guy like me does on a Friday night. My gameplan changes every week, like any good team's (except the Colts); and this past Friday, my friend Ashley was looking for somebody to go with her to a happy hour event at the Cleveland Museum of Art. It sounded like fun, so I emailed her, and we went.

I'd like to tell you that I am a really cultured, artsy guy, but the truth is that I'm not. I'm kind of a rugged football, business, and politics guy. Somewhat embarassingly, it was the first time I had gone to the Museum in 7 1/2 years of living in Cleveland. Ashley is really smart, though, and I figured correctly that I would learn some stuff from her.

There was a Paul Gauguin exhibit, which was included in the price of admission. I looked up Gauguin on the interwebz, and learned that he was a contemporary of Vincent Van Gogh. Van Gogh's brother Theo was actually Gauguin's agent, and he got them to work together in 1888. They spent 9 weeks together at Van Gogh's famous Yellow House in Arles, and they quarreled constantly, because they saw the right way to paint very differently. (At the CMA, there were several examples, side-by-side, where both men painted the same thing, and they looked extremely different.) Both men had bouts of depression and suicidal tendencies. When Gauguin fled the tense situation after Van Gogh threatened him with a razor blade, Van Gogh freaked out, and went to a brothel, where he famously cut part of his ear off. They never saw each other again.

When I saw the news that the Chiefs cut Larry Johnson on Monday, the thought of his relationship with Todd Haley made me think of Gauguin and Van Gogh. Haley is a talented coach, and Johnson is a talented player. Both men have reputations for being difficult, though, and many (including me) were skeptical about the pairing when Haley was hired. Johnson's actions, around callng out Haley on Twitter and using gay slurs, were stupid. Really, it's not too different from cutting your ear off, on the foolishness scale.

Haley couldn't have Johnson play for him again, just as Gauguin couldn't return to Arles to work with Van Gogh. If you're betting on futures, take Haley's (like it would have been wise to take Gauguin.) Johnson is 30 and well-worn, old for a RB; Haley is 42, which is young for a Head Coach. Van Gogh died two years after the ear incident, while Gauguin had 13 more years, and a lot of productivity after that. Go with the guy who knew it was time to cut the cord, rather than the one who cut off his ear to spite his face.

7. Retired for John Elway.

8. The worst thing about November is the jewelry commercials during football games. (Well, I guess I should be glad not to see Chevy commercials with any Mellencamp songs.) I have found the answer, friends, if you're into man-cavery like me.

If you have Sunday Ticket with SuperFan, the setup works like this. Watch games on a muted TV (or two, if you can manage it, like I do). Watch the Red Zone channel on a laptop, with SuperConnect, and listen to the sound on the laptop, preferably over some decent speakers. Red Zone has no commercials, so when they come on TV, you can just ignore the visual stimulus, and listen to the sounds of what's going on on the laptop screen. I spent the whole day Sunday with this, so I got to see a lot of football, without hearing incessantly about how you're no kind of man if you don't go to Jared, the Galleria of Jewelry, and that every kiss begins with Kay. Damn, it's great to be single. (This is Ourrrrrrr Country!!!!!)

Have a good week, and let's get ready for a Broncos victory in Washington on Sunday. No hysterics are necessary, let's just take some comfort in the fairly safe assumption that our coaching staff is driving the players to learn from and improve on their mistakes. See you next Tuesday!

Web Rumblings: Buffalo Bills Links, 11/10

MattRichWarren — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:07:06 -0000

Safety situation – Inside The Bills
Chris Brown speculates on where guys are going to end up now that Bryan Scott and Donte Whitner are back healthy and Jairus Byrd isn't likely to go to the bench.

Vick to Bills would be a flawed plan : Jerry Sullivan : The Buffalo News
"What do Austin Collie, Johnny Knox and Keenan Burton have in common? They're all NFL wide receivers with more catches than Lee Evans or Terrell Owens."

Bills' toothless run D to face toughest task yet - AFC East - ESPN
Tim Graham looks at the numbers and it isn't good for Buffalo's run D with the Titans' Chris Johnson coming to town.

More Vick rumor and opinion
BillBoard: Vick to the Bills in 2010 draws mixed reactions
"We don't know who will be calling the personnel shots for the Bills in 2010," says News writer Allen Wilson. "There is no guarantee that a new coach and/or general manager would have any interest in Vick."

