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[NFL.com] Houston Texans have yet to be tested

b0ng

Bad Hombre
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000062734/article/houston-texans-have-yet-to-be-tested-this-season

Houston Texans have yet to be tested this season

By Marc Sessler
Around the League Writer
Published: Sept. 16, 2012 at 04:55 p.m.
Updated: Sept. 16, 2012 at 06:03 p.m.

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Through two weeks of this young season, the Houston Texans have arrived as advertised.

Facing a soft early schedule, Houston beat up an iffy Miami Dolphins squad in the opener and kept the party going Sunday in a 27-7 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
He's certainly right and I am now officially amped up to go see Peytons new digs at Mile High. How do you feel about it?
 

The Pencil Neck

Hall of Fame
You gotta beat the teams you're supposed to beat. We've done that so far.

Let's see what the Broncos do tomorrow night. Personally, I expect them to handle the Falcons pretty easily. The Forehead has, apparently, come back and is in good form. Personally, I think he's lost a bit off his throws but he's so damned smart that he's able to compensate for that.


I expect the game next week to be a really good test of where we're at. It's going to be a tough one. It's a game that a lot of people on this board already penciled in as a loss prior to the season -- I was not one of those people.

I think we win it and go 3-0 for the first time in team history.
 

EllisUnit

Vote RED!!!
You gotta beat the teams you're supposed to beat. We've done that so far.

Let's see what the Broncos do tomorrow night. Personally, I expect them to handle the Falcons pretty easily. The Forehead has, apparently, come back and is in good form. Personally, I think he's lost a bit off his throws but he's so damned smart that he's able to compensate for that.


I expect the game next week to be a really good test of where we're at. It's going to be a tough one. It's a game that a lot of people on this board already penciled in as a loss prior to the season -- I was not one of those people.

I think we win it and go 3-0 for the first time in team history.
i think we surprise a lot of people and win it BIG !!!!!!
 

Norg

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
i think yes this will be a good test but i still think our most important games are the two back to back prime time games


Vs packers and VS ravens


esp the ravens game that will prob be the morst important game of the season other then vs titans and @ titans
 

BlueSteel

Waterboy
I feel for Miami, nobody seems to want to give them any credit. They are a better team than the press is making them out to be.

Cannot wait for next week to see what excuses we get. "Broncos not a true test, Texans have an easy schedule, Blah Blah, Blah."

Oh well, a win is a win.
 

EllisUnit

Vote RED!!!
All i kow is that the Dolphins won this week, pretty easily. Maybe everyone we have beaten isnt as bad as "we have made them look" and we are just better than a lot of people think.

So far the AFC in general looks ripe for the taking.
 

welsh texan

You may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one
Next week at Denver...biggest game in franchise history? :kitten:

In all seriousness though, I'm looking forward to going up against Peyton next week, Denver have a legit D and a legit O by the looks of things, Peyton looked good last week and I'll be watching with interest tonight to see how he looks again. He'll be on a short week which should give us some advantage.

I don't think the fins are as bad as we made them look last week either.

At the end of the day, the last number of seasons we've been handed brutal starts that have made it difficult to get off to a good record early in the season. This year we really need to capitalise on.

If we can start 5-0 it would be huge, a couple of tough games going into the bye which I'd hope to split and suddenly we'd be all set to take the top seed in the playoffs.
 

Corrosion

Idealist
Staff member
I feel for Miami, nobody seems to want to give them any credit. They are a better team than the press is making them out to be.

Cannot wait for next week to see what excuses we get. "Broncos not a true test, Texans have an easy schedule, Blah Blah, Blah."

Oh well, a win is a win.
I agree the Fish are a much better team than many give them credit for.


They have a solid defense , and possibly the best DT pair in the entire NFL.


The common denominator between the first two games was poor QB play by both Gabbert and Tannehill. Outside of that , those two teams are pretty solid.


The Texans wont face a week QB in week three .... they'll face one of the games best.

Denver's defense is also pretty solid on all levels ... and along with that almost certain HOF QB , they can run the ball.


This game could come down to who has the ball last - the opportunity to score last.
 
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Trail.Blazr

Hooked up to a Kool-Aid IV
I understand what Sessler is saying and there is some room for debate, but he's right in the sense that Houston hasn't played a team that was remotely expected to be playing in January. So far, it's a blueprint for success, imho.

