HoustonLionsFan
Waterboy
With the receiving corps adjusting to the loss of Charles Rogers, Detroit Lions running back could have an even greater impact in Sunday's home opener versus Houston.
http://www.detroitlions.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=354805 (click the link for the entire article)Lions and Texans Share Similar Offensive Philosophy, Foundation
By Jay Clemons
September 15, 2004
ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Houston Texans Head Coach Dom Capers may live for the present, when dealing with his young football team. But he doesn't want to forget the past, either.
On the surface, his club outplayed San Diego in many ways on Sunday. But when factoring in Houston's four crucial giveaways and the defense granting the Chargers 60-percent-efficiency on third-down conversions, suddenly the Texans' 27-20 home-opener loss comes clearer into focus.
But despite the setback, Capers -- in his third season helming the Texans -- remains intrigued by how his team will fare against Detroit this week. After all, he believes the two franchises share a common bond.
I think that weve both been trying to build something from scratch. Our first year two years ago, we started five rookies on offense," said Capers, who is 9-24 with Houston. "Last year, we added Andre Johnson and Domanick Davis to that group. This is really the first year that weve had a group together that has played together for a while. I think well see our offense continue to grow.
"Weve got more experience in the offensive line than what weve had," Capers says."Similar to Detroit, I look and I think Detroit has an excellent offensive line. Theyve got outstanding young, skilled players. I think weve got similar situations from what weve done from an offensive standpoint.
The two clubs have similarly constructed offenses: The quarterbacks were selected in the 2002 draft (David Carr, No. 1 overall; Joey Harrington, No. 3 overall); each has a set of talented, athletic wideouts (Johnson and Jabar Gaffney, Houston; Roy Williams and Charles Rogers, Detroit) and a franchise-caliber running back (Davis for Houston, Kevin Jones for Detroit).
Lions Coach Steve Mariucci understands the parallel comparisons between the teams -- especially the quarterbacks.