 What a difference an all-world wide receiver makes.
Matt Schaub hooked up with Andre Johnson in the first quarter for a 73-yard touchdown pass on his way to a six catch, 120 yard receiving performance. The Texans defense, lead by Mario Williams, held the previously resurgent Saints offense to only 10 points including only 47 rushing yards. The 23-10 win pushes Houston to a 5-5 record, which is the latest into a season that they’ve ever been at the .500 mark. With a brutal schedule ahead, the Texans have a lot of positives to build on from this win.
The defense stepped up big time. Praise all around.
The game after Dunta Robinson went down with a season-ending injury, the Texans had what looked to be a really tough matchup on paper against a dangerous Saints passing attack. I said after the bye that the Texans’ secondary was going to have a really hard time against Drew Brees. Well, it wasn’t easy - but the Texans somehow managed to hold Brees to one touchdown and 290 yards, even without their best defensive player. Von Hutchins and Morlon Greenwood each had an interception, and Earl Cochran forced a Reggie Bush fumble at the Houston goal line to give the Texans a 3-2 win in the turnover column.
The Texans have had trouble the last few games making stops on third down, but they really rose to the occasion today. Several times in the second half, the Texans got stops on Brees and his receivers. The offense started to struggle after halftime, and the defensive performance on third down late in the game is what won this one for the Texans. Rookie corner Fred Bennett started again this week, and Gary Kubiak opted to move Hutchins to his original cornerback position rather than give DeMarcus ‘The Human Torch’ Faggins another start. Good call. Easy call, but good call.
Matt Schaub looked sharp in his return.
Schaub was on target for most of the game, and the Texans passing offense was clearly helped by Andre Johnson’s return. Passing lanes opened for Owen Daniels, Kevin Walter, and Andre Davis that weren’t quite as open in previous weeks. As expected, AJ was double-teamed several times - but Walter also saw a handful of double-teams, a product of his excellent play while Johnson was injured. Schaub went for 293 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions. He was only sacked once. The bye week clearly did wonders for his concussion and all the little nagging injuries he’d been playing through recently. The offensive line also deserves a lot of credit for some good pass and run blocking this week.
In simple terms, the offense played well in the first half, and struggled quite a bit in the second… but hey, that’s what team football is all about. The offense is down, the defense steps up. The defense struggles, the offense puts a good drive together. That’s not what we’re used to, but it’s what happened today.
How about some credit for Ron Dayne?
Texans fans love to decry Ron Dayne, and sometimes rightfully so. He’s certainly proven his worth the last two games. He hasn’t been spectacular by any stretch of the imagination - but suddenly his “two yards and a cloud of dust” has turned to 3.5 yards and a cloud of dust.” That doesn’t sound like much of a difference, but if you know football, you know it is. He’s still not fit to be a regular starting running back in the NFL, but the Texans don’t have any other options right now. Adimchinobi Echemandu is of course the fan favorite based on his 10 carry 62 yard performance in Week 8, but he promptly got in the coach’s dog house today by coughing up a fumble on his first and only carry.
Is Ahman Green headed for IR?
Dayne went for 89 yards on 21 carries. As a team the Texans finished with 103 rushing yards. That’s two games in a row Houston has gone over the 100-yard mark in run yards. Dayne is likely to get several more starts this season, as Ahman Green’s knee has turned out to be about as dependable as Emmitt Smith mastery of English. Green was very productive against Oakland two weeks ago for the short time he was in the game, but he literally hasn’t finished a single game this season. Allow me to beat a dead horse and say - I (and thousands of other Texans fans) told you so.
Mario Williams outplays Reggie Bush in their first head-to-head game.
Mario was active all game long, and he terrorized his blocker. He forced a fumble, recorded a sack, got three tackles, and assisted on three others. Williams takes a lot of (deserved) heat from a lot of people, including myself - but he moved his blocker all day, and blew up a handful of plays. He did a great job. However, you know me. I can find gloom and doom in the best of situations, and even with excellent game that Mario had, I have to ask - why does it take a showdown with Reggie Bush for Williams to step up? Mario is capable of this kind of play every single game of the season… but hey, we’ll take it.
For Reggie’s part, he rolled up 104 all-purpose yards, but once again failed to be the ‘gamebreaker’ he’s always been advertised to be. He didn’t have a play over 11 yards. Obviously 1.5 seasons and one head-to-head game isn’t nearly enough to say whether or not Williams or Bush is the better pick - but it’s certainly no stretch to say that Bush hasn’t done anything to make the Texans regret not taking him. You know Bush was highly motivated to stick it to the Texans today, but all he came up with was a few rushing yards, a bunch of short receptions, and another loss for his team.
Up next, a trip to Cleveland.
At the beginning of the season, next week’s game in Cleveland looked like it might be a gimmie. Clearly the way this season has gone for the Browns, it has shaped up to be one of the toughest games on the Texans’ schedule. Derek Anderson will be yet another tough test for our defense, and the Texans need a win if they want to play meaningful games down the stretch.
As tough as the AFC South is this season, it would take nothing short of a minor miracle for the Texans to make the playoffs. They’re already down several games in the division, and don’t own any tiebreakers. To make a playoff run, they need to keep the forward momentum going. If they can get a win in Cleveland, it’ll build up some steam for their much-anticipated rematch against the Titans. With AJ back on the field, and the defense suddenly playing out of their heads - the words ‘Houston Texans’ and ‘optimistic’ can be spoken in the same sentence without the word ‘crazy’ appearing in the next.
Please visit www.HoustonDiehards.com for much more!
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