my writeup for the season (because I said I would)
2009 Houston Texans Preview
Coming off 2 straight decidedly mediocre 8-8 years, hope springs eternal in Houston that THIS IS THE YEAR that we break .500 for the first time, and maybe sniff a playoff chase. The schedule is not kind to these aspirations:
New York Jets
@ tenn
Jacksonville
Oakland
@ Arizona
@ Cincinnati
San Francisco
@ Buffalo
@ Indy
BYE
Tenn
Indy
@ Jacksonville
Seattle
@ St Louis
@ Miami
New England
The Jets game this weekend will be a telling one. If the Texans can beat the teams they are better than, and lose to the teams they are worse than then they should go 10-6, with losses to indy twice, Tennessee twice, new England, and Miami. If they lose to the jets and cardinals, its probably another 8-8 year.
Offense: Offensively the Texans return all 5 starters from an offensive line that was pretty solid last year. Duane Brown should continue to improve at Left Tackle, and the unit should grown stronger as the season progresses.
Quarterback: Matt Schaub is a top 5 NFL QB when he stays healthy. Unfortunately Anne Frank has more chance of finishing her book than Matt Schaub has of playing all 16 games in a season. This means that one or more games will be placed in the hands of our current #2, Rex At Least I Dont Have To Fight Kyle Orton For A Job Anymore Grossman. Hopefully Schaub can stay healthy, and we dont have to watch Grossman or Dan Orlovsky play football anytime this season.
Running Back: Steve Slaton is one of the best in the league and should thrive with a better offensive line, and Chris Brown is theoretically finally healthy again and should help remove the load from Slaton and allow him to stay fresher.
Wide Receiver: With Apologies to Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Johnson is the best receiver in the NFL, and its really not that close. He should finish with about 120 catches and 1500 yards, 10tds. Hes so talented he makes Kevin Walter a viable number 2.
The offense should continue to move down the field easily and remain one of the top 5 in the NFL. They are going to have to, because the Defense is going to suck.
D Line: Mario Williams is one of the best DEs in the league, and should enjoy a 15 sack season. Other than him, and in spite of 5 first or second round draft picks we have no effective personnel. Amobi Okoye has been a massively disappointing bust, Free Agent Antonio Smith hasnt flashed a spark of potential in preseason, and
2nd round pick Connor Barwin looks really akward and confused whenever he ventures out onto the field.
Linebackers: Demeco Ryans is immensely talented and in a contract year. Look for him to put up probowl numbers at the MLB position. Rookie Brian Cushing will get the nod to start beside him, by nature of being their first round pick and the lack of competition. 7th Round pick from last year Zac Diles will start on the other side of what should be a linebacking corps that can neither cover nor effectively tackle.
Secondary: Dunta Robinson has finally ended his holdout, and will play vs. the Jets in week 1. How effective he can be with no practice remains to be seen. After robinson, there are no players in the Texans Secondary that deserve to be starting for an NFL franchise. Free Safety play will continue to be a weakness for the Texans, and they will pay for it in the form of 50+ yard TDs repeatedly this year.
Coaching: Gary Kubiak is great at almost every aspect of the job of being an NFL coach except for the challenging part. Everytime he throws that red flag, it costs the team a timeout. If someone steals that flag from him we might all be better off.
Final Prediction: A bad defense, a great offense, another Matt Schaub injury, and some frustrating losses make for one more 8-8 Season. Until they draft a defense to match that offense, they will continue to be mired in mediocrity.