I think there are a few players to watch for this week against Jacksonville that will be key to our development: (1) Eric Winston at RT - Obviously a tough first assignment start with the Jacksonville front, but Wiegert isn't the long term solution, and this week ought to be a good indicator of how fast Winston can get acclimated to the NFL. If Spencer recovers and continues to develop, this could be a strong bookend to the OL of the future. (2) Vonta Leach at FB - Will Vonta Leach get time on the field? It will be interesting to see if Kubiak/Sherman bring in Vonta to try and open up some more holes for the running game. Will the FB be more involved in the running game vs. 3WR/1TE sets or 2WR/2TE sets. (3) Wali Lundy increased carries - Sadly, I think there is too much pressure on Wali right now to be a savior for the running game, and that isn't right. He will do a better job of finding the holes in the OL. Especially with a new RT, running will be tough. I would consider 15 carries, 50-60 yards a success for Wali on Sunday. (4) Owen Daniels / Jeb Putzier - They have got to get open and make themselves available. It wouldn't hurt for Carr to look at them a bit more in his progressions, but they need to have an impact to keep the LB pressure off the LOS. (5) Travis Johnson DT - Sink or swim week. With TJ forced to carry the load at the DT spot for the rest of the year, we will see what kind of player we will have. He has underperformed to date, but we need him to find a way to be a run stopping presence in the middle to avoid Mario from shifting inside, where he has been less effective. This is the beginning of a new beginning or the end for TJ. (6) Dunta Robinson - With arguably a lesser talented receiving corps in Jacksonville, Dunta needs to step up and show his capabilities as a 'shut down corner' if he is in fact one. He was picked on repeatedly last week, not a good sign. (7) Kailee Wong - I'd like to see him gets reps in place of Orr, not sure what kind of PT he gets, but pbviously a more instinctual playmaker on defense than Orr. When healthy, probably our best chance at causing a fumble and making solid tackles. From a play standpoint: (1) I don't think we have been moving Carr out of the pocket enough like we did earlier. Unfortunately, Dallas seemed to shadow Carr with a safety to prevent those plays, and always seemed to sniff those out (Golaline on the first drive, and again late in the first half - Roy Williams). (2) Someone pointed this out and I do recall seeing it more in preseason (might have been TexansChick), but I agree we don't see as much stretch running plays or cut blocking. Wali's first carry in the preseason had 3 Texans on the edge pulling hard. Haven't seen anything like that in the season. (3) Need to throw a few deep, just to keep the defense honest. We never really tested Dallas deep and tried to push their safeties back. (4) More aggressive playcalling on 3rd and short and 4th and short. I think we should have gone for the TD on 4th and goal from the 1 against Dallas. What did we have to lose? Since we are at home, I think we'll be more apt to taking those risks. (5) AJ, for as good as he has been, just doesn't create separation from the CB. It was ridiculous how blanketed he was against Dallas by a single CB. We need to either change the type of routes he is running that allow for more separation or he needs to really work on his technique. He is too fast and too strong to be blanketed. If it is Carr's fault, then that needs to be addressed. A few of the short slants were just so predictable. We need to try double moves, etc. (6) Secondary will play very conservative... with an injury to Earl, Faggins just coming back, and Buchanon gone, I don't think we are going to be too aggressive with the secondary. I think they will get their lunch eaten if D-Rob can't shot down his side of the field. (7) I imagine we will see a little more base coverage from our defense because of the lack of depth right now. The front line will have a tendency to try and overpersue and Jones-Drew needs to be covered tightly for screen plays. I think there is a potential for Jax to attach us like McNabb and the Eagles did. The front four need to be disciplined, which they haven't shown to date. My prediction: Jacksonville 24 Houston 16
Heck I would be happy to see us play all 4qtrs hard and well...regardless of the outcome, but a win would be nice.
Good luck this weekend guys. My Saints have the week off, so I'll rooting for you guys more intently this Sunday. Saints and Texans seem to always have noon kickoffs, so I usually don't get to watch the games, although I was at the Redskins game a few weeks back (Monday night game @ N.O.). Too bad y'all couldn't have drawn Oakland this weekend, though.
