The Houston Texans played a total team game on Sunday. The very first offensive play from scrimmage was a sign of things to come. The play that finished that drive is usually a sign of things to come.
What to Like about this game? Just about everything.
The defense held Cedric Benson, the NFL leading rusher going into the game, to 44 yards on 16 carries and one TD. Not bad for a team that gave up 531 rushing yards in its first three games. The Texans held the previous two opponents to similar yardage but those two teams were the Cardinals and Raiders. Two teams not known for their rushing prowess. So holding Benson to low yardage is a big accomplishment for the Texans.
Offensively, they played efficient and killed the clock at the end with first downs.
Matt Schaub now leads the NFL in touchdown passes with 18. He is second only to Fat Ben (no longer called Big Ben by this blog) in passing yardage but still trails by two in the sexual allegations department. Come on, Matt, work on that.
Andre Johnson continues to be Angry 'dre.
The passing game excelled with Angry 'dre (135 yards), Owen Daniels (78, 2TDs) and Steve Slaton using screens (102, 1 TD).
The rushing game was adequate with 87 yards on 31 carries. Slaton and Chris Brown were interchangeable through the game. Slaton ran for 43 yard on 19 attempts while it took less than half as many carries for Brown to exceed Slaton (45 yards on 9 carries).
Miss Leading Stat?
I think Slaton's rushing stats are misleading for a few reasons. First, I don't care how my running back gets his yards as long as he gets them. Slaton is a play maker and he needs to be heavily involved in the game plan. Gary Kubiak and Kyle Shanahan decided to get Slaton involved by throwing the ball to him six times. So while he gained only 43 yards rushing, he gained 102 yards on pass plays including his second receiving touchdown of the year on a screen. Slaton accounted for 31% of the offense's yards and averaged 5.8 yards when he touched the ball. Nothing to sneeze at my friends.
Another reason I think his rushing stats is misleading is penalties. On the second to last drive Slaton had three good runs wiped out by holding penalties. The most costly perhaps was when he ran to the Bengals two and Daniels was called for holding. I didn't add up the lost yardage but it was significant. The other thing to note about those holding calls is they were not on offensive linemen. The offenders were FB Vonta Leach, TE Daniels and WR Kevin Walters.
The Center Doesn't Hold
Fans have been piling scorn on center Chris Meyers this season. I made it a point to watch his play in particular and the line play. I used rewind and slow motion plenty of times in my watching.
This game may have been an anomaly for Meyers (Spaz an anomaly is an unusual occurrence, thought I'd save you a trip to the dictionary). I'll pay more attention in future games. That disclaimer out of the way, he played well on Sunday. I paid particular attention from the middle of the second quarter on. Not once did he get blown up on a play or pushed back. In some plays he was the only lineman down field looking to block on the secondary.
Evidently Lance Zierlien, one of the few analysts I respect, agrees:
Chris Meyers had his best game of the year for the Texans and Studdard and Chris White played better as well.
The Rest of the Line
I'm concerned with the guard play. Kasey Studdard started at left guard and Chris White started at right. On several plays Studdard was pushed back. When they did get down field they whiffed on blocks on linebackers. Eric Winston at right tackle had his moments to. He had gained a reputation as being a nasty mauler but I don't see it this year. He missed way to many blocks this game.
One thing I like about left tackle Duane Brown is that you are not hearing his name called often. For a lineman that's good. Otherwise it means he is giving up penalties or allowing sacks. Brown gave up one sack in the game. The defender beat him on a stunt and went straight for Schaub. Brown made up for in the next play. On a screen to Slaton, Brown was down field and to the left. He blocked a would be tackler and it sprang Slaton for his TD.
Rookie Antoine Caldwell split time with White at right guard. Like the other two guards, I was less than impressed with his run blocking. I did like his pass protection though. On two plays he just stood up his defender and didn't budge an inch. He's true to the scouting report I read...he's a great blocker but don't ask him to move.
The Beast
It's official. Brian Cushing is a beast. A defense know for Mario Williams, DeMeco Ryans and Dunta Robinson can now add Cushing to the list. He forced two fumbles and made interception at a critical time in the game. An receiver who made a catch like Cushing's interception would be proud.
Others are noticing. He was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week and Pro Football Weekly also picked him as one of their Players of the Week. Cushing also jumped to the top of PFW's Rookie of the Year Meter.
Closing Thoughts
The Texans return to Reliant Stadium next week and they need to defend it. Through three games they've already lost as many they did last year at home. Fortunately they've matched the road victory total of last year so things are even at 3-3.
An even record isn't good enough any more. Fans want wins and playoffs. Coming up short, like at Arizona and with the Jaguars, doesn't cut it.
For now they are still in the thick of the wildcard race. Now is the time to put a win streak together and for once remain competitive well into the season.
No comments:
Post a Comment