So Ive taken all week to try and dissect the matchup and I honestly cant say I feel that confident. Philadelphia is another rabid, caged animal similar to what INdy was, trying to keep playoff hopes alive. Similar to INdy, Philly has a superb offensive line, one playing with a chip and chock full of elite level talent. Romeo is going to have to get really creative in how he can fluster Foles. This would be a good game to ramp up the blitz %. Im not enthused about our LBs in space on guys like Sproles and Smallwood. They have an elite TE and we cant even stop average TEs. Golden Tate and Jeffrey afford them a shifty guy who can get himself open and a guy who can go up and get it.
Defensively they get after it starting with the DL .. Cox and Bennet are problems and Long is a + player. Jenkins is the best player they have on the backend at safety. They are much better stopping the run than the pass, but they have started to show great improvement in pass defense over the last few games adopting that "ski mask" similar to the dog mask last year. I cant say I like it, but whatever gets them going.
Betting line started out in favor of the Texans, but interestingly it has shifted to favor Philly by 2 points. I think OBrien and Watson need to attack this team with short and intermediate passing to set up the run. Obviously you wont shy away from one of your strengths, but i would expect Philly to be primed to stop the run. Id really like to use DeAndre CArter against them. He played against that system plenty as a practice player there and on top of the high football IQ he shows from the slot I think he can be an X factor for this game and they dont have an answer for Nuk on the outside.
I feel our kicking games are superior to theirs and ultimately that will be what decides this game IMO. Its not a world ender if the Texans lose, but for me it would be really nice for them to approach this as a playoff tuneup against the Champs. Im really hoping to see offensive wrinkles that we havent seen yet, or at least proven plays from games that have. Its a must win game for the Texans too IMO for confidence and playoff seeding.
HOU 26
PHI 24