I think your expectations were WAY too high.
1. We didn't give the game away. In fact, thanks to Dobbins and Braman (and Reed, to an extent) the defense allowed Yates and Lestar Jean to get us the win. 16 teams lost their first preseason game. We didn't. And the Texans are always accused of not finishing games. So, my question is this: "We finished the game. We won. But it doesn't matter because we looked sloppy at times?" Every time has rust. No team ran down the field with their first teamers for four quarters and poured on 72 points or something. Every teams has things to work on. Oh yeah, before I forget to throw this in there, that guy named Keo sucks BIG TIME. A 5th rounder who should have been an UDFA, IMO. Cut him before his arm tackling infects EVERYBODY on our team.
2. Did you see the 2nd teamers work? The 2nd team defense was almost constantly winning the battles in the trenches and in the secondary. Depth was a big concern for us, on defense, but I thought they looked really good.
3. We had two RBs; no, actually we had ONE running back and he is like buried on the depth chart. No Foster. Very little Ward. OgBo got 90% of the carries, and pretty much played the entire game. He scored two TDs, one rushing and one receiving. Not bad against what is known as a tough Rex Ryan "You won't run on us" defense. Pffft. We did, with a guy named OgBo.
4. No Andre Johnson. Very limited Schaub, OD, KW, the guys we rely on heavily. Schaub, to me, was just trying to not get hurt. And I can't blame him. He was gingerly prancing around and avoiding holding onto the ball too long. In reg season, he's going to hold the ball and calm down. I'm sure of it.
5. In the secondary, no J Joseph. Very limited Manning. Kareem jackson was almost always close to his man in coverage, making tackles when the receiver would pull in the ball. Last year, he was in the bottom right or left corner of the TV screen and the receiver was in the middle of the screen. I still don't like his instincts, but he stuck to his man and made what I felt were pretty good tackles.
6. The secondary contested passes like I never saw last year. Even the 2nd teamers did this. D-line was batting down passes.
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-1. Special Teams sucked. HORRID. Joe Ma might not have a job after this season. His crew could be a very glaring weak spot, and might cost us a game or two. I don't know if revised kickoff rules, such as not being able to run a wedge blocking formation on kickoffs, has hurt him. But last year was awful, and tonight looked JUST like last year. It seemed Joe Ma's squad was always consistently good from year to year, while our offense or defense fluctuated--You knew Joe Ma's special teamers would be out there getting THEIR job done every game. Not anymore. It's the weakest link. BIG TIME. And that sucks, because I am a huge Joe Marciano fan.
-2. Mario was way outside, playing contain or something. Don't know if this is intentional, by Wade Phillips, to smokescreen how we might use him in reg season (I can see why it COULD be so) but still, you want to see Mario get his legs underneath himself and get some momentum NOW. I hope he picks i tup vs. the Saints.
-3. Schaub was erratic. He knew it, too. I know it. You know it. He just has to come back out and play better and make completions. He should be throwing easy strikes--5-yard curls, Slants, RB dumpoffs, lots of stuff that are SURE completions and get him in a rhythm out there.
-4. Run defense can be a little thin in the middle sometimes. We knew this was bound to happen with a 3-4.
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Guys I think were knocked, on here, during camp, but did pretty good tonight:
1. Brooks Reed. Not SUPERMAN, but he still showed that he can get to the QB and he doesn't quit. Knocked down a pass or two, as well, IIRC.
2. Kareem Jackson. Also NOT Superman, but I didn't see him royally screw the pooch either. Was seemingly always close to his man, and was not blowing tackles like that guy named Keo did. Gawd he sucks.
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Guys who look VERY promising, keeping in mind that they played 2nd and/or 3rd teamers:
1. Uh, yeah: Bryan Braman. He's a Brahman Braman Bull. The best clip is where he splits TWO d-lineman, bull rushing right through both of them, and knocks down the backup QB.
2. Lestar Jean. #18 could be REALLY good if he keeps on like that. Soft hands, and pulled down the ball with two guys fighting for the ball with him. Didn't freak out and drop it. Didn't push off his man and get flagged. Just turned, spotted it, and soft-handed it into a goal line catch that sets up the game winning TD by OgBo. And had a beautiful leaping grab of a slant, earlier, that was a nice soft-handed catch.
3. Dobbins. VETERAN leadership. He knew damn well the Jets were going to try and run out the clock by running on all 3 downs with 4 minutes left in the game. He and Braman and Reed held that defense together, and effin' Keo tried to undo all of it. Gawd, Keo is awful. Just cut that guy tomorrow. Make an example out of him.
4. Yates. All things considered, when was the last time you enjoyed watching our rookie 3rd string QB in his first ever game in the NFL? He misfired some passes, but still threw a beauty to Lestar Jean at the end. Two beauties, actually.
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Wade Phillips, affected by the lockout, seems to have the guys buying into his system. I never really saw the guys look bewildered or frustrated. Not everything looked like smooth poetry in motion out there. However, it wasn't a train wreck. And considering all the rookies and UDFAs who played tonight for Wade...he has to be tickled that he has what he has. The draft and the UDFAs on defense are making the transition easier than I thought it would be. It feels like the Texans coaches and front office really kicked into high gear on the defense side of the ball this year. I'm impressed.
Kubiak used bootlegs to perfection tonight. He abused Rex Ryan with them. I noticed we went HEAVY on passing with Yates, most likely trying to (a) not get OgBo hurt, and (b) to get a look at him AND the young UDFA WRs out there. I liked it. It meant several 3-and-outs, but this preseason has to be used to see what guys do in the closest thing to a "real game" they can get.
Rackers nailed his kicks. The kickoff and punt return sucked donkey balls.
All in all, nobody was injured badly. We won. They lost. Rex Ryan's comments at the podium, postgame, were telling. He was pissed off and felt they played poorly. Kubiak and Wade are gonna' chew some ass tomorrow, for sure. Our center blew his block by trying to help out the LG...that led to our QB hurrying a throw and missing his man. Special teams stuff. Keo and his band of arm tacklers who almost blew the game for us.
I drank a beer, ate great food, watched us play on national TV, watched us win, watched UDFAs kick some Jets ass all over the field. It was fun, for me.