Looking ahead to the Washington Redskins

[redskins11]

I have visited this site the past couple years. Really good site compared to other teams. I liked how most of you guys took a more objective approach to the Cushing matter vs every single pats fan who swore their team did nothing wrong in the spygate matter and bought Coach Bs "we had a different interpretation of the rules" schtick.

It seems like some have cherry picked the more homeristic skins fans comments to respond to and cast all skins fans as morons. I guess thats just the way message boards work. Out of 10 posts on any message board, 9 are reasonable and intelligent and 1 is someone talking out their rear. Guess which one oppossing fans pick to cut and paste on their own message board as an example of that teams fanbase?

IMO Cooley and Daniels are almost exactly the same tight ends. I rank them somewhere between the 4-6 best ends in the league after Clark, Davis, Witten and Gates. Gonzalez has slowed down somewhat but years past he would be higher as well.

Both Cooley and Daniels were injured in '09.

In '08 Cooley had 83 catches for 849 yds; '07 66 catches for 786 yds; '06 57 catches for 734 yds; '05 71 catches for 774 yds.

In '08 Daniels had 70 cathces for 862 yds; '07 he had 63 catches for 768 yds.

I dont know aobut you guys, but thats pretty dang similar considering Daniels has had the same coaches and schemes in a high power aerial attack while Cooley has endured repeated coaching changes and for teh past 2 years under Zorn hae had a total of 3 different routes on his route tree. Of course, Daniels gets credit for being a part of and making the Texans passing attack what it is as well.

On top of that, we have Fred Davis an athletic 2nd round pick who put up 48 catches, 509 yds and 6 tds in 10 starts for the injured Cooley last year. Thats pretty good production and depth from your second tight end.

Who is the Texans 2nd tight end? What did he put up last year in Daniels absence? Im honestly asking, not being sarcastic.

I guess my point is, our tight ends are about even with me giving the edge to us because of Davis. i also think Cooley will continue to be a McNabb favorite as he put up 6 catches and 80 yds on some big plays compared to Daniels 1 catch for 6 yds.

Also, everyone respects the Texans offense and knows they have a young promising defense being built. Your not flying under anyones radar! You get respect so stop it already with this "noone respects us" crap. Accept the respect, accept that your are a legit top 10 team, your not the Texans of old and you should make the playoffs this year.

 

[gtexan02]

They are really drinking the koolaid and grasping at straws over there.

Cut them some slack. They were 4-12 last year and just had a major overhaul. They also just beat their biggest division rivals, and probably the most annoying NFL team. If you can't drink the koolaid now, when can you?

 

[The Pencil Neck]

On top of that, we have Fred Davis an athletic 2nd round pick who put up 48 catches, 509 yds and 6 tds in 10 starts for the injured Cooley last year. Thats pretty good production and depth from your second tight end.

Who is the Texans 2nd tight end? What did he put up last year in Daniels absence? Im honestly asking, not being sarcastic.

Last year, our 2nd TE was Joel Dreessen who caught 26 for 320 yards but only 1 TD and had 11 starts but we use him primarily as a blocking TE and he starts even when OD starts. And the 3rd was then-rookie James Casey who caught 6 for 64 yards. We've got a lot of hopes for James Casey although he's more of an H-Back than our other TE's.

Our 4th TE is a rookie this year, Garrett Graham who is a clone of OD from Wisconsin and he's probably our most talented TE.

The thing is that we consider TE to be an extremely packed position on this team. So it's difficult to think that someone has better TE's than we do.

I'll personally consider this a wash although I really don't think the depth and talent at the TE position is going to be a deciding factor in this game.

 

[Ole Miss Texan]

Owen Daniels is awesome but he's coming off injury. Played some last week but didn't light it up. He's an unknown for me right now.

Joel Dreessen is our primary backup and took over Owen's spot. Not a household name and you don't really expect much but he does very very well with our offense. Doesn't light up the stat sheet but he's they type that does his job well on every play. Really came on strong at the end of last year.

James Casey is a young TE from Rice we drafted last year. Dude will catch anything thrown at him.

Garrett Graham is our 4th TE and is an Owen Daniels clone. Both from Wisconsin.

