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Game 1...Season Opener...New England Patriots!

JamTex

Hall Of Fame Texans Fan!
On Sunday September 9th, 2018 at 12:00 pm our Texans will travel to New England to take on the Patriots at Gillette Stadium for the first game of the 2018 season. The game will be aired on TV on CBS 11 and on the radio on Sports Talk 610 am.
We finally get to kick off the season with a real game. This should be an exciting one.

For your Houston Texans:
On offense, this is the projected starting line up.
WR DeAndre Hopkins
LT Julie'n Davenport
LG Senio Kelemete
C Nick Martin
RG Zach Fulton
RT Seantrel Henderson
TE Ryan Griffin
WR2 Will Fuller V
QB Deshaun Watson
RB Lamar Miller
RB Alfred Blue
On defense, this is the projected starting line up.
RDE Christian Covington
NT D.J. Reader
LDE J.J. Watt
SAM Whitney Mercilus
MIKE Benardrick McKinney
WILL Zach Cunningham
JACK Jadeveon Clowney
LCB Johnathan Joseph
RCB Kevin Johnson
FS Tyrann Mathieu
SS Kareem Jackson
This incredible line up will be going against this projected starting line up for the New England Patriots:
On offense, this is their projected starting line up.
WR Chris Hogan
LT Trent Brown
LG Joe Thuney
C David Andrews
RG Shaq Mason
RT Marcus Cannon
TE Rob Gronkowski
WRPhillip Dorsett
QB Tom Brady
RB Rex Burkhead
RB James White
On defense, This is their projected starting line up.
LDE Trey Flowers
DT Lawrence Guy
DT Malcom Brown
RDE Adrian Clayborn
LB Dont'a Hightower
LB Elandon Roberts
LB Kyle Van Noy
RCB Stephon Gilmore
LCB Eric Rowe
S Patrick Chung
S Devin McCourty

There are 4 areas that the Patriots have a possible advantage.
1) Quarterback. Tom Brady is the Greatest Of All Time.
2) Tight End. Gronkowski is almost unstoppable.
3) Offensive line. This could be debated since both are untested at this time, but the Texans line has to prove itself and protect Watson as well as open up some running lanes for the backs.
4) Running back. Burkhead can prove to be a powerful hand full.

The Texans have more then enough to offset the disadvantages.

The wide receiver position should be a huge advantage to the Texans. With Edelman out for the Patriots, this leaves only one proven receiving threat for the Patriots in Gronk.
Our Texans have Hopkins, Fuller, Griffin and L. Miller out of the backfield. The advantage goes to the Texans here.

On defense, the Patriots just don't have anyone that stacks up with Watt, Clowney, Mercilus, McKinney or Mathieu. The advantage has got to go to the Texans on defense.

I believe that the Texans defense is more complete and will give the Patriots offense a tremendous problem. Brady just might be running for his life most of the game. We'll see him get frustrated and when he does, mistakes.

I don't think the Patriots defense will be able to handle the weapons that Deshaun has at his disposal, or the legs he himself has.

Last year, Deshaun faced a stronger Patriots team then they are fielding in this first game, and almost beat them. Without Edelman, Tom will only have one of his real go to guys in Gronk.
I fully expect Romeo to throw some looks and coverages at Gronk that will take him away. That will leave Burkhead and I just don't think he can run away with the game. Deshaun won't be denied in this one.

Houston is going to go into Gillette Stadium and shock the ever so powerful Patriots in a big way.

Houston 34
Patriots 17

GO TEXANS!!!
 
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I'm feeling pretty dang confidant about our D, so much so that it makes me a bit uneasy.
I really dunno 'bout Watson, so I just don't know what to think about our offense right now ?
But I'm really looking forward to see how we do vs Brady & Belichick this time ?
 
Because the Texans are rather loaded with talent (except for the o-line) and *currently* healthy, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see them drub the Patsies. But I've learned to expect nothing from the Texans and take what they give me instead. We'll see.

Yeah as a fan, I hate it when they make us grab our ankles out on the "NFL front lawn" for everyone to see.. embarrassing.
 
Line is -6.5

The Texans seem like a really difficult match up for this current Pats team in week one. The Pats play the Jags in week two which is going to be another awful match up for them this early in the season. Its not unprobable at all that the Pats start off the season 0-2 this year. They've got a lot of new guys on both sides of the ball and learning their systems take more time than most other teams. They didn't replace their previous talent with studs either.
 