Players on Vick – Inside The Bills
Lee Evans, Trent Edwards, and Donte Whitner give their thoughts on the Mike Vick rumor.

Scott Pitoniak: Vick isn't the answer in Buffalo
The Rochester writer opines on Mike Vick and Trent Edwards' future.

Vick to Bills would be a flawed plan : Jerry Sullivan : The Buffalo News
"Sure, the Bills need help at quarterback. What they don't need is a washout who couldn't read defenses or make accurate throws before he went to jail."

Non-Vick Links

Keep an eye on the AFC wild-card race - AFC East - ESPN
The Bills are six spots and two games behind the final wild card teams (unfortunately one of them is the Texans).

Kawika Mitchell sounds off on Larry Johnson | ProFootballTalk.com
"LJ doesn't respect women so I have no thoughts about him really," Mitchell said. "People like that r nothing. At 1 point we were boys."

Whitner stumping for Byrd Pro Bowl – Inside The Bills
When asked about the rookie, who leads the league in interceptions, Donte Whitner believes the Pro Bowl is realistic for the young defensive back provided he can turn in some similar plays in the second half of the season.

Changes for offense minor – Inside The Bills
"I don’t think you’re going to see a dramatic or completely different offense," said Lee Evans. "But hopefully we’ll be able to do some things and mix it up a little bit. Get more guys involved."

Both Scotts set to go | BuffaloBills.com
Jonathan Scott and his similarly-named teammate Bryan are both expected back in the lineup after a month on the sideline.

Bills' plan changes, but QB undecided : Buffalo Bills : The Buffalo News
The Bills are 3-0 in the first game after the bye under Jauron.

Keep an eye on the AFC wild-card race - AFC East - ESPN
The Bills are six spots and two games behind the final wild card teams (unfortunately one of them is the Texans).

POLLOCK: It was Moss, Levy and a football day | Olean Times Herald
Firmer Bills’ coach Marv Levy has joined Dennis Green, Jim Mora, Brian Billick, Mike Ditka, Romeo Crennel and the late Bill Walsh in a Coors Light commercial.

Texans to Try Out Larry Johnson

Jake — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:04 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Roberson - AP

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The Houston Texans will hold a workout for embattled running back Larry Johnson. Johnson was cut today by the Kansas City Chiefs after several run-ins with new head coach Todd Haley, most notably a recent public questioning of Haley's background followed by a homophobic slur.

I would hope that there is no chance that the Texans will claim Johnson off waivers and therefore inherit his $4.55 million base salary. If the Texans sign Johnson, it will most likely be as an unrestricted free agent after he has passed thru waivers. That will depend on if Houston makes an offer, and if that offer is favored by Johnson over any other offers he might receive.

I personally hope this is just Kubiak and company doing their due diligence. Larry Johnson is exactly the kind of person you try to keep out of your locker room. It isn't a recent development either; Johnson had a history of acting up with the Herman Edwards administration as well. And what do you get at this point in his career for your troubles? 2.7 yards per carry. Granted, the Chiefs' offensive line is abysmal, so he might do better elsewhere, but I don't think he is worth the risk.

What say you? Do you want to see Larry Johnson in a Texans uniform?

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.

Recap Week Nine: Colts 20 - Texans 17

shake n bake — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:18:12 -0000

More photos » by Tom Strattman - AP

Clark is on pace for the greatest TE season in NFL history, and before a reader e-mailed me I didn't even know it. (AP Photo/Tom Strattman)

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A week after the 49ers contained the Colts offense by refusing to show their alignment or tip their scheme until the final seconds of the play clock the Colts countered, with their opening drive coming at a frantic pace running 9 plays in barely over 2 minutes to move from their 20 to the edge of field goal range.

The Colts D came out strong holding the Texans to 7 yards with a turnover on 3 drives in the first quarter and not allowing a first down until midway through the 2nd quarter. Unfortunately the Colts offense, despite crossing the Texans 40 on each of their 6 1st half drives they only converted it into 13 points (Downs, TD, FG, FG, Punt, INT).

After dominating the Texans O for a quarter and a half the tables were flipped with the Texans mounting three 80+ yard drives in addition to knocking in a field goal before the half to score 17 unanswered (which would have likely been 24 if not for Powers' heady fumble recovery for a touchback). At the same time the Colts O went 3 and out, and ended a promising drive with a Reggie Wayne interception on a terribly called and even more disastrously executed trick play (on which Pierre Garcon picked up his requisite penalty a game, again for OPI which was declined as he was unable to prevent the pick).

