Break it down!!

[HardKnockTexan]

I swear this offseason is never going to end! I visit this board and a few others several times a day just to get the slightest tid-bit of info. So, instead of just reading the post, I've decide to throw my in. I saw this done in another thread and I liked what I read. Here's my take on the season:

Week One:
@ Buffalo - W
The series is tied at 1 - 1. They beat us at home and we beat them up there. The point diferential is very close with them barley edging us out (41 to 36). They have a very solid D but I dont believe it will be enough to make up for their lack of expierence at QB. (Watch out for McGahee though).

Week Two:
Pittsburg - L
I HATE predicting a loss but the Steelers are one of the better Teams in the league and Rolthesburger has a year under his belt. The Steelers D is great but can be beat. We have the lead in the series beating them in Pitt (I'm sure we all remember that game, one of our more painfull wins, our offense was PITIFULL that game). It'll be close, but we loose our home opener.

Week Three:
Bye
WAY too early of a bye for us but I'm sure our coaching staff and players will make the best of it.

Week Four:
@ Cinncinatti - W
We've played them twice, we've lost to them twice. The third time will be the charm. As most games this season, it will be hard fought but we finally get some self respect back from these chumps.

Week Five:
Tennessee - W
At home, against the Titans. This is a MUST win just from a respect stand point for the Titans. They leave crying and us Texans fans all thank god for Bud leaving town.

Week Six:
@ Seatle - L
It's a nationally televised game. The Seahawks were a playoff team last season. Even though it was in the weakest division in the NFL. This could go either way and believe me, I'd LOVE to see us pull this one out. If we were at Reliant I'd give us the W here.

Week Seven:
Indianapolis - W
FINALLY! These guys have owned us (0 and 6, overall score of 164 to 72) This is the game that gets people around the nation talking. We're at home and our boys are going to be playing with a real chip on their shoulder. We hand it to them in this one!

Week Eight:
Clevland - W
The One game I got a chance to actually go to last year was this one. The Browns are 2 and 0 against us and think they own the Texans. We redeem ourselves and Carr proves that he is one of the better QB's in the league. I predict a BIG win for us in this one. And leaving us at 5 and 2 and the midway point.

Week Nine:
@Jacksonville - W
The Texans are in the Jags head's. We send all 9 of their fans that show up home thinking about who to take in the draft. This is the only team this year that we play (except Pittsburg) that the Texans have a winning series record against. Add another notch to the win collum.

Week Ten:
@Indianapollis - L
This game brings us fans back down to earth. After 3 solid wins in a row back to back road games and Payton Manning get the better of us. But we split the series. Both teams go into week 11 neck and neck for the division title With the Titans 2 games back and the Jags struggleing big time. Trying to find a spot for Matt Jones and thinking #1 overall draft pick. (I hate the JAGS if you couldn't already tell).

Week Eleven:
Kansas City - W
We get back some respect on national T.V. We seem to play ugly football against these guys but we pull out a win. AJ will dominate and we all thank god that we didnt select Derrick Johnson after watching him chase DD all over the field.

Week Twelve:
St. Louis - W
We're at home and we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. This will be a fun game to watch. I'm thinking over 900 total yards on offense combined. But we see now why speed on D is so important and our linebackers do just enough to slow these boys down.

Week Thirteen:
@Baltimore - L
They have beaten us once at home. Even though the Texans are much improved the Ravens slow our momentum down, handing us our fourth loss of the season... Thanks A LOT Ray Lewis!

Week Fourteen:
@Tennessee - L
The Titans are starting to gel at the end of the season and they give us our first back to back losses of the year. McNair proves he still is an elite QB.

Week Fifteen:
Arizona - W
We win and win BIG. This game is over by halftime. Our boys will not go gentle into that good night! They show the world that they are a playoff team.

Week Sixteen:
Jacksonville - W
This is a MUST win for us. I believe the division title and wild card spot will be on the line here. Jacksonville just cant get it done against us. They'll blame it on whoever was injured at the time or whatever lame new excuses they seem to keep comming up with but they go down and go down big on Battle Red Day.

Week Seventeen:
@San Fransisco - ?? (W)
This is a tough one to predict. If we have the division title locked and this game has nothing at stake then I believe Dom will rest the starters for most of the second half. However, if the playoffs are on the line, I believe the Texans go out for blood and give us Houstonians something to be very very proud of... our first playoff game since the Buffalo fiasco. (if i remember correctly... I hate to even bring that game up. I still have nightmares)

11-5! Playoffs! Home field advantage?? damn right!
I love my Texans 16-0, 0-16... Texan fan for life.

 

[Double Barrel]

I feel your pain, man. We suffer together as off-seasonn football fans. I can't wait until August! Even pre-season has me pumped!

Great analysis, too!

I honestly think we can go 10-6 or 11-5...just a gut feeling...and this will be our year to earn our first playoff spot.

