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AFC South Foes Spring Check Up

It's tough to be in this division, that's for sure. But, unless something happens we can't predict, I'm still going with the Colts and Jaguars fighting for 1st and 2nd place, and the Texans and Titans fighting to stay out last place.
 
Thorn said:
It's tough to be in this division, that's for sure. But, unless something happens we can't predict, I'm still going with the Colts and Jaguars fighting for 1st and 2nd place, and the Texans and Titans fighting to stay out last place.
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That's my take on it too. I would like to say that I think the Texans are going to go .500 in the division, and I think we can, but unfortunitly until the games are played and we see how the team is on the field, I am not saying the Texans are sweeping anyone. Our injury history seems to always strike at the wrong time. Yes I know every team has it's share of injuries but we seem to get more than our share and with our lack of depth in the past it hurts us more than it would hurt some teams. This season is a new season and hopefully all that will change.
 
Personally, I have a feeling that some of our division teams are gonna make cheap hits on us again, like they did last year. I'm praying that they don't, but I wouldn't put it past 'em. That's just my paranoid take on it though.
 
how the media makes comments like this one:
"Young made some strides in 2007 by getting his completion percentage to 62.3, but he must improve his touchdown-to-interception ratio (9-17)."
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without following it up with commets like "why the hell is this guy even a starter?"

baffles me.

see link above.
 
Overalls said:
That's my take on it too. I would like to say that I think the Texans are going to go .500 in the division, and I think we can, but unfortunitly until the games are played and we see how the team is on the field, I am not saying the Texans are sweeping anyone. Our injury history seems to always strike at the wrong time. Yes I know every team has it's share of injuries but we seem to get more than our share and with our lack of depth in the past it hurts us more than it would hurt some teams. This season is a new season and hopefully all that will change.
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Maybe it's me, but after reading those articles it seems like the tacks are the ones with very little depth and the Colts aren't much better off. The tacks appear thin on the D-line, at WR and RB. The Colts appear thin on the O-line and the whole defense, especially if Freeney and Sanders don't come back full strength. I don't know how good any of the backups are for either team, but maybe this year when the injuries come (and they will come for everybody) it won't be our team with the lack of depth anymore. JMHO!
 
Insideop said:
Maybe it's me, but after reading those articles it seems like the tacks are the ones with very little depth and the Colts aren't much better off. The tacks appear thin on the D-line, at WR and RB. The Colts appear thin on the O-line and the whole defense, especially if Freeney and Sanders don't come back full strength. I don't know how good any of the backups are for either team, but maybe this year when the injuries come (and they will come for everybody) it won't be our team with the lack of depth anymore. JMHO!
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Every team in our division took a step backwards and we took a step forward IMO.


On Defense
Jacksonville & Tenn both lost significant D-linemen that made big contributions & replaced them with far less talented players. Jags - Stroud for an underachieving Kennedy and Tenn - Antwan Odom and Travis LaBoy for old and decrepit Kearse.

Indy to start the season with Sanders and Freeney likely to be out for extended period of time. Remember how bad their D looked last time Sanders was out? When they do come back how long will it be before they get injured again? Combine Sanders physical play with his small size and recent injury history and you have a recipe for disaster. Freeney relies on his quick burst and with his foot problems how much longer can he be effective?

Add all this up and our (fingers crossed) improved running game and we could end up doing some damage in our division.


On offense
Tenn still has VY starting. As long as he continues to play like he has they arent going anywhere. Hiemindinger will help but I dont see VY making big improvements with the talent he has around him.

Jacksonville signed a couple of crappy overrated WR's that haven’t had any impact with their prior teams and lost their only good backup QB (thanks to us).

Indy is still has a potent offense but with Harrisons age coming into play, the loss of OL Scott and our hopefully improved pass rush hopefully we can slow them down enough to compete with em.
 
Insideop said:
Maybe it's me, but after reading those articles it seems like the tacks are the ones with very little depth and the Colts aren't much better off. The tacks appear thin on the D-line, at WR and RB. The Colts appear thin on the O-line and the whole defense, especially if Freeney and Sanders don't come back full strength. I don't know how good any of the backups are for either team, but maybe this year when the injuries come (and they will come for everybody) it won't be our team with the lack of depth anymore. JMHO!
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However, with the Colts, having a truly elite QB is enough to make up for other areas of deficit. Unfortunately, unless Peyton gets injured the Colts will consistantly be difficult to deal with- even with other injuries, not unlike what happened to them last year with MHarrison, DClark, RMathis, BSanders, DFreeney all getting injured.
 
Dungy will find players. The key to the colts always is putting Manning on ground early in the first quarter. Once he gets roughed up a couple of times he will get "happy" feet. With his sprung rat trap release and a bag full of pattens under 2.5 seconds to execute, not an easy chore.

The questions we had last year are still there. Do we have a LB who can run with elite tight ends and RBs ? The Crumpler pick up by the tacks was aimed right at the Texans LB corp. Can we block an elite DT on top of his game? Every time we ran across one of those two things, we lost. Pretty simple. So is blocking the DE/DT twist the Tacks start running as soon a they get off the bus.

