TheRealJoker
Hall of Fame
Texans defense dominated the worst offense in the league and the offense and special teams made enough plays to give us an early lead forcing them to throw with the worst QB in the league. This is what we were supposed to do and its about time the Texans showed up and dominated a team that they were supposed to dominate instead of laying an egg and losing or barely squeaking out a win.
My positives from the game:
1) Ryan Moats looks like a solid complement to Slaton and I think he deserves to get more carries. When he got into the game and started playing well that made Slaton get his head out of his rear and make some plays while HOLDING ON TO THE FOOTBALL!!!
2) Brian Cushing is getting better with every game. He gives us a much needed attitude and an enforcer type on our defense which we've never had before. The sky is the limit for him potential wise.
3) The defense got excellent pressure on Russell, Mario is due for a multisack game soon. He is getting consistent pressure and coming a fraction of a second of getting the sack but at least he got one with a forced fumble today!
4) The OL and DL looked good today, both of Slaton's tds were due to flawless blocking by the OL getting down the field and finishing their blocks. If Cushing isn't the MVP, I think the whole OL unit should be the MVPs today. DL got consistent pressure and held the LOS to stuff the run. We won both battles in the trenches today and I cant remember the last time we did that.
5) Bernard Pollard and Glover Quinn: Its nice to see a safety get in the right gap and make the tackle. I'm happy we've got a bonafide run stopping safety on the roster. We're gonna need him to keep being that last line of defense the rest of the season to make a playoff run. Its also nice to see a CB other than Fred Bennett opposite Dunta Robinson. Quinn wasn't a liability and made some good plays today. Not bad for a rookie but I am concerned of him one on one against Fitz or Boldin next week.
Negatives:
1) Matt Schaub showed some flaws in his game he's going to need to improve to hit the next level as a QB. The Raiders have a very good secondary and are excellent about taking away the deep ball. Schaub made his OL look bad taking sacks waiting for the deep ball to come that was never there when he had plenty of time to throw the ball in the pocket. He had early success hitting AJ and Walter deep but you cant expect that to happen all the time against the Raiders. He needs to learn to check down when we play a tough secondary. Dink and dunk when necessary, the deep ball isn't always going to be there.
2) Jacoby Jones: Excellent kick return touchdown but followed it up by putting the ball on the ground. He's knocking on the door of becoming a good football player but he's gotta be more consistent, you cant put the ball on the ground.
3) Steve Slaton: He got a couple tds thanks in large part to tremendous blocking by his OL on both plays but he put the ball on the ground early in the game which could've been disastrous against any other team given the way our defense has performed the first 3 games this season. He didn't start running well until Moats came in and showed him how we expected Slaton to perform since the beginning of the season.
4) Offensive play calling: Real lack of variety in the 2nd half. Again, against any other team that would've hurt us given our defense's history this season against a real NFL offense. The Raiders crowd around the LOS knowing we're gonna run up the middle and we run up the middle. I didn't care that we ran it a lot in the 2nd half and preserved the lead but try some misdirection with WR reverses or audible out of a run and throw a quick pass to get the defense to stop putting 8 in the box.
My positives from the game:
1) Ryan Moats looks like a solid complement to Slaton and I think he deserves to get more carries. When he got into the game and started playing well that made Slaton get his head out of his rear and make some plays while HOLDING ON TO THE FOOTBALL!!!
2) Brian Cushing is getting better with every game. He gives us a much needed attitude and an enforcer type on our defense which we've never had before. The sky is the limit for him potential wise.
3) The defense got excellent pressure on Russell, Mario is due for a multisack game soon. He is getting consistent pressure and coming a fraction of a second of getting the sack but at least he got one with a forced fumble today!
4) The OL and DL looked good today, both of Slaton's tds were due to flawless blocking by the OL getting down the field and finishing their blocks. If Cushing isn't the MVP, I think the whole OL unit should be the MVPs today. DL got consistent pressure and held the LOS to stuff the run. We won both battles in the trenches today and I cant remember the last time we did that.
5) Bernard Pollard and Glover Quinn: Its nice to see a safety get in the right gap and make the tackle. I'm happy we've got a bonafide run stopping safety on the roster. We're gonna need him to keep being that last line of defense the rest of the season to make a playoff run. Its also nice to see a CB other than Fred Bennett opposite Dunta Robinson. Quinn wasn't a liability and made some good plays today. Not bad for a rookie but I am concerned of him one on one against Fitz or Boldin next week.
Negatives:
1) Matt Schaub showed some flaws in his game he's going to need to improve to hit the next level as a QB. The Raiders have a very good secondary and are excellent about taking away the deep ball. Schaub made his OL look bad taking sacks waiting for the deep ball to come that was never there when he had plenty of time to throw the ball in the pocket. He had early success hitting AJ and Walter deep but you cant expect that to happen all the time against the Raiders. He needs to learn to check down when we play a tough secondary. Dink and dunk when necessary, the deep ball isn't always going to be there.
2) Jacoby Jones: Excellent kick return touchdown but followed it up by putting the ball on the ground. He's knocking on the door of becoming a good football player but he's gotta be more consistent, you cant put the ball on the ground.
3) Steve Slaton: He got a couple tds thanks in large part to tremendous blocking by his OL on both plays but he put the ball on the ground early in the game which could've been disastrous against any other team given the way our defense has performed the first 3 games this season. He didn't start running well until Moats came in and showed him how we expected Slaton to perform since the beginning of the season.
4) Offensive play calling: Real lack of variety in the 2nd half. Again, against any other team that would've hurt us given our defense's history this season against a real NFL offense. The Raiders crowd around the LOS knowing we're gonna run up the middle and we run up the middle. I didn't care that we ran it a lot in the 2nd half and preserved the lead but try some misdirection with WR reverses or audible out of a run and throw a quick pass to get the defense to stop putting 8 in the box.