 

[TexanFanInCC]

well 11-5 is asking alot. i would say 10-6 is reasonable. he have to remember that last year, nobody predicted us to lose to the freakin browns at home, but we did. u can never predict those kind of upsets. i will say that this team should be one of the more exciting teams in the NFL with the new look, faster, meaner, and younger defense that we have. travis johnson will add toughness and an attitude to a d-line that was soft last yr. dunta is a vocal leader, and antwan peek has the intensity of a ray lewis. i think we have a firery defense! offensively, there shouldnt be any excuses to not put points up if we can perhaps add 1 more quality offensive lineman. hardknock, i appreciate ur optimism and i hope that we can live up to ur predictions (unlikely, but 10-6 will be acceptable to me).

 

[THEFUTURE]

Week Seventeen:
@San Fransisco - ?? (W)
This is a tough one to predict. If we have the division title locked and this game has nothing at stake then I believe Dom will rest the starters for most of the second half. However, if the playoffs are on the line, I believe the Texans go out for blood and give us Houstonians something to be very very proud of... our first playoff game since the Buffalo fiasco. (if i remember correctly... I hate to even bring that game up. I still have nightmares)

our 2nd string, is as talented as most of the Niners 1st string

 

[El Tejano]

I just want to get back to winning opening day games before I think about games in December.

 

[Vinny]

well 11-5 is asking alot. i would say 10-6 is reasonable. he have to remember that last year, nobody predicted us to lose to the freakin browns at home, but we did. u can never predict those kind of upsets. i will say that this team should be one of the more exciting teams in the NFL with the new look, faster, meaner, and younger defense that we have. travis johnson will add toughness and an attitude to a d-line that was soft last yr. dunta is a vocal leader, and antwan peek has the intensity of a ray lewis. i think we have a firery defense! offensively, there shouldnt be any excuses to not put points up if we can perhaps add 1 more quality offensive lineman. hardknock, i appreciate ur optimism and i hope that we can live up to ur predictions (unlikely, but 10-6 will be acceptable to me).

I agree for the most part...Young, .500 teams that look to join the Super Bowl derby usually have a couple of seasons at or around .500 before they can start pounding out double digit win seasons. I can't see us winning more than 9 games next year with 10 as our upside. The league is just too talented up top to just start throwing down records like the Colts and the Patriots from a team that has won 12 games the last two years combined.

 

[THEFUTURE]

I agree for the most part...Young, .500 teams that look to join the Super Bowl derby usually have a couple of seasons at or around .500 before they can start pounding out double digit win seasons. I can't see us winning more than 9 games next year with 10 as our upside. The league is just too talented up top to just start throwing down records like the Colts and the Patriots from a team that has won 12 games the last two years combined.

vinny your such a downer... WE ARE GOING UNDEFEATED FOR THE NEXT 10 YEARS!!!! :

 

[HardKnockTexan]

BELIEVE ME... I know 11 wins is very unlikley. Just looking at the games on paper it can be broken down to where we win every game.... or loose every game. I'm sure on every other teams board they have us chalked up as a W. Except on the Jags board... even their 9 fans think they will loose atleast 1 to us. In all likleyhood I say we beat the Bills, Bengals, Titans once, Browns, Jags twice, Cards and 49ers. That's 8 and 8 and an improvement from last season i'd i'd be fine with that. But I go into every game thinking that our boys have a good chance to win. This will be the first year i EXPECT us to win though. God i cant wait!

 

[El Tejano]

Vinny, wouldn't you give us a curve on the .500 team though? I mean this is basically a team that has played well together for going on 4 years now. The depth of this team is much better than that of any other .500 team.

 

[wrestler4life]

The only way we are going to win is if we show marked improvement in the areas of Oline and Defensive pressure on QB's. We will never beat Indy unless that happens. I am still waiting for the recievers to start picking up on blitz reads and coming under the blitz for a quick dump-off. Carr is running for his life, and these guys are truckin downfield!

 

[dalemurphy]

I agree for the most part...Young, .500 teams that look to join the Super Bowl derby usually have a couple of seasons at or around .500 before they can start pounding out double digit win seasons. I can't see us winning more than 9 games next year with 10 as our upside. The league is just too talented up top to just start throwing down records like the Colts and the Patriots from a team that has won 12 games the last two years combined.

San Diego did it last year. More to the point, how many 7-9 teams start 15-16 guys under the age of 27 who all have NFL experience. That will be our situation next year- it's unique and allows the opportunity for fairly significant improvement.

Here's an interesting exercise- take a piece of paper and divide it into three columns: 1. players likely to improve from last season 2. players likely to decline from last season 3. players likely to play at a similar level...
Now, place every Texan you expect to make the roster in one of those three columns. It's amazing how many players I've got in that first column. We have too many players getting ready to enter the prime of their careers to not expect a lot of improvement this year.

