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Texans at Rams: First Impressions?

Hervoyel

Hervoyel

BUENO!
Wali Lundy is a rookie. He's a good fit for this system but he's still a rookie.

Vinny was on to something where Vernand Morency is concerned. He looked a lot like vintage Domanick Davis to me tonight only faster. If he keeps this up Domanick Davis will be a 3rd down back again.

Dave Ragone is much better fit for the Rams offense than he was for the one we were running. He was an even worse fit for the one we run now. He still looks awkward to me though.

Buchanon can cover but the announcer was right about that first pass interference penalty. That was all Phillip. The second one was a crock.

By my estimation this is the second week I feel that we should have broken 30 points but didn't.

Our first string D did a very good job tonight. In years past we couldn't have afforded a slow start like that and would have been down 14-0 or 17-0 before Carr and the offense got moving. It's nice to have the luxury of a dependable D again. We had one in 2002 but it was gone the next year and never came back.

Ok, maybe Taylor can be a beast.

Mario Williams looked like a highly regarded rookie this week which is nice.

David Carr made what appeared to me to be some very bad decisions. He pulled out of it in the 2nd quarter but I was nervous until we reached the half.

This (2-0 in the preseason and looking like they care) is an immense improvement over years past.

Kris Brown gives me that "Brad Lidge" feeling. I think we need a kicker.
 
Morency was a good back at Okie State. He was a slashing style runner that I believed would work well in the zone blocking scheme system. I wasn't really able to understand why he was having so much trouble with juking and lollygagging behind the LOS. It's good to see that he's starting to get "it".

With a team that's building like the one we have, we can't afford to miss field goals when we get the opportunities. Those will kill a young and upcoming team as they try to take on teams that are more experienced and have the confidence that winning brings.

Go Texans
 
David Carr looked jitterish at first, but settled down in at the end of 1st quarter and played well in the 2nd.

Morency looked very good. Good pass blocker. May have the upper hand over Lundy.

Buchanon had a very good game. 1st pass interference call was his fault, but the 2nd was the refs fault. He may be our Jerome Mathis as a punt returner.

Rosenfels looks like a very capable backup.

Peek may be in for a very good year. Dwight Freeney-lite.

The offensive line didn't look as good as they did last week. They weren't bad, but they weren't good either. They were decent.

The first team defense looked much improved over last week. Especially the pass rush.

McCleon isn't the answer as the 2nd string CB. Buchanon may be. We need Faggins back though as our 3rd CB.
 
I will admit, it always seems like it takes Carr a series or two to settle down. Not sure why that is.

Good post Herv and I agree with just about all of it. Most notable is your comments on the D being dependable and keeping us in the game early on; so true. So wonderful.
 
It's good to see that he's starting to get "it".
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Its amazing what a little competition will do to help someone "get it" :D.

Put a couple promising rookies in front of him and say "run it right or you wont be here for week 1" and suddenly he looks like the best back on our roster (including DD).

I hope he keeps it up. Morency and Lundy look like a good possibility for a "thunder and lightning" running game.. though neither of them quite fit into the thunder, or lightning, mold.. they are both somewhere in between.. which works fine too :D.
 
Two very general feelings I have after two preseason games.

This year we will run the ball, and stop the run better than any previous year in franchise history.
We seem to get positive yardage on a high, high percentage of running plays, and it looks to me like there will be at least a couple of running plays each game where the line just blows out the middle of the DLine for a big/huge gain.

Defensively, we've kept two above average rushing attacks in check. I am very optimistic about our run D, and that will effect the entire defense in a positive way.
 
Morency looks terrific. I like having this competition between Morency and Lundi, so long as it stays healthy.

Mario Williams is improving, and that is a big thing for the franchise.

Too many 3-and-outs in the first quarter, but the line was missing (for the most part) Wand and McKinney. Wand made some great blocks when he was out there. He added yards to the play. Spencer looks great too. He can really back up a defender...we have a line. Carr was still sacked, but...we have a line...wow...

Kris Brown is scaring me.

Peek isn't. When used appropriately, he is a monster.