Recapping some of the sentiment on this board...
- Calling the Dolphins "iffy" is being a bit naive. The Dolphins are a tough team to beat. But even with a solid win on the scoreboard, a lot of peeps feel the game was closer than the score indicated. (I can recall the days when Houston was on the other side of that equation).
- Jags on the other hand, are an IR mess and I felt like Houston handled them as soundly as anyone should have expected.

So, with a "2 week tune up" out of the way, there are some things I like.

  • 2-0 baby!! They are who we thought they were!
  • No Significant injuries.
  • 2 games for the O-Line to develop further
  • Red Zone Scoring
  • Teams still don't have much tape on the Texans, who've gone 2-0 with semi-vanilla play calling.
  • Defense has given up 10pts total in 2 games :-)
  • Kube's hasn't "outcoached" himself... (yet?) But then again, he hasn't had to.

These are my simple observations, that I believe bode well for this team gearing up for week 3, which I believe is our toughest week of the schedule. Denver, a team who won a playoff game last year with Tebow under center, has apparently "upgraded" with whom a majority of NFL fans would consider to be one of the best in the game, and whom I consider to be Texans' kryptonite... This Peyton led Bronco team has a high probability of competing for the AFC Championship this season. With my homer goggles on, Houston could very well be who they are playing for the Conference Championship game.
 

gtexan02

Working?
The common denominator between the first two games was poor QB play by both Gabbert and Tannehill. Outside of that , those two teams are pretty solid.
After Gabberts first game against the Vikings (and throughout the preseason), most NFL commentators said he had turned the corner and was looking like the biggest turn around of the year. He played his best game as a pro in week 1

Tannehill's second game he had 300+ yards, multiple touchdowns, and a passer rating of over 100


I'm just saying the common denominator may be that we made them poor QBs
 

Double Barrel

Texans Talk Admin
Staff member
Contributor's Club
I thought it was a fairly complimentary article.

We beat two teams that we were supposed to beat. That the Texans didn't shoot themselves in the feet and play down to lesser teams is a positive sign. They certainly made it look easy.

But like the article says, we have a stretch in the schedule that should reveal the heart and soul of the 2012 Texans. I think they have the potential to beat anyone, especially if they don't make stupid mistakes.
 

Corrosion

Idealist
Staff member
I'm just saying the common denominator may be that we made them poor QBs

I wont dispute that .... Tannehill actually looked good against the Texans until that second quarter meltdown and once they fell behind , he didnt stand a chance against that pass rush .... but Gabbert is who we thought he was , a scrub.
 

The Pencil Neck

Hall of Fame
After Gabberts first game against the Vikings (and throughout the preseason), most NFL commentators said he had turned the corner and was looking like the biggest turn around of the year. He played his best game as a pro in week 1

Tannehill's second game he had 300+ yards, multiple touchdowns, and a passer rating of over 100


I'm just saying the common denominator may be that we made them poor QBs
I'm glad someone else said this because I was thinking the same exact thing. And don't forget Reggie Bush going OFF after being kept fairly quiet most of the game against us.

Unfortunately, the counter-argument is that it might not be that we were making them look that bad but rather that Minnesota and Oakland really are that bad and were making them look good.

I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. The Raiders played the Chargers pretty hard and if it hadn't been for that whole long-snapper debacle could have been in that game. The Vikings, otoh, lost to the Colts.

I do think we made them both look worse than they actually are. But we might have broken Gabbert's psyche in the process and he might never recover.
 

Mailman

Pwned by Hakeem
ask the patriots and the cowboys about soft schedules
Also, setting aside yesterday's shocker in NE, the Pats always seem to have one of the softest schedules in the league year after year after year, yet no one ever questions their place in the power rankings on the basis of their cupcake opponents. They always get the benefit of the doubt. I call b.s. on that.
 

Allstar

Bona fide
I agree the Fish are a much better team than many give them credit for.


They have a solid defense , and possibly the best DT pair in the entire NFL.


The common denominator between the first two games was poor QB play by both Gabbert and Tannehill. Outside of that , those two teams are pretty solid.


The Texans wont face a week QB in week three .... they'll face one of the games best.

Denver's defense is also pretty solid on all levels ... and along with that almost dertain HOF QB , they can run the ball.


This game could come down to who has the ball last - the opportunity to score last.
Really? Peyton almost certain? Please.
 