The Texans seem like a really difficult match up for this current Pats team in week one. The Pats play the Jags in week two which is going to be another awful match up for them this early in the season. Its not unprobable at all that the Pats start off the season 0-2 this year. They've got a lot of new guys on both sides of the ball and learning their systems take more time than most other teams. They didn't replace their previous talent with studs either.
They may well miss Matt P on D.
Still, TB looks in ominous form and he makes any O he is in charge of look good.
If there is any chink in the Texans D armor, he will find it.
 
I disagree that they have an advantage at QB. I'm tired of everyone always hugging Tom Brady's nuts. Give me DW any day of the week.
 
I disagree that they have an advantage at QB. I'm tired of everyone always hugging Tom Brady's nuts. Give me DW any day of the week.

Um, his nuts are hugged because he'll go down as one of, if not the greatest of all time, and he's shown no signs of slowing down if his 4,500 yards and 8th SB appearance last year are any indication.

Watson has played all of 6 1/2 games.
 
Speedy, I agree with you.

But, what about deflate-gate?
Tom Brady lied don't you think?

His all-time legacy takes a bit of a hit, IMO.

His Super Bowl record is what... 5-3?
If the Falcons hadn't choked it would be 4-4.
Or if the Seahawks called a Marshawn run, it's 3-5.

And the other three SB wins were nailbiters also.
I give just as much credit to the Patriots kicker!
And their defense made so many big plays also.
Otherwise Tom Brady is likely 2-6 or 1-7 in Super Bowls.

I'll always recognize Tom Brady as an all-time great.
But I always have to second guess his legacy, unfortunately.
 
But I hate him
Even when Tom Brady had a powerhouse team in 2007 with weapons galore, like Randy Moss and Wes Welker dominating the statistics beyond imagination, he went 16-0 and even 18-0 I should say, but still lost the Super Bowl that year. He couldn't do much against a great pass rush that the New York Giants had.

In every Super Bowl that Tom Brady played in. There was always doubt in my mind as to whether or not the Patriots would win. Except for maybe against Donovan McNabb's Eagles, and even that game was close! Terrell Owens had a monster game playing with one good knee.
 
The Texans came within one yard short of beating the Patriots on the road for the first time last season. This time we'll finally win at Foxborough!

Texans 37, Patriots 34

Deshaun will out-shine Brady in a shootout.

And even then I hope I'm wrong. I want our defense to shine.
Giving up 34 points would be way too much...

I could also envision our defense knocking Brady out in this game. Tom Brady isn't a spring chicken anymore. He's long in the tooth. One or two big hits and he could be done. Luckily for Brady the current rules sort of diminish how hard or how dirty a defense can hit. So this won't be like the Giants knocking out Joe Montana back in 1990 with some vicious hits.
 
Speedy, I agree with you.

But, what about deflate-gate?
Tom Brady lied don't you think?

His all-time legacy takes a bit of a hit, IMO.

His Super Bowl record is what... 5-3?
If the Falcons hadn't choked it would be 4-4.
Or if the Seahawks called a Marshawn run, it's 3-5.

And the other three SB wins were nailbiters also.
I give just as much credit to the Patriots kicker!
And their defense made so many big plays also.
Otherwise Tom Brady is likely 2-6 or 1-7 in Super Bowls.

I'll always recognize Tom Brady as an all-time great.
But I always have to second guess his legacy, unfortunately.

And that goes for any close playoff game. The fact that he's always in it, and always in the AFC championship ought to tell anyone with a brain that there is a reason for that. All of a sudden close games mean you didn't really win? Obvious signs of someone whose team lost many times to this man. ^^
 
And that goes for any close playoff game. The fact that he's always in it, and always in the AFC championship ought to tell anyone with a brain that there is a reason for that. All of a sudden close games mean you didn't really win? Obvious signs of someone whose team lost many times to this man. ^^
And this is exactly why I would not have kicked that field goal last year. You give me a choice of getting one yard for the win, or giving Brady the ball and having to stop him for the win, and I want to go for the one yard. And I don't want to give it to Miller up the middle. I want Watson on a bootleg or roll out with an option to throw it.

We should have done this on 3rd down. Then, we would have had two shots at a single yard to win the game, against Brady, in Foxboro.

And I know conventional NFL wisdom says you take the three there and make them have to score. And against a lot of teams, I agree. But not against Brady, on the road. You have to be aggressive and go take these games from these guys, not play traditional and safe.
 
And this is exactly why I would not have kicked that field goal last year. You give me a choice of getting one yard for the win, or giving Brady the ball and having to stop him for the win, and I want to go for the one yard. And I don't want to give it to Miller up the middle. I want Watson on a bootleg or roll out with an option to throw it.

We should have done this on 3rd down. Then, we would have had two shots at a single yard to win the game, against Brady, in Foxboro.