The change in attitude and hustle is amazing. It does wonders for the viewer.
 
Secondary needs depth and more work.

Carr might have been told to concentrate on AJ instead of considering other targets. Also, seemed like he had to play "vanilla" tonight, in my mind the jury is still out on him. Sage is very solid backup and will probably be a starter for someone in the next couple of years.

Even if DD's knee prevents him from playing much, we are OK at running back.

Fullback position still needs to be addressed.

Defense was awesome in the last 2 minutes of the game with the goal line stand.

More consistancy in the trenches needed on both sides of the ball, but they did seem improved tonight.

Some guys I like are gonna get cut.:crying:

After we beat Denver next week will they rename it the Texans' Scheme? :challenge

The Seatle vs. Indy game tomorrow will be very interesting to see if Indy's weaknesses are opposite our strengths, ie. are the chinks in Indy's armour things we can take advantage of.

Last year is a quickly dying memory for us. How long till the "experts" catch on to how much we have changed?:yahoo:
 
I missed the 1st quarter, but my thoughts from then on... :

- Sage Rosenfels was a head scratcher when we picked him up, but not any more. Not only can the guy play, he displays great leadership.

- I want Domanick to get healthy, but only because I like the guy. We're fine with the backs we have now. Morency tore it up tonight and Lundy is giving him plenty of competition.

- The line still looks great.

- The DLine was better tonight. Travis Johnson played well, IMO. We did much better against the run than against the Chiefs.

- Buchanon was a rollercoaster, big ups and downs. It seemed like they wanted to pick on him like he got picked on last season, but he looks better than he did last year so far.

- Carr made some bad decisions, but he played ok overall. Seemed like they went away from the rollout with him somewhat tonight. Andre looks solid.

- Our FB's got to make some plays, and btw Joppru looked alright at FB.

- Has Putzier done anything yet? How about Walter?
 
Hervoyel said:
Buchanon can cover but the announcer was right about that first pass interference penalty. That was all Phillip. The second one was a crock.

By my estimation this is the second week I feel that we should have broken 30 points but didn't.

Our first string D did a very good job tonight. In years past we couldn't have afforded a slow start like that and would have been down 14-0 or 17-0 before Carr and the offense got moving. It's nice to have the luxury of a dependable D again. We had one in 2002 but it was gone the next year and never came back.

Kris Brown gives me that "Brad Lidge" feeling. I think we need a kicker.
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What do you think about Buchanon overall?

About the 30pts. I love the fact that we can disrupt the opponents offense. But did we have our 1st string O on the field late in the game? Don't you think that could have helped us get 30?

Yeah, I agree on Brown. I'm not sure about him.
 
my impressions:

david carr got off to a bad start and glad he got us down the field at the end of the first half. seems like he has trouble getting things going but he was smart and threw the ball away when he knew he could not make anything happen

morency was spectacular tonight at picking up the blitz and getting positive yards, lundy needs work in pass protection but did well when they gave him the rock.

joppru took a shot after a nice grab! glad he got up but i wish we could have seen more from our TEs tonight. the backscreen with putz was a great playcall...

Dline did really good tonight, we only gave up 61 yards on the ground and the pressure was getting there with only 4 guys rushing. very impressed with TJ and peek. mario did some really good things tonight as well (better than last week) and all i ask is he continues to grow and learn while being a force in the trenches

our depth at CB seems a bit weak at times but with pbuch doing pretty well tonight he might reclaim his starting spot. i did not see lewis sanders, but with him and petey it does not look too bad for us.

we had 182 return yards with pbuch looking good at fielding the punts, but there is still questions around the kickoff return man until mathis or someone steps up (maybe anderson). kris brown can not miss a 37 yard field goal

thats all i can think of right now. i really am glad we got a win tonight :bananasplit:
 
First off with the qb position

carr needs to chill out, for some reason he seems nervous when he is in the pocket, (from past experience 76 sacks) need to relax and have fun his line is way better than last year, or he will be on the bubble, rosefelts is a good back up,,

Morency reminds me of a young tomlison i hope he is the starter by the start of the season, and keeps improving. lundy reminds me of tiki barber doesnt have speed but can hit the holes hard.

the reciver that stood out too me as lewis that guy is crazy, love that catch and celebration..

