Scouts Inc - Browns at Texans

[Section516]

QB - Texans
RB - Texans
WR - Texans
OL - Texans
DL - Texans
LB - Texans
DB - Texans
ST - Browns
Coach - Texans

1. Don't get behind early: The Houston Texans are excellent at starting fast on offense. The Cleveland Browns can't let that happen on the road, as their offense isn't equipped to play from a substantial deficit. The Browns' three wins this year have come against some of the worst teams in the NFL. Houston has been very good in turnover margin, but Cleveland is great at protecting the football on offense.

2. Stop the run: Although the San Francisco 49ers ran for 174 yards against Cleveland last week, the Browns are a tough team to run against, especially in the red zone. However, Houston might feature the best rushing attack in the NFL. Arian Foster is a tremendous all-around player, and the Texans will also use Ben Tate plenty. With such a strong running game to threaten defenses, Matt Schaub has been exceptional throwing on first downs. He is also a great play-action passer. The Texans won the time of possession battle last week by a substantial margin in their victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

3. Win up front: Led by offensive coordinator Chris Myers- Whoops!, the Texans just might have the best offensive line in the league. But the interior of Cleveland's defensive line is quite good -- and it is massive. Cleveland's interior run defense is based on size and power, while Houston's front five is based on great technique and movement skills. It should be a very interesting battle.

4. Run against a loaded box: On a per-attempt basis, the Browns are among the worst rushing teams in the league. One reason for this is they have little threat in the deep passing game and the best way to defend this offense is to put a lot of bodies near the line of scrimmage.

5. Matchup to watch: Browns running backs vs. Texans LB Brian Cushing: Peyton Hillis was inactive last week, which left Montario Hardesty to handle the rushing load again. Then Hardesty left the game with a calf injury, and it was Chris Ogbonnaya who got the bulk of the carries. Regardless of who was in the game, the Browns could do very little on the ground in San Francisco. Cushing has stood out this year as a downhill player and has rebounded after a lackluster 2010 season.

6. Hit Colt McCoy: McCoy has particularly struggled against the blitz. With the Browns lacking elite receivers, Houston could be very aggressive in bringing added pressure. Cushing is an excellent blitzer, and the Texans have other quality pass rushers including Antonio Smith, who has excelled in the 3-4 system. Left tackle Joe Thomas remains a stalwart for the Browns, but they are weak at the guard positions, which is especially concerning considering McCoy was sacked four times last week.

7. Get Andre Johnson rolling: After sitting out with a hamstring injury, Johnson could return this week. If he does, he will likely to see a lot of Joe Haden. Haden is an exceptional young cover guy and could potentially give Johnson all he can handle. The Browns have been exceptional at limiting wide receiver production, and a healthy Johnson would present one of the season's toughest challenges.

8. Understand Cleveland's passing game: McCoy has been at his best outside the pocket and getting him on some designed movement makes a lot of sense for the Browns. But every defense knows that is what Cleveland needs to do to succeed since McCoy can't consistently beat a defense to all areas of the field from within the pocket. Plus, Cleveland doesn't possess a legitimate deep-threat weapon. Its offense has really struggled in the red zone -- primarily the running game -- so look for the Browns to throw the ball when nearing the end zone. Tight end Evan Moore could be a valuable target for McCoy down the middle of the field and in the red zone.

9. Get tight ends involved: Overall, the Browns' pass coverage has been quite good, but opposing tight ends have done rather well against them. James Casey has also battled injuries but should return for Houston this week. Casey is a unique player in that he is as much fullback as he is tight end, and his ability to line up in multiple places gives Houston more options and defined presnap reads. But Owen Daniels remains the top guy at tight end, and he's been steady and reliable.

10. Matchup to watch: Texans OT Eric Winston vs. Browns defensive end Jabaal Sheard: This should be a great individual matchup between two players who don't get the accolades they deserve. Winston is a great fit in Houston's zone blocking scheme and one of the better right tackles in football. Sheard is logging a ton of snaps and has had a fantastic rookie campaign both as a pass rusher and against the run. The Browns' pass defense has been excellent when rushing four or fewer, which puts added pressure on Sheard to get the job done.