With the Colts trailing in the 4th quarter again both units stepped back up, with the D forcing a 3 and out despite having been on the field for 13 of the 17 minutes elapsed in the 2nd half and the O launching a 61 yard TD drive to retake the lead with 7 minutes to play.

Gary Brackett's pressure forced what should have been the game ending pick to Clint Session giving the ball over to the Colts with 2:13 left in the game. After a 2 yard run on 1st down, Ryan Diem committed a false start putting the Colts into a passing situation where Peyton was stripped of the football while stepping up in the pocket. Ryan Diem saved the game he had almost cost the team by falling on the fumble. Addai's 13 yard 3rd down run wasn't enough and the Colts punted away having drained just 24 seconds from the clock (but having forced the Texans final 2 timeouts).

Soft zone and a miraculous scramble and dumpoff from Schaub to Slaton allowed the Texans to move down to the Colts 24 yardline with 1 second remaining to kick the fieldgoal. Kicking for overtime Kris Brown's 42 yarder was just left and the Colts came away with the victory.

The Colts gameplan was very pass heavy early with 25 dropbacks in the first quarter, 16 in the second. Peyton Manning finished with 50 pass attempts, with 55 pass plays being called (50+ 3 sacks, a Peyton scramble and the Wayne pass). The main beneficiary of the pass heavy tilt was Dallas Clark who caught 14 of 16 official targets for 119 yards plus a defensive holding call and a personal foul for a forearm to the head on an additional 2 passes thrown his way. He also took an end around for 4 yards. Clark is now on pace to 120 receptions and 1,406 receiving yards, both of which would smash the previous records of 102 receptions held by Tony Gonzalez and 1,290 yards by Kellen Winslow (Senior, not his punk son).

The other big offensive mover was Joseph Addai with 14 rushes for 63 yards (4.5 YPC) and a TD along with 5 receptions for 49 yards and a TD receiving. As BBS talked about this morning the Colts running game has shown improvement over the last 3 games.

Not converting yardage into points well the last two games is concerning, but it's a much easier fix than not being able to get into scoring position consistently. The return of Donald Brown, allowing a more run heavy gameplan without risking breaking Addai, and of Anthony Gonzalez giving a boost from the inconsistent Garcon (or possibly injured Austin Collie) should go a long way to fix the Colts recent red zone hiccups.

The Colts now hold a 3.5 game lead in the AFC South (with a 3-0 divisional record that makes them likely to take tiebreakers in the division) and could gain a 2 game lead on the entire AFC with a Steelers victory tonight. It's still a bit early for playoff talk but the Colts could clinch a 8th straight winning season with a win in PATRIOTS WEEK.

Let the rivalry hype begin

Quick Recap, Colts 20- Texans 17

shake n bake — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:24:19 -0000

The Colts closed another 4th quarter deficit to hold on for a win after Kris Brown's game tying FG attempt as time expired sailed wide left.

The Colts dominated the first 28 minutes of play, but starting with a Manning INT while in FG range the Texans scored 17 unanswered to take a 4 point lead going into the 4th quarter aided by Caldwell icing what turned out to be a blocked FG (2nd attempt was made) and a end around pass by Reggie Wayne being picked off.

Peyton Manning went 34 for 50, gaining 314 yards with a TD and an INT. Dallas Clark was the primary target picking up 14 receptions for 119 yards and an additional first down from a defensive holding call on 3rd and short. After some early struggles the Colts running game picked up with Joseph Addai averaging 4.5 yards a carry and scoring the winning TD on a powerful goalline run.

Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis teamed up for a combined 2 sacks off Matt Schaub's 45 dropbacks. Jerraud Powers picked off his first career pass and made a veteran play to recover a fumble for a touchback likely saving Indy a TD). Clint Session recorded 13 tackles and picked off a 4th quarter pass that very nearly ended the game.

The Colts move to an undefeated 8-0, the Texans drop to 5-4, but appear to be a playoff caliber team (if they play more disciplined football than they did today).

UPDATE: redid the poll since I neglected Powers and Addai's great days.

Poll

SB Nation - Houston Texans

Week 9: Inside the Numbers

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Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations

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Recap Week Nine: Colts 20 - Texans 17

Quick Recap, Colts 20- Texans 17

Week Nine game balls