The D was good but still need to improve i liked mario in his tackles for loss plays and peeks sacks wow that man is a beast.

but i love the winning attitude keep it up:redtowel: :redtowel: :redtowel: :yahoo:
 
Yea after reading through the game thread it sounds like they were getting plenty of pressure on Carr and he wasn't avoiding it very well. Good to hear Putzier got involved as well as Joppru. Sounds like Spencer had a rough go of it with the 1st teamers....Wand's hopes are still alive.
 
michael123 said:
Morency reminds me of a young tomlison i hope he is the starter by the start of the season, and keeps improving. lundy reminds me of tiki barber doesnt have speed but can hit the holes hard.
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Those are very good comparisons.
 
Smash_Mouth_Mario said:
What do you think about Buchanon overall?
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I think Buchanon can be the kind of player we traded for. I think that on a team that gets consistent pressure he's a real threat to haul in some picks and that his return game is valuable. I think he played a very good game but made one big mistake (the first interference call) which I can accept. I think he'll get a little better before it's all said and done.
 
About the Carr thing, the Rams were throwing a lot of blitzes at him. Almost every play in the first quarter. If Lundy was there to make the block he would just get run over or a penalty would be called for holding.

Then when Morency came he was able block some of the persuing LBs and such. Once he picked up the blitzes, they went to some run plays. Morency was getting success and Carr started looking more comfortable in the pocket.

In addition, there were no roll out plays called for Carr this week. I think he was very successful with those last week.

I agree with the FB positions and safeties. There were some really nice hits being made in the secondary, unfortunately they were being made in the secondary. Later on in the game, you could see that we dont have much depth in the secondary because their 3rd stringers were reeling in alot of catches.

Putzier had a beautiful screen play run up for him and he was stumbling bumbling rampage down the middlle of the field afre the catch. (1st QTR)

I did see Mccleon makes some decent plays, I would not write him off by any means. I mean he did block a field goal in all.
 
We are off to a better start than ever before in the pre-season, overall the whole offensive unit looked sloppy the first couple of possessions and then they got into a rythm and looked pretty good.

Carr looked off a bit at first, settle in and made good, sound decisions and throws, and got bettter as the game went on. We had protection problems early on also, our RB's weren't picking up the blitz i.e. Lundy. Morency lit it up, and did a good job with blocking, if DD can't go, he will be our starter. Rosenfels looked good, but faded a bit.

Defense did alot of bending but not breaking, had stops when it counted, Mario had more of a presence, and Peek tore it up.

Overall, we should be happy with our Texans, we have things to work on but should be very solid all around, good coaching can help that happen I hear.
 
Rosenfels is better than Carr. Carr has all the physical ability that any QB could ever need and a rocket for an arm, but he's still a dump-off passer. I said I won't defend him anymore. He has to earn it, so that's my first impression.

We have the best 2nd team in the NFL--and a subpar 1st team that would barely be better than our 2nd team IF Rosenfels started.

We should've drafted a good CB. Buchannon is great for punt returns and McCleon is great for blocking kicks. They both suck at covering receivers.

Morency is for real. He runs, he hits, he blocks, he scores. Oh, and he's faster than DD, who can't block.

Mario doesn't get sacks. He just goes out there, plays, disrupts things, and watches his team-mates maul the QB.

Brown should never kick anything in the 30-39 yd. range. We should just go for it on 4th down--or take a couple of penalties and let him nail a 60 yarder, lol. We need a normal kicker.
 
HJam72 said:
We should've drafted a good CB. Buchannon is great for punt returns and McCleon is great for blocking kicks. They both suck at covering receivers.
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Maybe the CB should be our focus next years draft as well as O-line.
 
HJam72 said:
Rosenfels is better than Carr.
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no he isn't, he just looks good on the 2nd team.

HJam72 said:
We have the best 2nd team in the NFL--and a subpar 1st team that would barely be better than our 2nd team IF Rosenfels started.
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You'll see the best 2nd team in the NFL next week ....the Broncos.
 