All in all our TE's don't really scare anybody on paper (outside OD), but for our offense are really really good. Not guys you want for fantasy football, but they're definitely contributors on our team.

 

[Ole Miss Texan]

I'll personally consider this a wash although I really don't think the depth and talent at the TE position is going to be a deciding factor in this game.

Beat me to it! I agree 100% with you. Specific to THIS game, depth is very unlikely to make a huge impact. I would give Washington the "edge" on the position just because OD is coming off injury. But then I didn't realize Cooley was coming off injury as well!!

I think Cooley will have more of an impact because we'll be spreading the ball around to AJ, Jacoby, Walter plus Owen/Dreessen. McNabb will target Cooley (as he should) more than we'll target Owen, but that's just a product of matchups not a product of one TE being better than the other.

 

[El Tejano]

Why are you tired of his confidence? I think it is a good thing.

Ha Ha, my bad? I'm wary of his confidence. Didn't feel right to me on Sunday.

 

[Ryan]

Their boards have tons and tons of absolute facepalm posts

Kyle Shannahan built that offense from ground up.

What kinda stupid name is the Texans anyways, do they want a fan base outside of Texas??? i just feel like with that name you would be a complete poser wearing their jersey if you were not from Texas....Then the fact that they(TX) already has "Americas team" why the hell did they get the Texans.....anyways that was off topic.

The Texans have known Manning's scheme for years. Didn't seem to help a whole lot.

so winning the game means nothing? But apparently garbage stats mean something.

Houston has Andre Johnson, and Schaub, and yes Foster, but overall, up and down the roster I don't think Houston's offense is a powerhouse like Dallas's is (or at least has the potential to be.

Also, if the Colts can shut down Andre Johnson, so can we.

I've never seen more justifying than i have on that board just now...seems like they're just trying to feel better about their offense that scored a whopping 6 points and played against an offense who has had problems all throughout preseason.

 

[houstonspartan]

Nothing mean about what I said. I was telling the truth. Very ignorant statement made by some Redskins fan.

I could care less about the national attention the Texans have gotten...I know enough about every NFL team to not make ignorant comments despite their media coverage...If you don't know something, don't speak on it...Otherwise you'll probably get called out..



Those are not ignorant comments to you?

I agree. Whenver someone questions our recieving core, our tight ends and our overall passing game, I automatically know that I'm dealing with a dumbass and I tune them out immediately.

 

[Rey]

Who is the Texans 2nd tight end? What did he put up last year in Daniels absence? Im honestly asking, not being sarcastic.

I don't think we target our TE as much as you guys do. I don't have any actual numbers on that, but I am almost positive. That said, Davis had 48 receptions to Dreesen's 26 (our back-up TE).

Davis beat Dreesen by about, 180 yards. He had 6TD's to Dreesen's 1 TD. Dreesen did beat him in recpetions longer than 20 yards with 6 to Davis' 4. But there is more to being a TE than simply catching the ball...Blocking is a big part of that and Dreesen and OD are both pretty good blockers.

I guess my point is, our tight ends are about even with me giving the edge to us because of Davis. i also think Cooley will continue to be a McNabb favorite as he put up 6 catches and 80 yds on some big plays compared to Daniels 1 catch for 6 yds.

We have a lot of receiving threats...Our receivers all the way down to 5th string are very capable players...While our TE's are pretty good, we grew into a team last year that fed our receivers a lot.

If you look at the receptions from last year by the wr's it's not even close...Santana was way down the list as a primary target...Your second wideout from last year was Randal El with 50 recpetions and your third I believe was Kelly and Thomas who had 25 a piece...Randal El is no longer with your team...

Altogether your whole group of wide outs caught about 160 passes while our first and second receiver did that by themselves...Altogether our group caught about 70 more balls at the WR position.

And before you say that we passed it more than you guys did, we didn't. We actually had about 50 more rushing attempts.

So what is my point with all this?

I do not put a lot of stock in the Skins TE's being better...simply because overall it seems that the WR talent is weak so I would expect them to be more involved in the passing game.

This is not to say that they are not a talented group, but if I had to choose your group of TE's or our group then I'd choose our group 8 days a weak. We are very deep and talented there, and when they are thrown to they normally make the catch and pick up good yardage.