Texans 30, Browns 10

[triplethreat]

Originally Posted by Section516

QB - Texans
RB - Texans
WR - Texans
OL - Texans
DL - Texans
LB - Texans
DB - Browns
ST - Texans
Coach - Texans

1. Don't get behind early: The Houston Texans are excellent at starting fast on offense. The Cleveland Browns can't let that happen on the road, as their offense isn't equipped to play from a substantial deficit. The Browns' three wins this year have come against some of the worst teams in the NFL. Houston has been very good in turnover margin, but Cleveland is great at protecting the football on offense.

2. Stop the run: Although the San Francisco 49ers ran for 174 yards against Cleveland last week, the Browns are a tough team to run against, especially in the red zone. However, Houston might feature the best rushing attack in the NFL. Arian Foster is a tremendous all-around player, and the Texans will also use Ben Tate plenty. With such a strong running game to threaten defenses, Matt Schaub has been exceptional throwing on first downs. He is also a great play-action passer. The Texans won the time of possession battle last week by a substantial margin in their victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

3. Win up front: Led by offensive coordinator Chris Myers- Whoops!, the Texans just might have the best offensive line in the league. But the interior of Cleveland's defensive line is quite good -- and it is massive. Cleveland's interior run defense is based on size and power, while Houston's front five is based on great technique and movement skills. It should be a very interesting battle.

4. Run against a loaded box: On a per-attempt basis, the Browns are among the worst rushing teams in the league. One reason for this is they have little threat in the deep passing game and the best way to defend this offense is to put a lot of bodies near the line of scrimmage.

5. Matchup to watch: Browns running backs vs. Texans LB Brian Cushing: Peyton Hillis was inactive last week, which left Montario Hardesty to handle the rushing load again. Then Hardesty left the game with a calf injury, and it was Chris Ogbonnaya who got the bulk of the carries. Regardless of who was in the game, the Browns could do very little on the ground in San Francisco. Cushing has stood out this year as a downhill player and has rebounded after a lackluster 2010 season.

6. Hit Colt McCoy: McCoy has particularly struggled against the blitz. With the Browns lacking elite receivers, Houston could be very aggressive in bringing added pressure. Cushing is an excellent blitzer, and the Texans have other quality pass rushers including Antonio Smith, who has excelled in the 3-4 system. Left tackle Joe Thomas remains a stalwart for the Browns, but they are weak at the guard positions, which is especially concerning considering McCoy was sacked four times last week.

7. Get Andre Johnson rolling: After sitting out with a hamstring injury, Johnson could return this week. If he does, he will likely to see a lot of Joe Haden. Haden is an exceptional young cover guy and could potentially give Johnson all he can handle. The Browns have been exceptional at limiting wide receiver production, and a healthy Johnson would present one of the season's toughest challenges.

8. Understand Cleveland's passing game: McCoy has been at his best outside the pocket and getting him on some designed movement makes a lot of sense for the Browns. But every defense knows that is what Cleveland needs to do to succeed since McCoy can't consistently beat a defense to all areas of the field from within the pocket. Plus, Cleveland doesn't possess a legitimate deep-threat weapon. Its offense has really struggled in the red zone -- primarily the running game -- so look for the Browns to throw the ball when nearing the end zone. Tight end Evan Moore could be a valuable target for McCoy down the middle of the field and in the red zone.

9. Get tight ends involved: Overall, the Browns' pass coverage has been quite good, but opposing tight ends have done rather well against them. James Casey has also battled injuries but should return for Houston this week. Casey is a unique player in that he is as much fullback as he is tight end, and his ability to line up in multiple places gives Houston more options and defined presnap reads. But Owen Daniels remains the top guy at tight end, and he's been steady and reliable.