Smash_Mouth_Mario said:
Maybe the CB should be our focus next years draft as well as O-line.
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I don't think O-line is going to be a major concern next draft, but I guess I could be wrong about that.
 
Carr worried me in the first quarter - the sack traumatized me. Relapse from years past. Like how he rebounded though. He had an okay night outside of that.

Rosenfels is impressive. I like his poise in the pocket. I guess it's like that when you haven't been sacked 208 times in your first 4 seasons:rolleyes:

The sack on Bulger by Peek and Greenwood was just awesome. The way they came at him.... I'm glad the guy was able to get up. And great goal stand for the W.

Buchanon was doing so well on kick off return, but then came the bonehead mistake. That last pass interference call was questionable, but the one he cost us in the beginning, not good.

We got the W. Can't wait for next Sunday against the Broncos.
 
SESupergenius said:
no he isn't, he just looks good on the 2nd team.

You'll see the best 2nd team in the NFL next week ....the Broncos.
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Don't know if it matters, but I wasn't thinking about the D when I said that.
 
that little espn football L1 juke move Morency laid on that defender on the pass to the flat before halftime had the crowd ooooohhhhhing and aaaahhhhing
 
...sure would like to see a verticle passing attack with WR's and others when the starters are in...not going to beat many teams in regular season w/o one IMO
 
tsip said:
...sure would like to see a verticle passing attack with WR's and others when the starters are in...not going to beat many teams in regular season w/o one IMO
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That's exactly what I'm talking about. :ok:
 
3 main points:

1) Behind DD, Morency is our guy. It shouldn't even be close who's our #2 back. I said in another post that Lundy is nothing more than a serviceable back. DD and Morency are way better than any of our RBs by far IMO.

2) Mario Williams looks like a good rookie. A good step foward after a dissapointing opening game.

3) Buchanon is not going to be a starter once Petey comes back. He's even having trouble haning with Sanders IMO. He's just not as good as our other corners. Just because he was a high draft pick, people "ooh" and "aahh" when he makes a good play and than give him excuses for his bad plays. He is obviously given a double standard, and I'm getting kind of tired of it. Hopefully, he'll be a nickelback and punt returner (assuming Mathis doesn't learn how to catch a punt).
 
phan1 said:
2 main points:

1) Behind DD, Morency is our guy. It shouldn't even be close who's our #2 back. I said in another post that Lundy is nothing more than a serviceable back. DD and Morency are way better than any of our RBs by far IMO.

2) Mario Williams looks like a good rookie. A good step foward after a dissapointing opening game.
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IMO if Morency stays consistent, he should be our starting RB...
 
texan279 said:
IMO if Morency stays consistent, he should be our starting RB...
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That's my impression at this point too. I don't see DD beating him out, like he would have in the past.
 
Vinny said:
that little espn football L1 juke move Morency laid on that defender on the pass to the flat before halftime had the crowd ooooohhhhhing and aaaahhhhing
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That was sick ... it looked like something you see in a video game and think, "that never happens in a real game."
 
HJam72 said:
That's my impression at this point too. I don't see DD beating him out, like he would have in the past.
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Agreed. Even with 'upside' for both, Morency is faster than DD and-as he showed several times tonight-can block--how many times did he take out that LB? IMO, DD and Lundy are similar backs, with blocking their weakness. Those were good camera shots of the effect on Carr when Lundy missed those 2 blocks, while the OL was holding its own. However, all 3 can catch.
 
I still think DD should be our starter. His knee situation is a big setback, but I think he has the most intangibles. While he doesn't have breakaway speed like Morency, he does have better hands and is just as quick and elusive as Morency. I just like his "feel" for the game overall, and I think he is a better back overall. Either way, both of them should be getting some major PT.

No way DD is comparable to Lundy IMO. While he isn't much faster, he's a lot quicker and elusive. He always has the ability to make the first guy miss unlike Lundy.
 