 

[houstonspartan]

Their boards have tons and tons of absolute facepalm posts














so winning the game means nothing? But apparently garbage stats mean something.












I've never seen more justifying than i have on that board just now...seems like they're just trying to feel better about their offense that scored a whopping 6 points and played against an offense who has had problems all throughout preseason.

You have to ignore it. Whenver I see someone questioning our offense, I automatically know I'm dealing with an un-informed, uneducated, clueless football fan, and I pretty much ignore them.

 

[redskins11]

Thanks pencil neck and Ole Miss, thats some good info.

I also agree that this game Cooley should be targeted more than Daniels since McNabb is just starting in our scheme and Cooley does a great job of finding cushions in the zones and giving his QB a good reliable target.

With that said, we are just starting out in the 3-4 and outside of Fletcher, I dont think any of our LBs have shown they can cover a solid TE like Daniels. If I was an OC I would try and get mismatches by moving Daniels around to get him lined up against Rocky McIntosh or Orakpo. Both are big strong linebackers who never really had to learn how to cover a TE until a few months ago. I would try to exploit their unproven coverage skills.

For whatever reason, Witten was a non-factor last week.

Who is Jacoby?

edit - rey, dang good post. Glad I didnt come on here to argue. Like I said or should have said, you guys are the favorites in this game hands down. FYI our house was rockin Sunday night so expect a hostile loud stadium Sunday.

 

[Rey]

On top of that, we have Fred Davis an athletic 2nd round pick who put up 48 catches, 509 yds and 6 tds in 10 starts for the injured Cooley last year. Thats pretty good production and depth from your second tight end.

Who is the Texans 2nd tight end? What did he put up last year in Daniels absence? Im honestly asking, not being sarcastic.

Found it.

Davis was targeted 76 times (more than our second WR and only 50 less times than Santana Moss) Dreesen was targeted 39 times.

Fred Davis was targeted more than Randal El.

If OD or Dreesen were in that offense last year I think they would have equally as good if not better stats.

Like I said in an earlier post, I can see a wash there at best and the TE position battle will likely not be a determining factor in this game.

 

[El Tejano]

Oh, come on.

I think that's really very sweet and gracious. It's really nice when a fan of an old washed up team that hasn't been relevant for 15 years or so wants to sit around and reminisce about the good old days.

I've got a couple of friends who are Raiders fans and it's the same sort of thing.

Just do like I do and explain to them that we are only concerned about what another team has done since 2002 because that is when our team started. It shuts everyone up pretty fast and makes them realize how crappy they've been since 2002.

 

[thunderkyss]

You're comparing the (younger) McNabb team that had just went to the Super Bowl, with the current (older) McNabb team that went 4-12 last year? Mario and DeMeco were both rookies back then, too. Oh, and the Texans definitely didn't come out with any fire against the Jets last season.

Our offense wasn't clicking and we only got one turnover.

The offense looked pretty good (with the exception of the Saints game) this preseason and we have no real reason to believe that Schaub and Co forgot how to pass the ball. They were just not in rhythm part of that was a problem getting into the rhythm because we ran so much.

Mike

Truth be told, against the Jets it was the same as with the Colts, except we couldn't run the ball, and we played a better defense.

Defensively we played as well, with just as much fire & intensity, but we made 3 maybe four mistakes, that bit us pretty hard.

 

[Texan_Bill]

Thanks pencil neck and Ole Miss, thats some good info.

I also agree that this game Cooley should be targeted more than Daniels since McNabb is just starting in our scheme and Cooley does a great job of finding cushions in the zones and giving his QB a good reliable target.

With that said, we are just starting out in the 3-4 and outside of Fletcher, I dont think any of our LBs have shown they can cover a solid TE like Daniels. If I was an OC I would try and get mismatches by moving Daniels around to get him lined up against Rocky McIntosh or Orakpo. Both are big strong linebackers who never really had to learn how to cover a TE until a few months ago. I would try to exploit their unproven coverage skills.

For whatever reason, Witten was a non-factor last week.

Who is Jacoby?

edit - rey, dang good post. Glad I didnt come on here to argue. Like I said or should have said, you guys are the favorites in this game hands down. FYI our house was rockin Sunday night so expect a hostile loud stadium Sunday.