Perki-Perk

DieHard Texan!
It's funny, but I was talking to a scout (friend of a friend, fwiw) at the bar and he was talking about how over-rated Brady is and there's a reason he went in the 6th. Dude was very knowledgable on a lot of things, and he was a Niners fan at heart. He said take Brady out of that system and throw someone else in and you'd probably have the same success. He said the one thing the Patriots have going for them is continual easy schedules, and a front office that does a great job managing a team financially and finding players that fit what they do.
 

Rey

Guest
I'm glad someone else said this because I was thinking the same exact thing. And don't forget Reggie Bush going OFF after being kept fairly quiet most of the game against us.
I'm just commenting on this, but Reggie Bush was killing us...

Probably going to be a BIG season for him. And really just in time for his next contract...:thinking:
 

Trail.Blazr

Hooked up to a Kool-Aid IV
"killing us" is a little over descriptive I think.
Reggie did have some good runs in the first half. But credit the Texans D, who shut it down in the 2nd half. Reggie only had one carry for positive yards(three yarder) the entire 2nd half.
 

HJam72

Hall of Fame
Future articles: The Houston Texans are now 9-0 and have not been tested yet. We can't figure out how the Broncos, Jets, Ravens, and Packers got to be so bad, but it's happened right before our eyes.
 

Rey

Guest
"killing us" is a little over descriptive I think.
It's not. Reggie was the best thing they had going that day. He was averaging 5 ypc and he was their second leading receiver with 6 catches for 48 yards.

Listen, folks can have revisionist history about how that game went all they want, but until the Dolphins had those turnovers in the second quarter before halftime, I'm not going to lie, I was f'n nervous.

Reggie Bush made a bunch of plays for them. We really didn't have much of an answer for him. When we got up by all those points we pretty much made their running game obsolete, but when they were actually committed to running the ball they were doing it with relative ease.

That play where he caught the ball on third down in front of Cushing and just left him and ran for the first down was a great play by him. That doesn't happen to Cushing often.

And that's not a knock on the Texans...I just think the Dlolphins are better than people originally thought.
 

The Pencil Neck

Hall of Fame
I'm just commenting on this, but Reggie Bush was killing us...

Probably going to be a BIG season for him. And really just in time for his next contract...:thinking:
He was averaging 5 yards a carry on us but although he hurt us early, I thought we figured it out and started to minimize him. Once we got up on them, we were able to shut him down.

In the second half, Reggie Bush ran 4 times for a total of 7 yards and a long of 13 yards. That's with three rushes of -2 yards... BUT 3 of those 4 rushes were called back because of penalties. So, in all, Bush only got 1 rush for 13 yards in the second half.
 

Allstar

Bona fide
It's not. Reggie was the best thing they had going that day. He was averaging 5 ypc and he was their second leading receiver with 6 catches for 48 yards.

Listen, folks can have revisionist history about how that game went all they want, but until the Dolphins had those turnovers in the second quarter before halftime, I'm not going to lie, I was f'n nervous.

Reggie Bush made a bunch of plays for them. We really didn't have much of an answer for him. When we got up by all those points we pretty much made their running game obsolete, but when they were actually committed to running the ball they were doing it with relative ease.

That play where he caught the ball on third down in front of Cushing and just left him and ran for the first down was a great play by him. That doesn't happen to Cushing often.

And that's not a knock on the Texans...I just think the Dlolphins are better than people originally thought.
I agree with your post, but to be fair (before we give Bush all the credit) it seems the Dolphins did a great job scheming as well.

Antonio's take on containing Bush:
(on the Texans performance) "First half it seemed like we were getting our feet wet. Trying to get into the flow of a real game and then the game plan cause nobody game plans each other in the preseason and they had a couple of good runs. One good run play actually that they kept running til we has to figure out what they had going, but overall I think we played a real good game."



(on RB Reggie Bush having success running) "They did a thing where they open the splits up between the center and the guard to give Reggie more space to fake like he's going outside but cut it back up inside so by the time we honed in and figure it out. There weren't that many more running yards after that."


If you believe him, I would think that we would have performed better in the second half, even if the turnover parade never happened and they weren't forced to abandon the run.
 

Rey

Guest
So, in all, Bush only got 1 rush for 13 yards in the second half.

