Playoffs
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Three to Focus on Texans @ Bucs
November 11th, 2011 | Author: Nathan Jahnke
These two potential playoff teams went in different directions during the month of October. The Houston Texans are riding a three game winning streak where they allowed 33 total points while averaging just under 33 points per game over that span. They seem to have a firm hold on the division and now they can set their sights on aiming for a first round bye.
On the other hand, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have lost three out of their last four, and is starting to get hit with the injury bug with their top receivers and defensive tackles hurting. They have fallen to third place in the division so their destiny looks similar to last year; a pretty good record but no playoffs. Both teams need this one in order to take a step closer to their goals. Youll find no rivalries here, just some good olfootball
Running Down The Middle
Now that Arian Foster (+11.5) is healthy and hitting his stride, he and fellow running back Ben Tate (+5.2) are forming a strong one two punch. Both players were good enough to make the All-PFF team last week. While they are better running to the outside than inside, its hard to resist pounding the ball up the middle when you have Chris Myers (+25.8) as your center. When running down the middle, these two backs have had 100 carries for 429 yards, four touchdowns, and nine players missing tackles on them. While they will still run to the outside a fair amount of time in this game, the Buccaneers have a big weakness in the middle that the Texans can and should exploit.
Tampa Bay is hurting at defensive tackle, with their best one, Gerald McCoy (+5.5), lost for the season. Their second best tackle, Frank Okam (-1.7), missed last week and his status is in question this time around. This leaves Brian Price (-13.3) and Roy Miller (-8.7) as their starting tackles. They have 12 combined stops on the season, a figure which 21 individual defensive tackles can match or exceed. Last week they allowed seven yards per carry against the New Orleans Saints, and the game before Matt Forte had 145 yards and seven players miss tackles on him. They are so desperate that they went against their philosophy of building with young players through the draft that they added Albert Haynesworth (+0.5 run defense) to the mix. Even with him, the Texans run game should be dominant as usual.
Buccaneers Defensive Weapon Neutralized
The only star on the Buccaneers defense has been third year defensive end Michael Bennett (+17.6). He has been averaging three pressures a game as well as two stops. His play against the run has been unmatched by any other defensive end in the league, and the amount of pressure he brings doesnt hurt his case at all.
The problem is that he spends over 95% of his snaps lined up at left defensive end, which puts him across from PFF All Pro right tackle Eric Winston (+8.1). Over the last four games he has allowed just three overall pressures, and no other right tackle in the AFC has a higher run block rating than him. The best right tackle that Bennett has faced prior to this point is Tyson Clabo (+2.8) who is having a down year, and he has faced a few backups which has also helped his performance. It will be interesting to see if Bennett can step up against this quality tackle.
Attacking Houstons Weakness
If there is a weakness anywhere on the Texans team, its at the second cornerback spot. The Texans are starting second year Kareem Jackson (-3.9 coverage), who over the last three weeks has taken 63% of the snaps. The other 37% of snaps go to Jason Allen (-3.5 coverage) who plays for a few drives at a time each game. Jackson has allowed 63.6% of passes thrown his way to be caught for an average of 15.5 yards per reception which are both high. While Allens numbers are better in both of those categories, he has allowed 88 yards after the catch which is high considering his limited snaps. If you want to find success in the passing game, it would clearly be against whichever of these two is on the field; but for that to happen a Tampa Bay receiver would need to step up. The man mostly likely capable of this is Dezmon Briscoe (+0.3) who has caught 81% of passes thrown his way for a solid 14.2 yards per catch. He has only been targeted more than four times once this year, but give the opportunity he might be able to shine.
http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2011/11/11/three-to-focus-on-texans-bucs/
November 11th, 2011 | Author: Nathan Jahnke
These two potential playoff teams went in different directions during the month of October. The Houston Texans are riding a three game winning streak where they allowed 33 total points while averaging just under 33 points per game over that span. They seem to have a firm hold on the division and now they can set their sights on aiming for a first round bye.
On the other hand, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have lost three out of their last four, and is starting to get hit with the injury bug with their top receivers and defensive tackles hurting. They have fallen to third place in the division so their destiny looks similar to last year; a pretty good record but no playoffs. Both teams need this one in order to take a step closer to their goals. Youll find no rivalries here, just some good olfootball
Running Down The Middle
Now that Arian Foster (+11.5) is healthy and hitting his stride, he and fellow running back Ben Tate (+5.2) are forming a strong one two punch. Both players were good enough to make the All-PFF team last week. While they are better running to the outside than inside, its hard to resist pounding the ball up the middle when you have Chris Myers (+25.8) as your center. When running down the middle, these two backs have had 100 carries for 429 yards, four touchdowns, and nine players missing tackles on them. While they will still run to the outside a fair amount of time in this game, the Buccaneers have a big weakness in the middle that the Texans can and should exploit.
Tampa Bay is hurting at defensive tackle, with their best one, Gerald McCoy (+5.5), lost for the season. Their second best tackle, Frank Okam (-1.7), missed last week and his status is in question this time around. This leaves Brian Price (-13.3) and Roy Miller (-8.7) as their starting tackles. They have 12 combined stops on the season, a figure which 21 individual defensive tackles can match or exceed. Last week they allowed seven yards per carry against the New Orleans Saints, and the game before Matt Forte had 145 yards and seven players miss tackles on him. They are so desperate that they went against their philosophy of building with young players through the draft that they added Albert Haynesworth (+0.5 run defense) to the mix. Even with him, the Texans run game should be dominant as usual.
Buccaneers Defensive Weapon Neutralized
The only star on the Buccaneers defense has been third year defensive end Michael Bennett (+17.6). He has been averaging three pressures a game as well as two stops. His play against the run has been unmatched by any other defensive end in the league, and the amount of pressure he brings doesnt hurt his case at all.
The problem is that he spends over 95% of his snaps lined up at left defensive end, which puts him across from PFF All Pro right tackle Eric Winston (+8.1). Over the last four games he has allowed just three overall pressures, and no other right tackle in the AFC has a higher run block rating than him. The best right tackle that Bennett has faced prior to this point is Tyson Clabo (+2.8) who is having a down year, and he has faced a few backups which has also helped his performance. It will be interesting to see if Bennett can step up against this quality tackle.
Attacking Houstons Weakness
If there is a weakness anywhere on the Texans team, its at the second cornerback spot. The Texans are starting second year Kareem Jackson (-3.9 coverage), who over the last three weeks has taken 63% of the snaps. The other 37% of snaps go to Jason Allen (-3.5 coverage) who plays for a few drives at a time each game. Jackson has allowed 63.6% of passes thrown his way to be caught for an average of 15.5 yards per reception which are both high. While Allens numbers are better in both of those categories, he has allowed 88 yards after the catch which is high considering his limited snaps. If you want to find success in the passing game, it would clearly be against whichever of these two is on the field; but for that to happen a Tampa Bay receiver would need to step up. The man mostly likely capable of this is Dezmon Briscoe (+0.3) who has caught 81% of passes thrown his way for a solid 14.2 yards per catch. He has only been targeted more than four times once this year, but give the opportunity he might be able to shine.
http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2011/11/11/three-to-focus-on-texans-bucs/