Jacoby Jones:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EixvqgqlLpQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHcAvBCycvc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzKHhVMsAo0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyFMRYUSNjI&feature=related

 

[Rey]

edit - rey, dang good post. Glad I didnt come on here to argue. Like I said or should have said, you guys are the favorites in this game hands down. FYI our house was rockin Sunday night so expect a hostile loud stadium Sunday.

Definitely...I hope that it is a good entertaining game...

Even though I give us the edge in this game, I know anything can happen. Any given Sunday, and the Redskins are not what I'd consider to be a chump team. I think you guys have a lot of talent over there. I think we'll win the game, but if we don't then you guys will have definitely earned it.

And btw, don't be a stranger. We have a lot of visiting fans that post here regularly. Please come back and talk football with us after the game no matter the results.

We atleast have one thing in common and that is a mutual loathing for anything Cowboys...

 

[El Tejano]

The Cowboys played horrible, sure, but you would have to credit the Redskins defense.

Coming into this season the Cowboys have had one of the most explosive offenses over the past few seasons.

They have "played bad" and still put up 21 points on teams with lesser defense.

There is a reason the Cowboys could not hit on big plays downfield, with the exception of their final drive and the big pass to Miles Austin.

I will give yall credit but we here in Texas have the inconvenience of seeing their games every week. We also had the opportunity to play them in preseason. That Cowboys offense showed it was going to suck in preseason. They only scored one offensive TD in the preseason and that was because the defense ran a INT back to the 8 yard line. The argument that it's only preseason is nullified when you see how it translated to their opening game. They couldn't even get a FG. Yall brought the heat and trust me that worries me for our game but very quietly Schaub has been showing to be a better QB at dealing with blitzes than Tony Romo

Andre Johnson is a better WR then anyone on the Cowboys roster could ever hope to be, I'll give you guys that, but I am sure much of the focus of our secondary will be covering him with help from a safety over the top, to take away big play potential. He will probably still have a decent game, as most elite WRs still beat double coverage at times.

If he has a decent game, you will know it! This will also mean that Schaub is chucking it around to everyone because once he's on target with AJ, (count'em) Kevin Walter, Jacoby Jones, Owen Daniels, David Anderson, Joel Dreesen all start to get touches because AJs decent game is better than alot people's decent game.

As far as Foster. To me the effectiveness of the running game is also going to come down to what the score is in the second half of the game. If the Texans are up, they will use Foster to try and wear down the Skins, set up for playaction. However if the game is tied or the Texans are behind, they will do what any other team would do and abandon the running game altogether.

No they will not. Kubiak, will remain dedicated to the run. The goal for this year is to become a more physical team and even though you can't see this in stats because our running game sucked...in many games where we were losing, Kubiak stayed with the run (causing many people to question the play calling) because it sets up Schaub's awesome ability to do play action pass. Remember Schaub did what he did last year without a running game. He also brought us back in games in which we were down 21-0 at halftime. You may want to ask for Foster to get his carries.]

To me, the biggest X factor in this game is the 'Skins offense. When you have a new coordinator and new QB, there are going to be struggles, but also there will be times where things seem to get on track ahead of time.

If the 'Skins can score 21-24 points on Sunday, I think they will win.
Again, don't misjudge our ability to score. 21 points is not going to put us away. Twice last year, we were down 21-0 and we came back to tie the game. I think that you misjudge our running game too because you feel the New England game was a fluke last year. Well take a look at the stats on our offense when we played @ Miami the week before. Miami's got a pretty good D - and yes Jason Taylor and all their big boys were playing because Miami still had a shot at the playoffs. Foster ran for over 100 and two TDs (You don't know because the media didn't care) on their 3-4 defense and Schaub threw for two more there also.

The Texans have a decent offense, but it is not a powerhouse. The 'Skins defense over the past few seasons has held better offenses to under 21 points, but the 'Skins offense was so horrible they could barely muster 17 points themselves.

As a 'Skins fan, I am not worried about our defense, I think we can handle or at least keep the damage to a minimum. It comes down to our offense and if we can put the ball in the endzone three times.