He actually had another rush early in the third that went for three yards and wasn't called back for penalty. Not sure why you mention the plays with penalties. They aren't relevant IMO. I'm talking about plays that actually count. So really he had 2 carries for 16 yards in the 2nd half...

So how is that figuring him out?

He didn't get many carries in the second half, and when they were riding him in the first he was picking up yardage in chunks on the ground. And like I mentioned he also did well receiving.

Why don't you want to give Bush his credit? When he was actually involved in their game plan he was doing very well. Heck, even if we count the (2?) negative runs he had, what does that mean? Does that negate all the good he did for them?
 

Rey

Guest
I agree with your post, but to be fair (before we give Bush all the credit) it seems the Dolphins did a great job scheming as well.

Antonio's take on containing Bush:
(on the Texans performance) "First half it seemed like we were getting our feet wet. Trying to get into the flow of a real game and then the game plan cause nobody game plans each other in the preseason and they had a couple of good runs. One good run play actually that they kept running til we has to figure out what they had going, but overall I think we played a real good game."



(on RB Reggie Bush having success running) "They did a thing where they open the splits up between the center and the guard to give Reggie more space to fake like he's going outside but cut it back up inside so by the time we honed in and figure it out. There weren't that many more running yards after that."


If you believe him, I would think that we would have performed better in the second half, even if the turnover parade never happened and they weren't forced to abandon the run.
Well, If I remember the play by play correctly he had two rushes for 16 yards in the 2nd half; so much like finding how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop, I guess the world will never know.

But I'm not giving all the credit to Bush. I'm not giving credit to anyone. I'm just stating what happened and Reggie Bush was having a really good game against us.
 
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DX-TEX

#TomSavageDontCare
I said it two years ago and I still say it now:

If we win a Superbowl the ESPN intro right after will be: The Texans just won the Superbowl! Why were the Jets not there? We answer that question NEXT on Sportscenter!
 

The Pencil Neck

Hall of Fame
He actually had another rush early in the third that went for three yards and wasn't called back for penalty. Not sure why you mention the plays with penalties. They aren't relevant IMO. I'm talking about plays that actually count. So really he had 2 carries for 16 yards in the 2nd half...

So how is that figuring him out?

He didn't get many carries in the second half, and when they were riding him in the first he was picking up yardage in chunks on the ground. And like I mentioned he also did well receiving.

Why don't you want to give Bush his credit? When he was actually involved in their game plan he was doing very well. Heck, even if we count the (2?) negative runs he had, what does that mean? Does that negate all the good he did for them?
Sorry, missed that 3 yard run when I was looking at the play-by-plays.

I counted the -2 yard runs because we stuffed him on those plays. By that point, when we were expecting him to run, we were able to stop him. His o-line was having to hold us to try to stop us and even then, we were getting through and stuffing him.

And it's not that I don't want to give Bush credit. He played very well. Much better than I expected him to, but I think our defense isn't as porous against the run as some people (not saying you necessarily) would like to paint it.

After seeing Bush play against us, I'm totally expecting him to have a very good year this year provided he can stay healthy. I think this Dolphins team is going to surprise some people (like they surprised the Raiders.)

But also, and I don't intend this as a knock on our defense, but our offense contributes as much to our defense's great play as the defense does. Our offense is choking people out so far with the time of possession and that limits the other teams' opportunities to gain yards.
 

Rey

Guest
sorry, missed that 3 yard run when i was looking at the play-by-plays.

I counted the -2 yard runs because we stuffed him on those plays. By that point, when we were expecting him to run, we were able to stop him. His o-line was having to hold us to try to stop us and even then, we were getting through and stuffing him.

And it's not that i don't want to give bush credit. He played very well. Much better than i expected him to, but i think our defense isn't as porous against the run as some people (not saying you necessarily) would like to paint it.

After seeing bush play against us, i'm totally expecting him to have a very good year this year provided he can stay healthy. I think this dolphins team is going to surprise some people (like they surprised the raiders.)

but also, and i don't intend this as a knock on our defense, but our offense contributes as much to our defense's great play as the defense does. Our offense is choking people out so far with the time of possession and that limits the other teams' opportunities to gain yards.
:handshake:
 

Norg

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
u know right now i kinda feel Denver is not really a true test .....

what if they lose today and loss to us then what the media will say ok denver is not has good has we thought
 
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