WEEKLY TEXAN REPORT - SEAN GARZA - NOVEMBER 9, 2010

WEEKLY TEXAN REPORT 


Written by: Sean Garza
Date posted: 11/9/2010

After what can only be described as a poor effort against Indianapolis last Monday, the Texans had a short week to get prepared for the 3-5 San Diego Chargers.

At this point in the season, the Chargers shall receive the “What the @%&!” award. Congratulations! They are led by the top passer in the NFL , Phillip Rivers, with 2,649 yards passing through 8 games, the most productive TE in the NFL in Antonio Gates who has 663 yards and nine touchdowns which equals the NFL’s number-one rated offense piled on top of the number-one ranked defense.

Yet, they can only seem to show a 3-5 record. Both of these teams are desperate for a win. The Chargers on the verge of eliminating themselves from the playoff picture with a loss and the emergence of the Chiefs and Raiders. Yes, the Raiders. Don’t get me started. I’m still looking up in the sky looking for that asteroid to hit the earth. The Texans, desperate to keep their head above .500, need a win to keep within striking distance of the Colts and Titans for the AFC South title.

I was chatting it up with some of my fellow tailgaters (they don’t exactly have a tailgate name so until they do they’ll be “The Crew”) and we were discussing score predictions for the game, etc., and I happened to mention that I thought that the score would be 24-17 Texans and that Kareem Jackson would have an interception. I have to say that I felt pretty solid on my prediction until one of the Crew busted out with a Chargers win. What? Crazy, ridiculous! That’s why they play the game.

I was really hoping that the Texans wouldn’t fall into an Owen Daniels type “slump”. If you recall, when the TE went down with a knee problem last year, the Texans dropped four straight games that placed them into a deep 5-7 hole. When Daniels was healthy, he was a major weapon for Matt Schaub and it unfortunately took them four games to get them back to stride.

I worry that the loss of DeMeco Ryans on defense could be having the same ripple effect. You now have Brian Cushing playing out of position and a secondary that is playing the role of a magician’s assistant as receivers disappear in front of their eyes and re-appear in the end zone with the football in hand.

The game started out the best way possible. The Chargers held to a three-and-out from around the 10-yard line. The Texans block the punt and start out at the San Diego 8-yard line. The first play from scrimmage is an Arian Foster TD.

Wow, all three phases of the game came together and did what they're supposed to do. The defense played defense. The special teams blocked a punt and gave the offense great field position and the offense ran one play and scored a touchdown. I should have taken a picture or shot a video of that because I figured it could be the last time I ever see anything like that again. The crowd was pumped and the defense looked strong and focused. (Cue to San Diego’s second possession.)

Phillip Rivers actually looked Dan Marino-esque throwing the ball to people who were probably either street free agents or on the practice squad in prior weeks. With Antonio Gates inactive, Seyi Ajirotutu (that’s right, say it with me) led the practice squad…I mean...San Diego Chargers in receiving with 111 yards, including a 55-yard touchdown pass from Rivers.

Former Miami Dolphin and civilian Randy McMichael had two touchdown catches. I thought for sure that the Texans would buckle down against the “street squad”, however they instead made a no-name famous for a week. Rivers finished the game tossing four TD passes and throwing for 295 yards. For the most part, the Texans shut down the running game. Rookie Ryan Matthews had only 42 yards on nine carries.

The Texans were looking good on offense. Arian Foster made the offense look very good. He rushed for 127 yards on 27 carries with two TD’s. He also added 70 yards receiving and would have had a receiving touchdown, however it was called back due to the “Calvin Johnson Rule”. The fact that he didn’t have complete control of the football as he dived into the endzone is ridiculous. It was foolish when it happened to Calvin Johnson and it’s foolish now.

I haven’t seen the replay yet, however from what I’m told, the ball was caught outside the end zone and carried into end zone. To my understanding, when the ball crosses the plane of the end zone is when it’s a touchdown. When a runner jumps over the top of the pile on the goal line, when the ball crosses the plane it’s a TD. It doesn’t matter if he fumbles after the ball crosses the goal line. Stupid rule!

Lastly, QB Matt Schaub looked serviceable. 21 for 32 for 266 yards and one interception. The Texans played well enough in the first half to take a 20-14 lead at halftime, however, after only one field goal in the 3rd quarter, the Texans still had a chance to win the game in the 4th quarter. On a drive late in the 4th quarter deep in Charger territory, TE Joel Dreessen and WR Andre Johnson were not able to haul in two passes that could have kept the drive going and possibly given the Texans a good opportunity to win.

Look, I really thought Kareem Jackson would make a turn for the better by now. He is physical. He is a decent tackler, but he is still making the same mistakes as far as coverage. Late Monday, Green Bay CB Al Harris was released and I think that the Texans need to take a strong, hard look at him. If anything, to show Kareem how it’s done. What’s the worst that could happen?

We are right back in the same spot we are in now if it fails. If it’s successful, the secondary gets some much needed help and experience. I’m not talking about signing him to a long term deal or anything, but it makes sense to bring him in and see if he can help. The Texans are now sitting at 4-4. Thanks to the Philadelphia Eagles victory over the Colts, the Texans are only a game back of first place. Houston is typically a second-half team and I can only hope that this year is no exception.


SEAN GARZA


HMW


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