I agree to a point here but again I think you underestimate our offense, and really aren't giving our D any credit at all. You are still seeing the 400 yds of passing offense with 3 TDs that Manning put up and you are thinking Donovan can do the same. If this was Donovan 2nd year with you all, and maybe even December of this year I would understand. However it isn't and Donovan is nowhere near Peyton Manning. I know yall play Eli twice but trust me, he would be a cakewalk for us. Peyton Manning throwing for that many TDs and still losing is a good day at the office

This is going to be a good game no doubt though.

 

[The Pencil Neck]

Who is Jacoby?

edit - rey, dang good post. Glad I didnt come on here to argue. Like I said or should have said, you guys are the favorites in this game hands down. FYI our house was rockin Sunday night so expect a hostile loud stadium Sunday.

Jacoby Jones is a small school guy that we drafted as a WR project a few years ago. He's taken a little time to develop and he's had some maturity issues. His hands are inconsistent. He'll make some amazing catches and miss some easy ones but he's insane fast. We've been getting most of our money out of him on punt returns until the end of last year when he seemed to finally "get it."

He's been pushing Kevin Walter for the #2 spot but he brings a totally different game to the table that KW. KW does everything right: he blocks, he finds open spaces, he makes tough catches. But Jacoby is a threat to break one every time he touches the ball. He can really stretch the field.

 

[Thorn]

* heavy sigh *

It's only Wednesday and I'm already tired of arguing about the game and who's going to win. But for some reason I keep reading everyone else arguing about the game. LOL

 

[redskins11]

Just do like I do and explain to them that we are only concerned about what another team has done since 2002 because that is when our team started. It shuts everyone up pretty fast and makes them realize how crappy they've been since 2002.

Thats a pretty selective sample. Im sure when the texans are around for 70+ years, you guys will also have a bad decade. Wait a minute, you guys already have had a bad decade.

Texans since 2002: 49 wins, 79 losses. Skins since 2002: 54 wins, 74 losses.

Of course the Skins have made the playoffs since 2002 and thats with a young petulant owner taking 10 years to learn that owner involvement = team dysfunction.

You are a team on the rise but you havent done anything meaningful yet. Get a 10 win season under your belt, make the playoffs, then win a couple lombardis.

You all should have a great season but I dont know if I would go around bragging or comparing records just yet.

im not talkin smack, just sayin

 

[redskins11]

He's been pushing Kevin Walter for the #2 spot but he brings a totally different game to the table that KW. KW does everything right: he blocks, he finds open spaces, he makes tough catches. But Jacoby is a threat to break one every time he touches the ball. He can really stretch the field.

Man, I wish we had a Kevin Walter type.

 

[Vinnie]

Skins fans must be putting their money where their mouth is. The line has moved from Houston -3 to Houston -2.5 on my Sportsbook app since yesterday.

 

[Señor Stan]

Who is Jacoby?

Pssshh...Joe Jacoby. I though you were a Redskins fan.

 

[Ndevine7]

Being down in the DC area i cant wait for the Texans to kill the Redskins

 

[El Tejano]

Thats a pretty selective sample. Im sure when the texans are around for 70+ years, you guys will also have a bad decade. Wait a minute, you guys already have had a bad decade.

Texans since 2002: 49 wins, 79 losses. Skins since 2002: 54 wins, 74 losses.

Of course the Skins have made the playoffs since 2002 and thats with a young petulant owner taking 10 years to learn that owner involvement = team dysfunction.

You are a team on the rise but you havent done anything meaningful yet. Get a 10 win season under your belt, make the playoffs, then win a couple lombardis.

You all should have a great season but I dont know if I would go around bragging or comparing records just yet.

im not talkin smack, just sayin

I wasn't talking smack to you either. I was simply telling someone how to respond when they want to bring up the days of yester year against our 8 years of existence. I'm not comparing records. I'm comparing Super Bowls. Cowboy fans always want to bring up their hey day everytime but anything they have done has led them to the same amount of Super Bowls (even appearances) as us since our inception.

 

[Ole Miss Texan]

With that said, we are just starting out in the 3-4 and outside of Fletcher, I dont think any of our LBs have shown they can cover a solid TE like Daniels. If I was an OC I would try and get mismatches by moving Daniels around to get him lined up against Rocky McIntosh or Orakpo. Both are big strong linebackers who never really had to learn how to cover a TE until a few months ago. I would try to exploit their unproven coverage skills.