My $%^(*&%&^%$#%$&(%(&% satellite didn't get hooked up this past week like it was supposed to, so I had to do the FP thing. Listening to that reminded me WAY too much of last year. Carr seemed to be under constant pressure. Also, the FB seemed to be a worrisome position(listening to radio here..) I really like the couple of big plays we got from the TE position. I had forgotten how crucial that can be to opening up receiving lanes AND running lanes. The secondary looks like it was ate up, but the run D looks solid. TJ's name was mentioned often. How did he look? I also see a lot on Mario looking better. Can you please expound upon that? Peek seems to be getting "it". Brown doesn't. Morency will be the flavor of the week at RB. This might be a "Denver System" symptom. If ANY decent RB can excel in this system, can you really clamor for a certain player to be THE starter? Will there be sufficient substitutions to make that point moot? Do you just root for the guy who has produced lately(a la "what have you done for me lately?)
and relegate everyone else to backup status? How did the LB's look?
 
phan1 said:
While he doesn't have breakaway speed like Morency, he does have better hands and is just as quick and elusive as Morency.
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Yes, but his blocking sucks to high Heaven. :cool:
 
phan1 said:
I still think DD should be our starter. His knee situation is a big setback, but I think he has the most intangibles. While he doesn't have breakaway speed like Morency, he does have better hands and is just as quick and elusive as Morency. I just like his "feel" for the game overall, and I think he is a better back overall. Either way, both of them should be getting some major PT.

No way DD is comparable to Lundy IMO. While he isn't much faster, he's a lot quicker and elusive. He always has the ability to make the first guy miss unlike Lundy.
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...still,whoever plays, has got to picked up the blitz--something that contributed to sacks in the past that Capers never fixed but Kubiak will...
 
HJam72 said:
Yes, but his blocking sucks to high Heaven. :cool:
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Chu that... Can't argue with you there. But hopefully he's done something to fix that. We won't know until he finds his way on the field...
 
blockhead83 said:
Sounds like Spencer had a rough go of it with the 1st teamers....Wand's hopes are still alive.
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I guess that is why the coaches have Wand first team on the depth chart - he's the better player right now.

It should be no surprise that Spencer needs some seasoning before he can dominate (message board term most associated with Spencer) first string NFL talent like he does the second teamers. He was raw coming into the league. I think it is impressive how far he has come so quickly, but he has a way to go yet. He'll be very good at some point in the future.

Wand did pretty well today - his run blocking was very good, and for the most part his pass blocking was solid. He gave up a couple of pressures but kept engaged with his man. If we would put the preconceived negative connotations* about Wand to the side for a while, he looked like an LT we can be happy with.

* Nice post on this subject right here: http://www.houstontexans.com/fan_zone/messageboards/showthread.php?t=26691
 
I guess this is where im suppose to say carr looked like carr and sage is great. In my spaghetti sauce I like sage, and some basil and lil oregano, for quarterback I'll take Carr, thanks though.
 
I started watching after the first quarter, not knowing that the would be playing in CA (Thank you My Network 13!!!) But I didnt see or hear anything about Ryans after that, was he playing?

The player I was most impressed with was Peek though. He was definitely scaring the shiet out of the QBs.

The field goal block by McCleon was pretty sweet too.

Unlike some on the Board, I though P Buchanon looked pretty good out there, especially on the punt returns. He did cost us a touch down after we had them stopped though.

Mario Williams looked pretty good imo, he's coming along rather nicely.

What can I say about Morency...looked great tonight.
 
AggieTexanFan said:
How did DeMaco Ryans look?

I notice nothing has been said about him
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Yep, pretty quiet night for DeMeco. He was credited with 1 tackle. I didn't even notice him out there at all, but I wasn't really trying to focus on him either. I did notice Greenwood looking pretty good on a few plays though. He put a wicked hit on the QB and almost got a sack. Overall, I'd say it was a good game for the team. Still plenty of things to work on, but a good team effort none the less. JMHO! :gotexans1
 
This is the best thread on the board right now. Thanks to everyone for keeping it thoughtful.

Here's my thoughts: "Texans beat Rams 27-20: Reaction"

Lots of nice stuff in there, but here's something I thought was particularly interesting:

What the stats don't show is the way Morency ran. He ran with power, making yards when there didn't seem to be anything there. He also ran well in space, making defenders miss.