And I know conventional NFL wisdom says you take the three there and make them have to score. And against a lot of teams, I agree. But not against Brady, on the road. You have to be aggressive and go take these games from these guys, not play traditional and safe.

Plus, Brady had been torching them and there was no reason to think that he was just going to go 3 and out.
 
And this is exactly why I would not have kicked that field goal last year. You give me a choice of getting one yard for the win, or giving Brady the ball and having to stop him for the win, and I want to go for the one yard. And I don't want to give it to Miller up the middle. I want Watson on a bootleg or roll out with an option to throw it.

We should have done this on 3rd down. Then, we would have had two shots at a single yard to win the game, against Brady, in Foxboro.

And I know conventional NFL wisdom says you take the three there and make them have to score. And against a lot of teams, I agree. But not against Brady, on the road. You have to be aggressive and go take these games from these guys, not play traditional and safe.
2015 defense, I take the 3 pts and see what happens. No way would I do that with the 2017 defense.
 
This could be a sloppy game for both teams. I'm thinking RAC and his defense will be the difference in this one.

Pats Oline will have struggle in this match up. Brady's receivers are going to frustrate him all day most likely. Not enough chemistry with them yet.
 
Never say never when dealing with the dynamic duo in Foxboro.

Of course, but match up wise the Texans are a bad one for them this early. Not much film on Watson from last season makes for a nightmare in a game one situation when your defensive unit is still figuring out their communications early on. Last season the Pats got smoked in the first few games on defense due to several new guys in the mix, and communication issues. They're going into the season with the same roster turnover but even more this year.
 
Of course, but match up wise the Texans are a bad one for them this early. Not much film on Watson from last season makes for a nightmare in a game one situation when your defensive unit is still figuring out their communications early on. Last season the Pats got smoked in the first few games on defense due to several new guys in the mix, and communication issues. They're going into the season with the same roster turnover but even more this year.

Who's the new DC there?
 
I disagree that they have an advantage at QB. I'm tired of everyone always hugging Tom Brady's nuts. Give me DW any day of the week.
I looooove me some DW4, but he is still not 100% proven yet.
When Brady is dominant, which is quite often, he is simply unstoppable.
When I see that from our young 8 game guy, or even one ring, I'll be ecstatic.
 
The Texans start slow out of the gate as the season begins under O'Brien.
The Texans never beat the Patriots in Foxboro.
Meanwhile, the Astros will also be in the Boston area this weekend doing a pivotal 3 game series with the Red Sox, the best team in the MLB.

Prediction: 33-17 Patriots

As for the Astros, they win 2 out of 3 games
 
Not only the pats are one of the best teams and best coached team, but the refs are also gonna throw us under the bus too. They even have more vague rules so refs can stir the game to the "NFL narrative".

What is it this year Brady vs Rogers? Greenbay vs Pats in the finals, mix a little John Gruden's Raiders...................LOL awwwlawd so predictable.

Were gonna be the victim on the storyline. were gonna be at Gillette where Refs feel they are entilled to cheat for the home team.
 
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Deshaun Watson is the future of the league.
Tom Brady is old and will retire at some point.
I'd agree with you dwight if this was 5 or 10 years ago.

An Aaron Rodgers (Packers) vs. Deshaun Watson (Texans) Super Bowl would still draw monumental ratings and a lot of interest around the league!

Tom Brady even heavily endorsed Deshaun Watson last year.
Brady will pass the torch to Watson Week 1. I believe it!

In fact, I believe we'll see a lot of Texans vs. Eagles or 49ers Super Bowls over the next 10 to 15 years. Deshaun Watson vs. Carson Wentz and Jimmy G.
 
It's tempting to pick the Toros in an upset special, but I better go with the odds on this one. Texans 24, Traitriots 27. Home field makes the difference.
 
Speedy, I agree with you.

But, what about deflate-gate?
Tom Brady lied don't you think?

His all-time legacy takes a bit of a hit, IMO.

His Super Bowl record is what... 5-3?
If the Falcons hadn't choked it would be 4-4.
Or if the Seahawks called a Marshawn run, it's 3-5.

And the other three SB wins were nailbiters also.
I give just as much credit to the Patriots kicker!
And their defense made so many big plays also.
Otherwise Tom Brady is likely 2-6 or 1-7 in Super Bowls.

I'll always recognize Tom Brady as an all-time great.
But I always have to second guess his legacy, unfortunately.


That will not put a dent in his legacy. Maybe in your eyes.
 
If the Patriots go 0-2 the media will explode. I can hear all the chatter about Father Time has finally caught up to the mighty Tom Brady. Especially if we win by JamTex's 34-17 prediction and if the lose to the Jaguars big as well.