Thanks! We will send this on to Kubiak.

Thats a pretty selective sample. Im sure when the texans are around for 70+ years, you guys will also have a bad decade. Wait a minute, you guys already have had a bad decade.

Texans since 2002: 49 wins, 79 losses. Skins since 2002: 54 wins, 74 losses.

Of course the Skins have made the playoffs since 2002 and thats with a young petulant owner taking 10 years to learn that owner involvement = team dysfunction.

You are a team on the rise but you havent done anything meaningful yet. Get a 10 win season under your belt, make the playoffs, then win a couple lombardis.

You all should have a great season but I dont know if I would go around bragging or comparing records just yet.

im not talkin smack, just sayin

Okay well... uhm... dangit redskin, I got nothing.

 

[El Tejano]

I was looking at stat lines, since that's what everyone seems to be doing and because I saw how often the skins blitzed and all I see they got was one sack by Mcintosh. Dallas' OL had like two hurt starters and they could only get one sack.

 

[Ndevine7]

I was looking at stat lines, since that's what everyone seems to be doing and because I saw how often the skins blitzed and all I see they got was one sack by Mcintosh. Dallas' OL had like two hurt starters and they could only get one sack.

Yea but Okrapo at the end of the game pretty much got the sack because without that hold he kills Romo

 

[thunderkyss]

I dont think we will run for 200 yards, games like last week are few and far between. One thing that you should be worried about in future though is the ZBS of Shanahan. Its apparent that it doesnt work like it used to, and Im so glad that we are differing away from it this year.

The prophet Alex Gibbs was basically run out of Seattle, and i just dont think it has a place anymore in the NFL. Watching the Sunday Nights game, you were really struggling at establishing the run with the ZBS. Also, since im not too familiar with your WR, are any of them good blockers? Santana Moss seems too little for me. Thats really key in that type of offense. KW, AJ are both excellent blockers.

Watch our game again, it's straight up ZBS, nothing different. It's ran perfectly the way it is supposed to be ran. Check out the "Playbook" thread in the bullpen.

 

[The Pencil Neck]

Thats a pretty selective sample. Im sure when the texans are around for 70+ years, you guys will also have a bad decade. Wait a minute, you guys already have had a bad decade.

Texans since 2002: 49 wins, 79 losses. Skins since 2002: 54 wins, 74 losses.

Of course the Skins have made the playoffs since 2002 and thats with a young petulant owner taking 10 years to learn that owner involvement = team dysfunction.

You are a team on the rise but you havent done anything meaningful yet. Get a 10 win season under your belt, make the playoffs, then win a couple lombardis.

You all should have a great season but I dont know if I would go around bragging or comparing records just yet.

im not talkin smack, just sayin

Dude, we don't even HAVE a decade, yet.

The point of the original post is that there are a lot of teams that rest on their laurels and the glory of stuff that happened over 10 years ago. The Cowboys fans down here act like they're still the dynasty they were back in the 90's... and they're not. But to rub our faces in the fact that we haven't won a bunch of Super Bowls in the 70's, 80's, and 90's is really kinda stupid because we didn't exist.

Now, if you want to compare records since 2002, you've got to remember that you're comparing records against an expansion team that spent several years being really, really bad. The fact that you've only got 5 more wins over that time frame is really an indictment against your team. You should have MANY more wins than we do over that period.

We're on the rise. We had a big win on Sunday and so did you guys. Now, if we're as good as we think we are, we should go in to your house and win one. If you guys are as good as you think you are, then you should stop us.

It's going to be a hard fought game but... I mean... we wouldn't be fans if we didn't think our teams were going to win the second game of the season against non-elite teams.

 

[No More 8-8's]

This whole thread seems to be focused on what areas/positions the Texans are better than the Redskins. Lets be honest, its a few of them. But it would be silly to think that we are the hands down more talented team.
1) WASH secondary is still better at this time. Too many first round picks to ignore.
2) HOU may have the best LB duo in football, but not this weekend with Cushing out. Those guys can fly to the ball.
3) Its the 2nd week of the football season, so Clinton Portis has not hurt himself yet. He can still be a force to reckon with if used properly.

Come on fellow Houston fans. Learn from Hakeem, and show some humility. Sunday should be a fun game to watch. Cant wait!!

