Kuharsky blog: His postgame analysis of Texans-Jets

[GP]

Meh. Not anything earth shattering in his blog entry, but it's somethin' to look at. I didn't watch the video because the comments section said it was, as usual, all Jets and a brief bit of Texans talk in it.

The Houston Texans are scheduled for only one prime-time game in the regular season, Week 16 at Indianapolis. But the new-look Texans got the Monday Night Football spotlight on the opening weekend of the preseason.

Viewers saw a team already thinned out at running back get thinner as a revamped defense did some nice things in a 20-16 win over the New York Jets.

One man's quick observations…

The Texans lacked some of firepower, with Andre Johnson (finger), Arian Foster (hamstring), Brian Cushing (knee) and prize free-agent cornerback Johnathan Joseph (groin) sitting out. We saw more, sooner, of Jacoby Jones, Derrick Ward, Darryl Sharpton and Jason Allen as a result.

Ward started and didn’t last long before suffering a head injury, leaving the team with only Chris Ogbonnaya and Javarris Williams as its running backs. Houston tried running Ogbonnaya inside too much, but got him going more as a bootleg pass target for Matt Leinart. He caught a short touchdown pass among his team-high six receptions for 67 yards. He ran for the game-winning touchdown from a yard out with just under 2:00 left.

Ankle injuries to Antoine Caldwell and Kasey Studdard could mean the team could be thinned for a time at guard as well.

Matt Schaub hit on just 2 of 5 passes before yielding to Leinart. Schaub was just a touch off and two of his targets, Owen Daniels and Kevin Walter, were unable to pull in balls they got their hands on.

The Texans shouldn’t feel obligated to use James Casey as the first-string fullback just because he was the primary plan once Vonta Leach left. They later signed free-agent Lawrence Vickers. He shouldn’t be waiting until the second half for a chance to impact the game. He quickly had a 22-yard catch and run.

Second-string inside linebacker Xavier Adibi had a nice night, though he was unblocked on one of his two sacks. Another No. 2, outside linebacker Jesse Nading, was also productive with a sack and a forced fumble. Second-round pick Brooks Reed looked good, showing good burst at the snap. He had one good rush followed by a nice recognition in which he stopped chasing to jump and knock down a pass.

The late work of undrafted rookie outside linebacker Bryan Braman out of West Texas A&M is the sort that makes a guy impossible to hide for a practice squad spot. No matter the caliber of the people attempting to block him, he showed a knack for getting to the quarterback, even if he allowed rookie quarterback Greg McElroy to shrug out of a sure sack on the final possession of the game.

Quintin Demps fielded kickoffs and punts early on without much affect. Trindon Holliday was out hurt and the team wisely didn’t choose to look at Jones and Danieal Manning, veteran starters who didn’t need to be exposed to injury risk on special teams.

[Showtime100]

I remember seeing that reel after the game. Had to be the same one unless they let Stuart Scott say "2 piece with a biscuit" twice on live tv (yeah, I know they have....lol). The highlight segment gets me to wonder if Mario owes Stu Scott money or something. Geezus, 1st game out of the block in a new role, I'd like to see THAT cok-eyed mf'er do it.

Other than that, all Jets.

EDIT: I guess the word for eyes pointing every which way "ck-eyed" is a no-no here...lol.

[El Tejano]

Originally Posted by Showtime100

I remember seeing that reel after the game. Had to be the same one unless they let Stuart Scott say "2 piece with a biscuit" twice on live tv (yeah, I know they have....lol). The highlight segment gets me to wonder if Mario owes Stu Scott money or something. Geezus, 1st game out of the block in a new role, I'd like to see THAT cok-eyed mf'er do it.

Other than that, all Jets.

EDIT: I guess the word for eyes pointing every which way "ck-eyed" is a no-no here...lol.

All of ESPN save for Michael Smith are going to hate on MW because he made them look stupid for falling in love with Bush and Young!

[Norg]

anthanoy Hill was just a major dissapointment

[AnthonyE]

Originally Posted by Norg

anthanoy Hill was just a major dissapointment

As an Anthony, I am offended at how you spelled his name.

[HJam72]

Originally Posted by El Tejano

All of ESPN save for Michael Smith are going to hate on MW because he made them look stupid for falling in love with Bush and Young!

I'm not so sure that he's really made them look stupid, but Bush and Young certainly have, LOL.

[GP]

Well, the sports media (ESPN especially) will flow to whatever side they think is trending.

When the Vick story broke a few years back, ESPN was running all these in-depth specials. Same thing with the Favre sexting issue. Yet they will also shakeweight motion those guys when they're on top. It's their job to flow with the rise and fall of a sports figure's career and personal life.

When you're on top of the world, everybody wants to look up at you. When you're in a deep hole of despair, everybody looks down on you. And the sports media will be there to show you a live shot of each scenario.

I think the response, today, is too quick. We're in an instant-access world right now. If there is blood in the water, the sharks come out to feed. Quickly. And I think the media senses a potential blood-in-the-water situation with Mario at LB in the new 3-4 defense. It's a contract year, Mario is the lone remaining "Superman" draft pick out of the Top 3 from that draft, and so the scrutiny will be intense.

This is why, as you guys might have read in other threads, I think that Mario stands a goods chance of falling victim to the situations around him...and he could very well decide (and his agent, too) that the 3-4 defense is not his cup of tea. And if he and his agent decided upon that, at any point in the season, then there stands a chance he and his agent could fold up the tent and go looking for a team who runs a 4-3 with a good d-coord in place and good players beside him. Then the story will be how Houston dissed VY, and then later dissed Mario, all because Houston SUCKS and they are the devil. That ought to play well with ESPN's main demographic...the crowd out there that still thinks David Carr wasn't given a good o-line, etc. LOL.

[Playoffs]

Originally Posted by GP

Well, the sports media (ESPN especially) will flow to whatever side they think is trending.

When the Vick story broke a few years back, ESPN was running all these in-depth specials. Same thing with the Favre sexting issue. Yet they will also shakeweight motion those guys when they're on top. It's their job to flow with the rise and fall of a sports figure's career and personal life.

I dunno, I felt the report of whoever that strange man was who was licking Rex Ryan's wife's feet was woefully under-covered.