But until the o-line starts to "communicate", we had great deal of trouble actually executing the pass off between the T & G.

VY got hurt last year in the lower leg. The aggregate of all these little "dingies" will continue to pile up until he can start to function in the pocket like a true NFL QB. The more he runs. the more injuries he will incur. The shorter his career. Two new starters @ guard ought to be right in Okoye's wheel house. If we can keep him healthy, he should cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war even with Mawae at center.

Jags are way ahead of us. Until we can shut down their rushing attack, read LBs once again, we'll have trouble with them. With the Tacks as well as the Jags, they don't need all of their receivers to be hot...they just need one guy to be hot. They will match that one guy with the weakest link in the LB corp. Every team in the league has been exploiting that for four years and until we stop it, they're going to keep on picking at it.

I'm not in the room and I don't know for squat, my team I start looking at a big nickel. Taking one of the LBs out and sticking in one of our big safties or the new LB as a spy. Cover the shorter routes taking away the short passing game from Vincent & Garrard. and I'd be working on the Tennessee twist from the time the o-line wakes up, until they go to bed. Every one we face next year will look at the two Tacks game films for '07 and run it at the o-line until they can block it...consistently. Too many QBs ? We may not have enough.
 
Color me crazy, but I look for the Texans to go 4-2 in the division.

The depth in the LB corp is tremendous.
Whether it's Colvin or Adibi or Moffitt, they all have coverage skill.

I haven't seen much of Thompson, Bentley and Diles.

But all in all, it looks like we have the best front seven ever.

The O-line is quicker and more athletic.
It should give our QBs a fraction longer.

Young guys have had some time to develop.
Even the coaching staff has had time to better themselves.

We're on the rise, baby!
 
I love you guys' enthusiasm but I will continue to be nervous as long as Richard Smith runs our defense.

We showed we can put some pts on the board with our #1 guys in the M.A.S.H. unit.
Man, I hope Ray Rhodes is teaching our DBs to jam WRs at the line. Making WRs take an extra half-second (or whatever) to get into their routes could help the effectiveness of the pass rush.
 
I believe this has got to be the make or break year for Richard Smith. If our defense isn't more aggressive than in the past, I believe he will be history. I'm extremely happy Ray Rhodes is with us and I believe he'll make a difference in the play of our safeties.

As far as our division rivals taking cheap shots at Schaub, I think our OL under Gibbs won't put up with any BS this year. The ZBS should improve our running game significantly. I think the Texans have a bona fide chance at post season play. Keeping my fingers crossed in reference to the injury bug.
 
A-B said:
I remember that. I think it was a pick the QB coach or the QB and VY won.

B/c VYs lack of passing talent was Norm's fault(sarcasm)
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Well, it didn't help when Norm basically called him a ***** 1/2 way through the season.

Talk about motivational strategy fail.
 
Texans have been plagued by their Offensive line for as long as I can remember, but the way I see it this plague is going to be a thing of the the past for some time to come given the fact that the issue has finally emerged to being on the front burner for this franchise rather than the back burner role it has assumed up to this point...

The solid depth at QB bodes well for the Titans long term projections over all the teams in this division. Manning, Garrard, and VY have no legitimate backup to come and pose a threat in this league @ the time IMO. Given the fact that 2 of the QB's in this division depend more on their legs than their arms means injuries to the QB could have a devasting impact to the Jags and Titans this season, not to mention Indy who's beat up defense is going to need the offense to step up even further this season.

Texans have gained tremendous strength at the point of attack both on defense as well as offense, and that is just what the doctor ordered given the direction the modern game is heading in. Games are won and lost @ the trenches.

The Texans secondary and LB corp appear to be the weakest links on the team, but I imagine that once Robinson returns, that the heat of the pass rush will be freed up even further to do some damage. That is going to be the biggest factor this team has going for it. To be hitting this good on the most vital aspect of the game IMO is tremdous.

Protecting the flats from the dink and dunk factor has got to be the biggest priority considering this is where the majority of passing play's will be directed too given the heat the D will be bringing in the form of pressure.

Texans did address the secondary woes in the draft, question remains how long before these rookies can make an impact in the secondary?

Xavier Adibi is just what the doctor ordered as far as adding coverage to the TE's and RB's coming out of the backfield, Speed is what you need at lb in the coverage department and this is exactly what Adibi brings.


Speaking of speed, Antwaun molden has the size and speed you look for in a shutdown cornerback, it seems as though all this kid needs is time to develop, question is how much time and at what expense is this development going to have on a team in desperate need to shore up their secondary being in a division with the likes of Peyton Manning?

The key to the secondaries success, being the weakest link on the team at the beggining of the season, will be the strength of the pass rush which happens to be the strength of this team at the moment.

Key I imagine will be trying to allow the great moments of the pass rush make up for the atrocious ones the seconary will face early in the season.

h
 
"Texans have been plagued by their Offensive line for as long as I can remember"........Then you must be only 6 years old because that's as long as the Texans have been here. Either you need to grow up, or catchup. Naw, I guess that's asking too much for a Hags fan.
 
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