 

[Ole Miss Texan]

This whole thread seems to be focused on what areas/positions the Texans are better than the Redskins. Lets be honest, its a few of them. But it would be silly to think that we are the hands down more talented team.
1) WASH secondary is still better at this time. Too many first round picks to ignore.
2) HOU may have the best LB duo in football, but not this weekend with Cushing out. Those guys can fly to the ball.
3) Its the 2nd week of the football season, so Clinton Portis has not hurt himself yet. He can still be a force to reckon with if used properly.

Come on fellow Houston fans. Learn from Hakeem, and show some humility. Sunday should be a fun game to watch. Cant wait!!

Actually, comparing position to position is pointless. It's the matchups that are really important. I.e. Our Passing game vs. their Secondary, Our OL vs. their DL (or front 7)... etc

 

[Thorn]

Actually, comparing position to position is pointless. It's the matchups that are really important. I.e. Our Passing game vs. their Secondary, Our OL vs. their DL (or front 7)... etc

But.....what we are cooking on Sunday is what's really important.

 

[Ole Miss Texan]

But.....what we are cooking on Sunday is what's really important.

Anything, as long as it aint crow!

 

[Thorn]

Anything, as long as it aint crow!

Aint that the truth! LOL

 

[drs23]

Thorn, it sounds like you need a cold one!

 

[CloakNNNdagger]

Stopping the run seems to be a primary concern of the Skins going into this game.

With the Texans featuring quarterback Matt Schaub, who threw for over 4,000 yards last year, and receiver Andre Johnson, widely regarded to be among the best in the business, one might think that the Redskins’ first priority on Sunday will be to stop the pass.

Now there is a third weapon that will concern the Redskins on Sunday. Houston running back Arian Foster exploded onto the scene last Sunday against the Colts. After gaining 257 yards in his rookie season, the undrafted second-year player out of Tennessee ran wild, gaining 231 yards on 33 carries.

“He has great vision,” Brian Orakpo said of Foster. “One thing about him, he doesn’t play around. He’s a guy who sees that hole and exploits it and hits it right now.”

“He doesn’t dance. He’s a hard-nosed runner.”

“We have to stop the run,” Orakpo emphasized. “We want them to pass the ball.”

Phillip Daniels agreed.

“Stopping the run is always first,” he said. “It makes for a better day.”

link

 

[CloakNNNdagger]

Everyone is taking note of the Texans' new found running attack. LaVar Arrington in his column HARD HITS for the Washington post writes an interesting piece.

Redskins-Texans matchups: Arian Foster vs. Redskins defense

A key for the Redskins defense will be to stop the run. The question is, how will it do that?

Arian Foster ran into the Texans franchise record book against Indianapolis Sunday, recording 231 yards rushing; 191 of them came in the second half. The Redskins defense held the Cowboys' Marion Barber, Felix Jones, and Tashard Choice under 100 yards rushing combined. For whatever reason, the Cowboys abandoned the run early in the game even though they seemed to be having success. So it's possible that the Redskins defense may have escaped a game without being exposed for having a front that is susceptible to the run.

I believe Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett understands that teams are having success running against his defense inside. To change this, the nose tackle is going to have to be more effective pushing the center into the backfield.

If you watch the game closely you will see guys like Albert Haynesworth leap into the gaps trying to get up field. That is incorrect in this defense. If the nose tackle jumps out of the way of the center, he has just made the center's as well as the guard's job easier. Why is that? It's because by doing that the nose tackle doesn't give the linebackers enough time to read the play and react. With the integrity of the defense altered, the linebackers are forced to have to read run and fill holes much more quickly.

The 3-4 defense, in my opinion, has success against the run by pushing offensive linemen back and creating traffic jams, allowing the linebackers and safeties the time to get to the ball carrier. If the defensive line is unsuccessful at doing this, the linebackers will have to take on blockers. This gives the running back space to navigate through the defense. It's one reason why Redskins safety LaRon Landry had to make so many tackles against the Cowboys.

Successful 3-4 defenses suffocate the whole offensive front, creating chaos for running backs. The Redskins must do this against the Texans.

