footballguy69
Practice Squad
Well, one thing we know is that the Texans and staff are thick skinned. Why I think we won?
Defense - Richard Smith called a good game and his game management was 180 degrees from last week. Defensive calls were made earlier and his defensive line substitutions were much better organized and timely. Funny how all of this makes the secondary look so much better. Both safeties played a fairly solid game. Dunta's game was not one of his best especially on one on one coverage, but it was fortunate that his bad game was offset by good play by the rest of the defense. I feel confident he will put this one behind him. ND Kalu at this time appears to be better than Mario Williams at DE, but rotating them seemingly would wear on most offensive lines. But hey, the Miami O-Line is not HOF so while I am glad about Mario's 1 1/2 sacks, I am more glad to see him at least a couple of times use a "swim technique" and spin move. His tackling still leaves a lot to be desired. Rotating him for now seems to be the right answer. But while I saw some improvement he still has a long ways to go.
Special Teams - kudos to Chad Stanley on his punting and Kris Browns kick-offs. How many fair catches on punts did one of the best return men, Wes Welker, have to make? That was huge regarding field position. Edell Shepard does well on kick-offs for now until when/if Mathis returns this year. Buchanon runs too much east-west. He is not Billy "White Shoes" Johnson and Marciano unfortunately does not have many other options right now. But meanwhile other options may need to be looked at on a punt returner.
Offense - Other than one disputed interception/pick Carr played well for the most part. I still question his leadership somewhat, but tomorrow when the Offensive unit reviews the film, they have to realize he is one tough cookie and that will help him become a leader. It was nice to see a great fake on his short TD run. When you fake out Zach Thomas, you're faking out one of the best. Eric Moulds on this team is a huge plus. Not only is he helping Johnson and taking away pressure from him, but he rarely drops passes. Bradford would have dropped about five passes by now. Moulds also realizes where the first down marker is on his routes which is refreshing to see. Drew Hodgdon played well and personally I like him better than Flanigan at center. We seem to have less pressure up the middle with him in there. And no false starts on offense which is a huge improvement especially in our own stadium. I was surprised to see Brad Bedell dressed out instead of Eric Winston. Bedell at one time could not make our practice squad. I think if Winston got a chance as Hodgdon has, hopefully the results would be positive as well.
There are other points of course but it is obvious Kubiak and staff "grew" a lot in a week. It was a great way to go in the bye week. Let's hope the progress continues in preparation for Dallas. We will need it!
Defense - Richard Smith called a good game and his game management was 180 degrees from last week. Defensive calls were made earlier and his defensive line substitutions were much better organized and timely. Funny how all of this makes the secondary look so much better. Both safeties played a fairly solid game. Dunta's game was not one of his best especially on one on one coverage, but it was fortunate that his bad game was offset by good play by the rest of the defense. I feel confident he will put this one behind him. ND Kalu at this time appears to be better than Mario Williams at DE, but rotating them seemingly would wear on most offensive lines. But hey, the Miami O-Line is not HOF so while I am glad about Mario's 1 1/2 sacks, I am more glad to see him at least a couple of times use a "swim technique" and spin move. His tackling still leaves a lot to be desired. Rotating him for now seems to be the right answer. But while I saw some improvement he still has a long ways to go.
Special Teams - kudos to Chad Stanley on his punting and Kris Browns kick-offs. How many fair catches on punts did one of the best return men, Wes Welker, have to make? That was huge regarding field position. Edell Shepard does well on kick-offs for now until when/if Mathis returns this year. Buchanon runs too much east-west. He is not Billy "White Shoes" Johnson and Marciano unfortunately does not have many other options right now. But meanwhile other options may need to be looked at on a punt returner.
Offense - Other than one disputed interception/pick Carr played well for the most part. I still question his leadership somewhat, but tomorrow when the Offensive unit reviews the film, they have to realize he is one tough cookie and that will help him become a leader. It was nice to see a great fake on his short TD run. When you fake out Zach Thomas, you're faking out one of the best. Eric Moulds on this team is a huge plus. Not only is he helping Johnson and taking away pressure from him, but he rarely drops passes. Bradford would have dropped about five passes by now. Moulds also realizes where the first down marker is on his routes which is refreshing to see. Drew Hodgdon played well and personally I like him better than Flanigan at center. We seem to have less pressure up the middle with him in there. And no false starts on offense which is a huge improvement especially in our own stadium. I was surprised to see Brad Bedell dressed out instead of Eric Winston. Bedell at one time could not make our practice squad. I think if Winston got a chance as Hodgdon has, hopefully the results would be positive as well.
There are other points of course but it is obvious Kubiak and staff "grew" a lot in a week. It was a great way to go in the bye week. Let's hope the progress continues in preparation for Dallas. We will need it!
on him.