I believe this will be a close game and my homerism tells me the Texans will win 27-24.

Let's go Texans!!!
 
I have no idea what to expect in this game.

Are we better than how we played in last years game ?

How will the offense fair when Belichek has had basically all summer to prepare for Watson and company?

How will Watson play and will he be over his injury mentally in his first full game since the injury?

In last years game was the only time we have ever played the Pats close in Foxboro in franchise history.

Will father time finally catch up to Brady?
 
Pats know what the Texans have. They’ll do their best to take away what they think we’re good at.

Texans absolutely can win this game.

Time to see what they’ve been working towards.
 
That will not put a dent in his legacy. Maybe in your eyes.
And many other people's eyes as well.
In fact, I'm willing to give him a free pass.
Others are more critical of his career.

Did Tom Brady lie and cheat? Of course.
He served his mini suspension and all is forgiven.

But man, I'll tell my grandchildren that Tom Brady was 5-3 in Super Bowls and every game was a nailbiter. They didn't blow any team out like their dominant regular-season records should have suggested especially that 16-0 year in 2007. The Falcons and Seahawks both played dumb football late in their game to lose to the Patriots in those Super Bowls.

Well, they'll have NFL Films HD to watch on their iPhone 30 or whatever.

For all we applaud about Tom Brady's greatness.. He was very beatable in every Super Bowl that he played in. It took a total team effort, defense and special teams, for the Patriots to sneak out those wins. If not the other team just choking and blowing the game away, in the Falcons and Seahawks case.

Every advantage the Patriots may have had - spy-gate or deflate-gate - no doubt they may have needed every inch of that advantage. I'm only kidding but man it's a shame that's the first thing I think about when I discuss the New England Patriots dynasty.

All good things come to an end. Hopefully Week 1 when the Texans beat the Patriots that will be the beginning of the end for Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Both are getting old and I can't see them continuing to do what they do for too much longer. I want to say that I respect Brady and Belichick, and I definitely do, but it's hard to truly respect cheaters and liars.
 
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Here's the good news about opening on the road, at the AFC champs. We're the underdogs. If we lose, as long as it's respectable, it's one game of a long season. Not many outside our camp expect us to win. It's not a division game. We can lose this game and we still have 8 home games remaining, and we can still make the playoffs.

But.... if we can pull it off, it's a big bowl of gravy. All road wins are huge. Plus, we'll need a small truck to carry home the street cred we will rake in.

And we can win this game. We should be a better team than last year. I'm not sure the Pats are.

Of course you want to win every game. But my point is, the positives if we win are greater than the negatives should we lose this one. Every season goal will still be right in front of us.
 
And this is exactly why I would not have kicked that field goal last year. You give me a choice of getting one yard for the win, or giving Brady the ball and having to stop him for the win, and I want to go for the one yard. And I don't want to give it to Miller up the middle. I want Watson on a bootleg or roll out with an option to throw it.

We should have done this on 3rd down. Then, we would have had two shots at a single yard to win the game, against Brady, in Foxboro.

And I know conventional NFL wisdom says you take the three there and make them have to score. And against a lot of teams, I agree. But not against Brady, on the road. You have to be aggressive and go take these games from these guys, not play traditional and safe.
Tend to agree. How many times have we seen Brady take over on offense with about a minute on the clock and win the game?
He's so good at that.
 
deondre gonna have 2 td and 114 yards

watson 4 td 309 yds passing 72 yards rushing

jj what 2 sacks
 
Let me explain things to you. First, Watson. He can throw, escape, throw on the run and run.
He will have Hopkins and Fuller as his main wide outs. Hopkins has the best hands in the game and Fuller can and will blow the top off of any defense. Miller out of the back field is very much an above average receiving back. Then, there's Griffin. All of these guys have hands and can catch and make defenders miss in the open field. Then, coming off the bench there's Ellington, Coutee and Akins just to name a few. Again, all can catch and make plays down the field. This is the danger every defensive coordinator will have night mares over. Watson will simply have too many weapons to throw to to be able to defend. And if some how, his receivers are covered, he'll throw in the other night mare, his legs. His escapeability and great awareness to either scramble and find the open receivers or run.
The offensive line isn't the best, but they are much improved over last year. Even a little improvement makes Watson even more dangerous. He'll make the best of it and make that line look like All Pros.
This offense is going to be the most explosive and hardest to stop in the league. Even with an average or below average running game. And because of Watson's threat, that running game will actually thrive.
The Patriots defense has 8 new players on it. They will not be gelled or ready for the offense they will face in this game. The Texans offense isn't a team to try and gell against. The Patriots defense will either have to be ready and playing at mid-season form, or they'll get torched. You see, all of the skill players on the offense of the Texans have played together a considerable amount. The Patriots defense, not so much. Not only that, but the Patriots don't have Patricia as their defensive coordinator any more. They have a guy that was brought up and has no experience as a coordinator.
 