10. Matchup to watch: Texans OT Eric Winston vs. Browns defensive end Jabaal Sheard: This should be a great individual matchup between two players who don't get the accolades they deserve. Winston is a great fit in Houston's zone blocking scheme and one of the better right tackles in football. Sheard is logging a ton of snaps and has had a fantastic rookie campaign both as a pass rusher and against the run. The Browns' pass defense has been excellent when rushing four or fewer, which puts added pressure on Sheard to get the job done.

Texans 30, Browns 10

Corrections made.. Our Special Teams are god awful this year. Two Blocked FG's, a fake FG for a TD, KR for a TD, and a PR TD that got called back on a bad call..

[badboy]

Thanks and after quick scan I agree. I look to have some play action by Schaub to loosen up the box. I would like to see Walter and JJ work the side lines also. Matt just need to keep his cool and pick the defense apart. I don't care if I see fireworks or not just steadily moving the ball and points put on board every series, even if 3 points. We then can overwhelm them in fourth quarter if needed. Our rotation of backs, WRs/TEs should wear them down eventually.

[BrwnsTown]

Originally Posted by triplethreat

Corrections made.. Our Special Teams are god awful this year. Two Blocked FG's, a fake FG for a TD, KR for a TD, and a PR TD that got called back on a bad call..

I would say the Texans have the edge in every category.

Since we have no wr's to worry about it instantly makes the Texans Secondary All Pro.

And as good as Haden is if AJ is healthy there is nothing he can do against the size and speed. And the rest of our DB's are just bodies taking up space....

[triplethreat]

Originally Posted by BrwnsTown

I would say the Texans have the edge in every category.

Since we have no wr's to worry about it instantly makes the Texans Secondary All Pro.

And as good as Haden is if AJ is healthy there is nothing he can do against the size and speed. And the rest of our DB's are just bodies taking up space....

I wouldn't say that. If I had to choose between the Texans DB's and ours I'd choose ours. TJ Ward is still a very good player for how young, and Usama Young has played damn good this season with Mike Adams at FS. Sheldon Brown is still a serviceable number 2 corner, the only problem is with our depth.

[BrwnsTown]

Originally Posted by triplethreat

I wouldn't say that. If I had to choose between the Texans DB's and ours I'd choose ours. TJ Ward is still a very good player for how young, and Usama Young has played damn good this season with Mike Adams at FS. Sheldon Brown is still a serviceable number 2 corner, the only problem is with our depth.

Have you been watching the Browns games this year?

Ward is torched regularly, aside from helping with the run, he is forever out of position, and was never known for coverage in college either.

Everyone else is just filler until H&H rebuild through the draft for the next 5-7 yrs. And those are Holmgrens words (5-7) rebuild.....

[triplethreat]

Originally Posted by BrwnsTown

Have you been watching the Browns games this year?

Ward is torched regularly, aside from helping with the run, he is forever out of position, and was never known for coverage in college either.

Everyone else is just filler until H&H rebuild through the draft for the next 5-7 yrs. And those are Holmgrens words (5-7) rebuild.....

Ward was getting regularly burned earlier in the year, but he's been really good the last couple of games if you haven't noticed. And obviously this team has not very much talent, but we do have some. Building blocks in Haden, Mack, Thomas, Little (hopefully), Hillis (if we work out a contract, a fair one at that), Ward, Sheard, Phil Taylor, and Athyba Rubin. All players who have a lot of potential going forward. Other holes sure need to be filled but we still have talent.

[BrwnsTown]

Originally Posted by triplethreat

Ward was getting regularly burned earlier in the year, but he's been really good the last couple of games if you haven't noticed. And obviously this team has not very much talent, but we do have some. Building blocks in Haden, Mack, Thomas, Little (hopefully), Hillis (if we work out a contract, a fair one at that), Ward, Sheard, Phil Taylor, and Athyba Rubin. All players who have a lot of potential going forward. Other holes sure need to be filled but we still have talent.

Hillis is gone. They are not going to sign him.
With 2 first rd picks, they either pick the offensive side to address mainly the right side of the line, Or they finish off the Defense.