 

[ojthecat]

Here's an interesting exercise- take a piece of paper and divide it into three columns: 1. players likely to improve from last season 2. players likely to decline from last season 3. players likely to play at a similar level...
Now, place every Texan you expect to make the roster in one of those three columns. It's amazing how many players I've got in that first column. We have too many players getting ready to enter the prime of their careers to not expect a lot of improvement this year.

How about you write down the name of every Texans that you think has a possiblity to make the probowl.

I say highest chance
A. Johnson
D. Robinson
A. Peek

Might Make it
D. Carr
C. Stanley

Outside chance
D. Davis
P. Bucannon
C. Brown
C. Stanley

Sure they all wont make it but wow we sure look better than ever. We could be the suprise team of 2005. 12-4

 

[TexansTrueFan]

we will be next years suprise team. They wont give us much of a chance at the beginning, but midway through the season all the media will be saying "i knew it all along". Like Ditka did last season !

 

[Betro]

our 2nd string, is as talented as most of the Niners 1st string

They have Andre Carter, Bryant Young, Julian Peterson, Tony Parrish, and their LB's are very underrated. On offense they did horrible because the O-Line was hurt and bad, this year Newberry is back plus they got Jonas Jennings, they drafted David Baas, and Justin Smiley has one year under his belt. With the line better Kevin Barlow could do what he did two years ago. They are not as bad as last year. Half of the starters were hurt.

 

[THEFUTURE]

They have Andre Carter, Bryant Young, Julian Peterson, Tony Parrish, and their LB's are very underrated. On offense they did horrible because the O-Line was hurt and bad, this year Newberry is back plus they got Jonas Jennings, they drafted David Baas, and Justin Smiley has one year under his belt. With the line better Kevin Barlow could do what he did two years ago. They are not as bad as last year. Half of the starters were hurt.

If your going to mention a Niner, you should think about mentioning Fred Beasley, just a thought. ANdre Carter is converting to a LB and who knows how he will make the transition, Bryant Young is old, he was around for the last superbowl win the niners had, Peterson is good, but coming off an injury who knows how he will play, tony parrish is a quality safety, and their LB are underrated, true...but still not that great... i said most, not all... we have a better :
-O line- a push... id give it to us, but they did sign jonas jennings, but kwame harris hasnt lived up to his potential, Seth Wandish??? we have better guards, and they have the better center in Newberry over lowly McKinney.
-D line-old, and any young guy they have is not proven, they still have to many DL from the 4-3, and wont be able to run the 3-4 properly.
-CBs -Faggins could probably go to SF and start, Mike Rumph is a huge bust.
-WRs- gaffney, armstrong and Bradford are definatly better then brandon lloyd, rashaun woods, and arnaz battle.
-QB- as of now i, personally, would take Tony Banks over Alex Smith, Smith will be a way better QB, but doesnt have one lick of NFL experience and will be in a David Carr like position... so for now, TB over Smith.
-RB- Barlow plain and simple sucked last year, i dont want to hear the line was hurt, barlow sucked from day one, and when hicks came in, he was able to punch off a few good games, I will take Morency and Hollings over an iffy Barlow. plus no one will fear their passing game, alex smith or not, the WR are not good enough to scare anyone, defenses will be able to put more men in the box against the niners
- TE- Niners get this one, although im not sure if Eric Johnson is that good, or if its cuz Rattay and Dorsey couldnt get the ball to anyone but him.
-FB- beasley wins hands down.

 

[Vinny]

San Diego did it last year.

If you look at the combined wins in the previous two years they won 12 games, just like we have. They didn't just start winning overnight, they struggled for a few years in the .500 area. Year before last they were 8-8

 

[texasguy346]

Year before last they were 8-8

That was a memorable collapse at the end of the season. They started the season with like 5 or 6 wins and 0 losses. All the "experts" were talking of them going to the SB (I believe it was in SD that year), and then it all came crumbling down. They lost several games at the end of the season to end up at 8-8. Ouch.

 

[edo783]

Yup, I had them as my sleeper pick.

 

[TexanFanInCC]

ok for anyone who wants to be optimistic like me, just take the 2003 and 2004 seasons for example. who on earth predicted the carolina panthers to get to the superbowl, much less, make it into the playoffs? who predicted the san diego chargers to make the playoffs with a 12-4 record after going 4-12 the previous year?? who in here thinks that the texans could see some of the same magic??? i believe that the makeup of our team is looking very good. i just hope that bennie joppru is healthy enough and fit enough to make an impact on this team. i really wanna see what this guy brings to the table.

 

[ojthecat]

I have said it before this team reminds me of the 1991 Cowboys. They went 12-4 that year then went on to win 3 of 4 superbowls. I am saying that we have the potenial. Casserly and Capers have done a great job and we will start to see it this year. Playoffs back in Houston.