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Now let's look at the Texans defense.
The line, Watt, Reader and Covington. The Linebackers, Mercilus, McKinney, Cunningham and Clowney. Then there's the secondary, Joseph, Mathieu, Jackson and Johnson. Bring in Cole, Reid or Colvin in situational downs like 2nd or 3rd and long.
This is going to be a very difficult defense to move the ball on, much less score against.
They have the coverage backers in Cole and Cunningham to cover the slot, a tight end or back out of the backfield. That takes away the shallow middle. Mathieu and Reid can take away the deep middle and outsides. Johnson and Joseph are good enough to hold down the short threat and sidelines. The pass rush will be unrelenting with this front 7 which will force quarterbacks to get rid of the ball earlier then they want to. Even the quick release quarterbacks like Brady will have to be even that much quicker. Easier said then done. That makes the secondaries job even easier.
The running game will have to face the 2 best edge setters in the game, Mercilus and Clowney. Then there's Watt, Reader and Covington to run through in the middle. If that isn't enough, McKinney is one of the best at plugging the gaps in the middle to stop the run. All of this will be coordinated by none other then Romeo Crennell.
This defense will be a night mare for offensive coordinators. Don't be surprised if the defense, like the 2017 defense, allows the fewest points and fewest 3rd down conversions in the league.
This defense, along with the Texans offense is why the Texans will win.
The Patriots simply won't be ready for the beating they will take on both sides of the ball.
 
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I don’t know how anyone can believe they’re sure what’s going to happen week 1of an NFL season. But if you just look at recent history, say 3 seasons, clearly TB and Belichick have an advantage over BoB and Watson. BoB has thrown away wins all by himself, one to the Pats last year.

There are 3 areas the Texans have serious problems in this game: o-line, STs and secondary. Mentioning the secondary may surprise some but the holes in that secondary may be just big enough for a QB of Brady’s caliber to exploit. Kevin Johnson is a bust and the depth is severely lacking. I won’t be surprised if the Texans get routed.
 
I don’t know how anyone can believe they’re sure what’s going to happen week 1of an NFL season. But if you just look at recent history, say 3 seasons, clearly TB and Belichick have an advantage over BoB and Watson. BoB has thrown away wins all by himself, one to the Pats last year.

There are 3 areas the Texans have serious problems in this game: o-line, STs and secondary. Mentioning the secondary may surprise some but the holes in that secondary may be just big enough for a QB of Brady’s caliber to exploit. Kevin Johnson is a bust and the depth is severely lacking. I won’t be surprised if the Texans get routed.

I actually like the STs this year, I think we finally have a coach that knows what the hell he's doing.
 
And many other people's eyes as well.
In fact, I'm willing to give him a free pass.
Others are more critical of his career.

Did Tom Brady lie and cheat? Of course.
He served his mini suspension and all is forgiven.

But man, I'll tell my grandchildren that Tom Brady was 5-3 in Super Bowls and every game was a nailbiter. They didn't blow any team out like their dominant regular-season records should have suggested especially that 16-0 year in 2007. The Falcons and Seahawks both played dumb football late in their game to lose to the Patriots in those Super Bowls.

Well, they'll have NFL Films HD to watch on their iPhone 30 or whatever.

For all we applaud about Tom Brady's greatness.. He was very beatable in every Super Bowl that he played in. It took a total team effort, defense and special teams, for the Patriots to sneak out those wins. If not the other team just choking and blowing the game away, in the Falcons and Seahawks case.

Every advantage the Patriots may have had - spy-gate or deflate-gate - no doubt they may have needed every inch of that advantage. I'm only kidding but man it's a shame that's the first thing I think about when I discuss the New England Patriots dynasty.

All good things come to an end. Hopefully Week 1 when the Texans beat the Patriots that will be the beginning of the end for Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Both are getting old and I can't see them continuing to do what they do for too much longer. I want to say that I respect Brady and Belichick, and I definitely do, but it's hard to truly respect cheaters and liars.

I guess you're think stealing signs in baseball is cheating? I call it part of the game.

Cold weather causes air deflation in footballs. BTW,did you know the air measured in the footballs used by the Colts were under inflated? This was more about jealousy from God'ell and who really runs the league Mara, (who is nothing like his dad.)
 
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