I give the edge to the Redskins defense. I believe this unit is clear on what needs to be done to improve. Despite the threat posed by Foster, Houston doesn't have the best offensive line the Redskins will face. It should allow Washington to improve in this phase of the game.

 

[Rey]

Everyone is taking note of the Texans' new found running attack. LaVar Arrington in his column HARD HITS for the Washington post writes an interesting piece.

Redskins-Texans matchups: Arian Foster vs. Redskins defense

Successful 3-4 defenses suffocate the whole offensive front, creating chaos for running backs. The Redskins must do this against the Texans.

I give the edge to the Redskins defense. I believe this unit is clear on what needs to be done to improve. Despite the threat posed by Foster, Houston doesn't have the best offensive line the Redskins will face. It should allow Washington to improve in this phase of the game.

Granted it's a small sample size, but I have not seen Foster look bad running the ball once since he's started getting carries.

Until that time I'm going to give our running game the edge.

 

[Dutchrudder]

The Cowboys could have easily won this game. They rushed 22 times for 103 yards, which equals 4.7 ypc. I'm sure the Texans could get about that average too, but the difference is our OC will not be stupid enough to abandon the run like the Cowboys did.

Foster will continue to ram it down their throats.

 

[thunderkyss]

Stopping the run seems to be a primary concern of the Skins going into this game.


link

That's our game plan against the Colts. Stop the run and get a lead. Make them throw the ball, worked pretty good to, I thought.

You know I love Peyton Manning, 1st time HOF & all that. But he didn't do his team any favors by taking the play clock down to 1 second almost every play. But you don't hear anyone calling him on it, you'd think with the noise & the situation he'd run the play he was given every now & then.

 

[TexansForTheW]

I have no problem passing the ball if we can not run it. Even though I think we will be able to run the ball well against their line. Should be a fun one.

 

[Rey]

That's our game plan against the Colts. Stop the run and get a lead. Make them throw the ball, worked pretty good to, I thought.

You know I love Peyton Manning, 1st time HOF & all that. But he didn't do his team any favors by taking the play clock down to 1 second almost every play. But you don't here anyone calling him on it, you'd think with the noise & the situation he'd run the play he was given every now & then.

LOL...Yeah...

I get trying to put your team in the best situation to win, but it's got to sometimes be a little frustrating as a coach when this guy is changing almost all the plays at the line...

 

[TEXANS84]

“We have to stop the run,” Orakpo emphasized. “We want them to pass the ball.”

Thats fine, pick your poison. Worked real well last time we played the Broncos on Thursday night football against Shanahan and Champ Bailey.

 

[infantrycak]

Thats fine, pick your poison. Worked real well last time we played the Broncos on Thursday night football against Shanahan and Champ Bailey.

Seriously. That's a quote from someone who has only watched the Colts game and ignored last season. It may also reflect a basic Shanahan/Kubiak philosophy but neither of those guys really gets overly involved in the D.

 

[Scooter]

wait, teams are going to dare the league's best passing offense to throw the ball this season because they dont want to be crushed by our new rushing attack? is it sunday yet!?!?!?!??!

 

[Hardcore Texan]

wait, teams are going to dare the league's best passing offense to throw the ball this season because they dont want to be crushed by our new rushing attack? is it sunday yet!?!?!?!??!

O captain, my captain.........

 

[Cool]

I see the Reskins who are a team that is fairly dangerous not because of all star talent or amazing players, rather just a very well coached team that we should get a good challenge from.

 

[JB]

I see the Reskins who are a team that is fairly dangerous not because of all star talent or amazing players, rather just a very well coached team that we should get a good challenge from.

I see pretty much the opposite. I see a lot of talent (other than the WR position) that has not quite fully bought into the system.


edit:stupid laptop

 

[GuerillaBlack]

wait, teams are going to dare the league's best passing offense to throw the ball this season because they dont want to be crushed by our new rushing attack? is it sunday yet!?!?!?!??!

Haha! I'm loving it. It's like people completely forgot what this team did last season through the air...for some odd reason. On the Redskins site, a Skins fan just said that his D will hold Foster half the yards he got Sunday and make the Texans beat them through the air. I'm sure we'd be fine with Foster gaining 115 yards and Matt Schaub airing it out. If Miles Austin can do what he did Sunday, imagine what Andre Johnson can do.