Post-Game Breakdown: Houston v. New Orleans

by Tim on Aug 18, 2008 8:34 PM CDT in News

As always, here are the final stats. While we still need to temper our reactions (deep breath...it's only preseason...it's only preseason...exhale), Saturday night's win at New Orleans left us with plenty to chew on. Let's get going:

1. Matt Schaub played QB about as well as it can possibly be played. Whereas his effort the week before featured one abominable throw, Saturday night's showing was epic from start to finish. We all know it, but it bears mentioning again: If he stays upright, he's going to be a top ten QB in the NFL this season.

2. I was a bit critical of Sage in the live game threads (here and here), and I'll admit the numbers don't back me up. But he made a throw or two that looked like Schaub's mistake last week, so the stats may not tell the whole story.

3. Another positive: Chris Brown carried the ball eight (8) times (for a paltry 19 yards) and seemingly managed to avoid breaking, tearing, rupturing, spraining, straining, and/or tweaking anything. Wonders never cease.

4. From what I've seen, I believe the coaching staff is giving Chris Taylor every opportunity to be RB2 in this offense. He's looked good at times and average to slightly below-average most of the time, however, so the jury's out on whether he will win the gig.

5. Steve Slaton looked markedly better in Week Two. I'm excited about the possibility of him stealing the starting job by Pittsburgh.

6. Kevin Walter is a damn fine WR, and I'm ashamed that I ever doubted him. Preseason or no preseason, 100 receiving yards in a half is elite work.

7. Considering the high regard I hold for K-Dub, it with the utmost respect I say this: David Anderson is a poor man's Kevin Walter. Dude is strong-arming his way into the WR rotation. Speaking of...

8. Jacoby Jones is strong-arming his way to irrelevance. If he doesn't get his act together, he's going to get into Texans games as much as I will this year.

9. The OL looked unbelievable in pass protection again, and I thought the run-blocking was better than the week before (though there's still plenty of room for improvement there).

10. Duane Brown continues to impress. I mean, REALLY impress. It's only preseason, but the guy looks like he knows what he's doing. Quick--name another Texans LT you could say that about week-to-week.

11. Morlon Greenwood looked bad...again.

12. He was by no means alone. I thought the defense as a whole looked mediocre at best and like a doormat at worst. ZERO pass rush. Decent job stopping the run. Horrendous job in pass coverage, though a couple of Brees' long completions honestly could not have been defended any better; Brees just made perfect throws. Speaking of...

13. Jacques Reeves looked like the Jacques Reeves Dallas fans were so happy to see depart more often than not. I had high hopes that Antwaun Molden would pick up the slack, but Molden looked like the rookie he is. He'll get better, I know. Reeves will get better, I pray.

14. Great safety play from Demps and Brown. They were good in run support last week, and I thought they improved in the passing game this week.

15. Overall, another game that meant nothing, though it was nice to see the Texans have to manage the game at the end to win. Most importantly, no season-ending injuries. We'll take it.

Next up: "America's Team" on Friday night. You know, if your "America" is Satan's playground.

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A few other observations

1. Even though Jacques got burned, I am cautiously optimistic because he was in good position on that long pass. Now, the TD run where he made like a hurdle… not so much.

2. Same with Antwan. He had great coverage on that deep ball, but you gotta give a little credit for a perfect pass.

3. Mario still was a presence. He got good pressure on Brees that play where he hit his arm and did a good job playing the run.

4. That play by Anderson where he caught the ball falling down and then popped up for another 20 or so, was awesome.

5. The running game was slightly improved, but still has a ways to go. Slaton played well and showed great patience, but that was against the Saints second stringers. Let’s see how he does against the Cow’s first stringers.

by Vega on Aug 19, 2008 8:03 AM CDT reply actions

re: Jacques & Antwan

I agree with you that both were in great position, but it looked bad because of the absolutely perfectly thrown ball on both plays.

However, Molden was even better….as he sensed the ball and at least got a hand up at the right time. Reeves was running in perfect stride with the receiver, but he never made any play on the ball.

So you're saying that now I have to think of some witty Sig that will be applicable across all the SBN sites? Go Texan Horn Stros!

by Shake on Aug 19, 2008 10:50 AM CDT up reply actions

Re: great position

While Jacques was stride-for-stride with Patten on that throw, the problem wasn’t the perfectly thrown ball so much as it was Reeves’ not turning back to find the ball. If you watch, he just sort of throws one hand in the general direction of “up” as Patten makes the catch. Had he looked for the ball, he’d have probably been able to knock it away, as he was definitely in Patten’s hip pocket.

Yay, sports.

by MDC on Aug 19, 2008 2:13 PM CDT up reply actions