Either way it wont matter, McCoy is not going to make it, and by the time they realize he is another one of those great in college players but not the pros type of player it will be back to square 1 trying to find a QB all over again.

Not to mention we need a RB that is built for the WCO scheme and preferably one that stays healthy. Add that to needing 2-3 wr's means constant head ache.

By the time they get it right are stud LT will be retiring.

We have one decent LB Jackson. The D line is OK not great, should develop but who knows. and we need another CB and a Safety and depth every where.

I think we will be the only WCO team in years to come that will have a Defense light years better than the Offense.

[Vinny]

Originally Posted by BrwnsTown

Hillis is gone. They are not going to sign him.
With 2 first rd picks, they either pick the offensive side to address mainly the right side of the line, Or they finish off the Defense.

Either way it wont matter, McCoy is not going to make it, and by the time they realize he is another one of those great in college players but not the pros type of player it will be back to square 1 trying to find a QB all over again.

Not to mention we need a RB that is built for the WCO scheme and preferably one that stays healthy. Add that to needing 2-3 wr's means constant head ache.

By the time they get it right are stud LT will be retiring.

We have one decent LB Jackson. The D line is OK not great, should develop but who knows. and we need another CB and a Safety and depth every where.

I think we will be the only WCO team in years to come that will have a Defense light years better than the Offense.

I was reading that Hillis turned down 16 mil Guaranteed. Sounds like a Dunta move.

[michaelm]

I feel like I'm in bizarro world. It's normally Texans fans debating how bad our team is.
I'm not sure I can handle this brave new world without drinking. Thankfully, it's almost 5:00!

[Vinny]

Originally Posted by michaelm

I feel like I'm in bizarro world. It's normally Texans fans debating how bad our team is.
I'm not sure I can handle this brave new world without drinking. Thankfully, it's almost 5:00!

feels kinda.....liberating.

[triplethreat]

Originally Posted by BrwnsTown

Hillis is gone. They are not going to sign him.
With 2 first rd picks, they either pick the offensive side to address mainly the right side of the line, Or they finish off the Defense.

Either way it wont matter, McCoy is not going to make it, and by the time they realize he is another one of those great in college players but not the pros type of player it will be back to square 1 trying to find a QB all over again.

Not to mention we need a RB that is built for the WCO scheme and preferably one that stays healthy. Add that to needing 2-3 wr's means constant head ache.

By the time they get it right are stud LT will be retiring.

We have one decent LB Jackson. The D line is OK not great, should develop but who knows. and we need another CB and a Safety and depth every where.

I think we will be the only WCO team in years to come that will have a Defense light years better than the Offense.

First off I disagree on the Hillis front, once we see what Forte signs for we will be able to gauge what we should give him. Second there is no way we draft a RT with how high our first pick is going to be, so we could very well go WR in a deep class, or even LB. Saying we need 2-3 WR's? We need one more, we have Little, and we have capable slot guys already. Don't know where that is coming from. The D-Line is EXTREMELY young, and is going to be great in a few years. We have young talent all around. This team is going to be good in a few years and thats thanks to Heckert for becoming a great draft-er for this team. H&H know how to grade talent.

As for the Texans this week, you guys are going to smash us, because we just can't seem to put up points on the board without our top playmaker in Hillis. Our offense is rather atrocious and its our first year in the WCO (The lockout really hurt us). I have great love for the fan base in Houston because you have gone through very similar circumstances as us with the Oilers leaving. (Even though they could never get to the SB, we had the same problem). It just draws me closer to the fans in Houston and thus I always root for them when I get the chance. Nice to see you guys finally have a leg up in the air. Looking to make a playoff run.

[BrwnsTown]

Originally Posted by triplethreat

First off I disagree on the Hillis front, once we see what Forte signs for we will be able to gauge what we should give him. Second there is no way we draft a RT with how high our first pick is going to be, so we could very well go WR in a deep class, or even LB. Saying we need 2-3 WR's? We need one more, we have Little, and we have capable slot guys already. Don't know where that is coming from. The D-Line is EXTREMELY young, and is going to be great in a few years. We have young talent all around. This team is going to be good in a few years and thats thanks to Heckert for becoming a great draft-er for this team. H&H know how to grade talent.

