SEAN GARZA'S TEXAN TUESDAY REPORT - SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

Texan Tuesday Report



Written by: Sean Garza
Date posted: 9/14/2010

 

Good day Texan fans! On Sunday, the Texans opened their season against the Indianapolis Colts which they have played 16 times in their history and have 15 losses to show for it. On top of that, Peyton Manning is one of the best in the business and was playing against a very young Texan secondary. There was no way the Texans could come out and beat the Colts could they? As Chris Berman would say, “That’s why they play the game”.

The Texans defeated the Colts by the score of 34–24 to go to 1–0 on the season and more importantly 1-0 in the AFC South. By looking at the score, you would think that Matt Schaub probably threw for over 300 yards and a few touchdowns. Andre Johnson probably hauled in 2 touchdowns and had over 150 yards receiving.

Why would you think that? The reason being the Texans haven’t been able to run the ball effectively when needed in the past, HOWEVER (thanks Stephen A.) these aren’t your dad’s Texans! (At least after one week.) Arian Foster, the undrafted second-year year back from Tennessee, had a career day by rushing 33 times for 231 yards and 3 touchdowns (Avg. 7 yards per carry). Steve Slaton contributed with 29 yards on 6 carries (Avg. 4.83 yards per carry). Matt Schaub had a below average performance throwing for 107 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 INT. Andre Johnson led the team in receiving with 3 receptions for 33 yards.

Now, as well as Arian Foster played I believe that the true players of the game were the revolving door at the offensive line. Duane Brown, Eric Winston, Antoine Caldwell, Chris Myers, Mike Brisiel, Wade Smith, and anyone else I may have missed. When they played against the Saints during the preseason, I felt as if the offensive line got pushed around and were basically treated like a little kid. Sunday afternoon, the offensive line opened up holes about the size of the grand canyon which allowed Foster to gain monster yardage. That was a major question mark going into the season and also can be the make-or-break area that could be the key to a Texans’ playoff run.

Now, on to my favorite group on the team which is the defense (or as I like to call them the Houston “Hit”men). Judging by the numbers that the Colts put up - nearly 500 yards of offense (433 from Manning), the Texans got stops when they needed it. Joseph Addai had only 44 yards rushing on 10 carries, so apparently stopping the run was a big key. The Texans knew that Peyton was going to get his, but keep the WR’s and TE’s in front, tackle well, and keep them out of the end zone looked to be the Texans’ plan and it worked to perfection.

Mario Williams had two sacks (although he was only credited for one); Antonio Smith and Jesse Nading each had a half-sack, but the stats don’t reflect the pressure that Peyton Manning was feeling all game long. Xavier Adibi started for LB Brian Cushing, but since the Texans played nickel most of the game, Adibi wasn’t on the field very much.

The positives and negatives of the secondary is what I’d like to focus on. First, the positives. I thought for sure I was watching an old Adam West “Batman” TV show because of all the “Booms”, “Pows”, and “Bams”! Kareem Jackson, Glover Quinn, and Bernard Pollard had to leave some of the Colts black and blue with the hard hits they put on them. I especially loved the fact that after some of those hits trash talking quickly followed.

I give you exhibit A in Bernard Pollard. Bernard is the kind of player who doesn’t take anything from anyone at anytime! I remember watching during the game (and afterwards on Youtube) when Reggie Wayne caught a quick out pattern and was pushed out of bounds by Pollard that Pollard was all in Wayne’s grill basically saying that he and the Colts were nothing (I gotta be clean here). That kind of attitude filters down to other players and brings a big swagger to a young, hungry and hard-hitting defense.

The negative is primarily small, but it does require improvement and quickly. Rookie Kareem Jackson didn’t play terrible, but it was quite obvious that Manning was going to test him early and often. Since Peyton threw for 433 yards, I’d say mission accomplished, as far as finding the open receiver. Now, I’m not saying that is all on Jackson. However, I am saying that there were several incomplete attempts in which Jackson was a good 5 yards behind. Now, I do understand that he will be tested every week because he is a rookie and I expect to see large receiver numbers at least for another couple of weeks. I do believe that he will be good, but I’m also being realistic. He’s a rookie and will be picked on until he shows that he can cover and defend well.

Lastly, it was a terrible blow to watch Connor Barwin be lost for the season due to a dislocated ankle. I didn’t see the injury, but I’m told it’s pretty horrific looking. With a roster spot free, the popular replacement would be former Buffalo Bills DE Aaron Schobel who is currently retired. Until he says he is ready to play, I wouldn’t hold my breath although with a spot open on rotation and a decent pay day always does wonders. (Imagine a defensive line of Schobel, Smith, Okoye and Williams). Derrick Burgess is also an option, but I hope to write more about it next week.

Next on the Texans radar is the 1–0 Washington Redskins. Donovan McNabb presents a more versatile target than that store mannequin, Peyton Manning, so the secondary will be tested. The positive for the Texans may be the absence of the pile of money playing defensive tackle, Albert Haynesworth. During the Sunday night game, Haynesworth looked like he was in “timeout” during the defensive meetings while on the sideline. The word on the street is that he may be out this week.

I believe that if the Texans can maintain a healthy balance of run and pass then I expect the Texans to win this weekend and be 2–0 going into the week 3 game against that JV team from Arlington! GO TEXANS!


SEAN GARZA

HMW

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