To put all this running in perspective, last week when the Colts played the Rams, all the Colt running backs rushed for 38 yards. They rushed 16 times for a 2.4 yard average.

The Texans, against the same Ram defense, went 143 yards rushing for a 6.8 yard average. File that away under things that make you say hmmm.
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blockhead83 said:
I missed the 1st quarter, but my thoughts from then on... :

- Sage Rosenfels was a head scratcher when we picked him up, but not any more. Not only can the guy play, he displays great leadership.

- I want Domanick to get healthy, but only because I like the guy. We're fine with the backs we have now. Morency tore it up tonight and Lundy is giving him plenty of competition.

- The line still looks great.

- The DLine was better tonight. Travis Johnson played well, IMO. We did much better against the run than against the Chiefs.

- Buchanon was a rollercoaster, big ups and downs. It seemed like they wanted to pick on him like he got picked on last season, but he looks better than he did last year so far.

- Carr made some bad decisions, but he played ok overall. Seemed like they went away from the rollout with him somewhat tonight. Andre looks solid.

- Our FB's got to make some plays, and btw Joppru looked alright at FB.

- Has Putzier done anything yet? How about Walter?
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Agree with your post.

I'm also waiting for a Walter sighting. At the time I thought he was a great pickup.

Carr had success last week with the rollouts. I think Kubiak purposefully called the plays that required a pocket,
1) to see if there would be one and
2)to see if Carr would recognize it and take advantage of it.

It's all a work in progress. Kubiak does seem to have a purpose in his playcalling. At this point in time I feel he is more into teaching than in game planning. JMHO though.

:coffee:
 
I am excited about Peek!!! But I was worried he was going to get called for a penalty when he got in that scuffle. Not sure what that was about, but all I saw was Peek slam the other guy in the head. What a great game by him though.
 
Well Carr definately looked a little off early on tonight, and that can be attributed to the increased pressure that the Rams put on him.

Morrency looked very good. He impressed me in his blitz pickup too.

AJ is AJ.

Weary looked pretty good again. He looks like he's a perfect fit for this system. Honorable mention goes to Drew Hogden. He looked good for the 2nd team, and I think he'll be able to step in for a game or two if Flannagan gets banged up this season.

Lundy still needs to work on his blitz pickup, but the effort is there. He still makes rookie mistakes.

Joppru made a couple of nice catches, but the most notable was the catch he made where he got nailed by the safety over the top. He got up with a bit of a limp and all I could think was "Here we go again". Luckily it didn't look to serious. It's nice to see him out there making plays.

Mario seemed to do well in what I saw of him, but I'll have to review the game later for a closer look.

TJ looks like a guy fighting for his job. That might be because he's fighting for his job. If he keeps that up he'll keep his job, and might win the starting job.

Our defense looked pretty good out there despite all the passing yards it gave up. Keeping pressure on the QB is going to be a must for this defense for it to be successful.

Another point about our defense is that they seem to be reading the play very well. That's all about coaching with a young squad like ours. They didn't seem fooled much. Let's hope that continues.

PBuc looked pretty good out there with the exception of a few plays. One being the PI call that was legit, and the other being late in the game when he seemed to get lazy in coverage allowing an easy reception for one of St Louis' 3rd string WR. The 2nd PI call was ticky tack. There was minimal contact between PBuc and Shaun MacDonald. However, he did appear to grab his shoulder once he'd already tripped. That might have led the ref to believe that it was PI. Either way it was a bad call.

Those are some of my first impressions. After I review the game perhaps I'll find a few things to add or correct.
 
texasguy346 said:
Joppru made a couple of nice catches, but the most notable was the catch he made where he got nailed by the safety over the top. He got up with a bit of a limp and all I could think was "Here we go again". Luckily it didn't look to serious. It's nice to see him out there making plays.
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Joppru looked pretty fired up out there - talking up our RBs and other players after good plays. It's nice to see some cheerleading and butt slapping going on out there. It's a much better attitude than the hang dog play of last year.
 
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