Texan vs. Colts Matchup Preview

I had a horrible dream last night. The Texans lost by three points after missing a game-tying 44 yard field goal (it was Neil Rackers in my dream). Worse than the loss, were the repitive mistakes. The Texans lost the lead late in the game when Schaub attempted to stick the ball out on a QB sneak and it was knocked loose and recovered by the Colts. In the dream, I was standing next to John McClain and expressing my intense frustration with Coach Kubiak. I told him that I absolutely love the man but it has become clear that he can not coach this team. He pretty much agreed with me. What really stuck with me after I awoke, was the defeated sensation I had, realizing that this team is not going to take that step forward this year and that I was definitely looking at another 8-8 season. What a relief it was when I realized it was all a dream. Despite the fears that torment me, I really do believe this Texan team will separate itself from the one we’ve watched the past couple seasons. Fearful as ever of how painful this loss would be should it occur, I think the Texans win this game and do so rather convincingly. Here’s why:

When the Texans have the ball:

If you watched the first half of the Colts at Reliant last year, you saw how our offense should be able to dominate the Colts defense. Chris Brown and Ryan Moats ran up and down the field againt Indy that first half and Matt Schaub hit one wide open receiver after another for thirty minutes. While the Colts do have some dangerous playmakers on defense, the defense is dependent on the pressure the Colts’ offense creates with its mystique and scoring prowess. The Colts’ front seven is severely undersized and can get exposed in the run game. And, this year, the Texans have a healthy and more physical rushing attack. Thanks to Rick Dennison’s
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For me I think there are three keys -

1) How well the Texans can run the ball - and there are many reasons from wearing down that small Dolts d-line and taking advantage of their over aggressive nature , keeping Manning off the field and setting up play action for the Texans.

2) How well the Texans defense plays against the Dolts running game while they are in the nickle package. If they can stop the run in the nickle , they make the Dolts one dimensional.

3) How much pressure can the Texans put on Manning with only 4 rushing. Im sure we will see more than 4 on many occasions but if they can force him into letting it go before he would like to of into making a mistake with only 4 .... thats ideal.

I hope that this year Barwin becomes less of a run liability. Last year, when he was placed in situations where a run play being called was less likely.....and a run was called.........he was usually run over. Offenses learned this pretty quickly.

CloakNNNdagger said:

I hope that this year Barwin becomes less of a run liability. Last year, when he was placed in situations where a run play being called was less likely.....and a run was called.........he was usually run over. Offenses learned this pretty quickly.

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I think that had less to do with Barwin and more to do with the offense recognizing the Texans were aggressively attacking the QB and countering with a draw play. I expect that will continue to be a problem with the defense. But, if we are beating the heck out of the QB and making plays, I'll take the occasional 10 yard run on a draw play.

That being said, hopefully we will be less predictable. Something to watch for, for instance, is to see if the Texans run some cover two in those situations with Barwin in the game.

The only thing I don't like is it seems like when Bush decides to bring in a package with Barwin they have him playing in funky places that I'm not sure really suit is abilities. No I don't want to see Barwin in at the DT spot, I'm sorry I just don't think it's going to work.

That's really more on the staff than it is on the player though.

To me this game comes down to our ability to keep our offense balanced. If we can't run the ball, we can't keep Manning off the field for extensive periods of time.

hradhak said:

To me this game comes down to our ability to keep our offense balanced. If we can't run the ball, we can't keep Manning off the field for extensive periods of time.

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Yeah... uh... how'd THAT work out?!