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The Film Room: Why The Patriots Should Be So Very, Very Afraid Of The Texans

EXCELLENT breakdown of the Patriots schemes and how we should attack, with film to back it up. Very well done and a MUST read.

Quote:

I'm not going to lie. Re-watching the Week 14 match-up with the Patriots was tough. It was like watching a car crash that you know could have been prevented if the driver decided to stay on the old familiar highway rather than taking a detour on icy back roads. The hardest part for me was knowing that the game was very winnable, and that it could (and should) have gone the Texans' way if they did not forget how to play their own patented brand of football – run the ball on the edges, play defense, capitalize on turnovers, don’t make mistakes, and just do enough to move the chains and eat clock. Houston did none of those things, and they paid dearly for it.

One bad interception here, a missed fumble recovery there, and a couple ill-advised play calls later, the Texans were down 21-0. They aren't built for that. New England is constructed on the mentality of a cobra – strike quick, strike hard, and don’t stop until the enemy dies. Houston is designed like a python – they grab hold and suffocate their foes to death slowly, painfully, and efficiently. Gary Kubiak can’t come back from 21 points in ten minutes, but if it’s a tie game and you need one ten minute drive to close the half and keep Tom Brady off the field--that he can do in spades.

I don’t expect this game to be anything like the first, especially if the Bengals Wild Card match-up is any indication. Last week I studied arguably the most lethal defense in football (especially over the second half of the season, where in my opinion they were the best defense in the league) and found one weakness – play action passing to tight ends. Low and behold, the Texans happen to be really, really good at passing to tight ends, and Owen Daniels went off for nine catches and over 90 yards (just as I predicted). Also making his return was Garrett Graham, Houston’s second tight end; Graham missed the New England Monday nighter. His presence was felt modestly in the pass game on Saturday afternoon, but in both pass protection and run blocking, he proved just how important he really is. Matt Schaub was barely sniffed by the best front four in the league, and Houston ran the ball with authority on the edges. Schaub also showed much, much better decision making as a passer than in recent weeks (pick six notwithstanding), and finally started getting his three time Pro Bowl running back involved as a receiver of something other than screen passes. Foster was used for the first time in a long time as Schaub’s go-to hot receiver, and he made the Bengals' linebacking corps look silly in open space all day long. It was vintage Foster, and it felt damn good to watch.

After reviewing and making my notes on several Patriots games (including the Texans match-up), as well as reviewing Houston’s wild card game, I've determined four rules that the Texans absolutely must follow if they want to score enough points to upset New England this weekend.

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