As for the Texans this week, you guys are going to smash us, because we just can't seem to put up points on the board without our top playmaker in Hillis. Our offense is rather atrocious and its our first year in the WCO (The lockout really hurt us). I have great love for the fan base in Houston because you have gone through very similar circumstances as us with the Oilers leaving. (Even though they could never get to the SB, we had the same problem). It just draws me closer to the fans in Houston and thus I always root for them when I get the chance. Nice to see you guys finally have a leg up in the air. Looking to make a playoff run.

Hillis is not a WC back, and is a Mangini hold over. He is gone.
As far as how high we pick there are 9 teams worse than us and a bunch with 3-4 wins. We could easily be picking 17 and later with ATL's pick we get.

Capable slot guys? Who? Little is a project the dude was a RB coming out of High school and played WR one year and college and then missed the entire next year and now is trying to learn to play WR in a WCO at the NFL level with no Vet. to help.

Cribbs is not a WR, MoMass is at best a 3 or 4. Robiskie is cut, Norwood is undersized, Mitchell is a project, the TE Jordon another project.Evan Moore never sees the field.

The entire right side of the line is garbage, and we have a bunch of backs that cant stay healthy.

The D line has some players no depth. We have 1 LB Jackson as long as he stays healthy. Fujita is old and done, Gocong is just a body, Haden and maybe Ward everyone else on D is just there because we have nothing else.

And McCoy still has yet to show he can be a quality starting QB at the NFL level.

5-7 years and that is if every draft pick hits and McCoy pans out and they suffer no career ending injuries to key players.

[BrwnsTown]

Originally Posted by Vinny

I was reading that Hillis turned down 16 mil Guaranteed. Sounds like a Dunta move.

Everything is rumors, there has been no verified offers talk here in Cleveland...Everything is hush hush..

The simple fact is Hillis does not fit in the WCO, he needs a FB in front, and Shurmur and Holmgren don't run that type of offense. And he was Mangini guy.

What will suck is if he ends up on the Bengals or Steelers next year....

[Dutchrudder]

Things I have learned from this thread:

The Texans will win by a lot on Sunday.
Browns fans have no faith in their team.
TJ Ward is the Browns' Kareem Jackson.

[BrwnsTown]

Originally Posted by Dutchrudder

Things I have learned from this thread:

The Texans will win by a lot on Sunday.
Browns fans have no faith in their team.
TJ Ward is the Browns' Kareem Jackson.

after sunday you will see why...

[texdawg]

Ok guys, here's the most positive thing I can come up in support of the Browns:

Maybe some of the Browns with Texas ties do not want to get totally embarrassed and they some how play out of their minds. Hers a list of some guys who went to college in Texas:

Phil Dawson K Texas
Colt McCoy QB Texas
Chris Obewonkenobe RB Texas
Phil Taylor DT Texas

and most importantly:

Ryan Pontbriand LS Rice

I'm sure there are others from Texas, this was just a college list.

Hey, thats got to be good for at least 6 points LOL

[srrono]

Originally Posted by texdawg

Ok guys, here's the most positive thing I can come up in support of the Browns:

Maybe some of the Browns with Texas ties do not want to get totally embarrassed and they some how play out of their minds. Hers a list of some guys who went to college in Texas:

Phil Dawson K Texas
Colt McCoy QB Texas
Chris Obewonkenobe RB Texas
Phil Taylor DT Texas

and most importantly:

Ryan Pontbriand LS Rice

I'm sure there are others from Texas, this was just a college list.

Hey, thats got to be good for at least 6 points LOL

Phil Taylor DT Baylor

[texdawg]

Originally Posted by srrono

Phil Taylor DT Baylor

Good catch--I knew that and still screwed it up. Sorry

[srrono]

A lot of Texan fans wanted Phil Taylor durring the draft, its going to be intresting to see him play.