thoughts from last night

by kcc28 on Aug 23, 2008 10:51 AM CDT

this was the first live game i was able to watch of my texans team. it was tough to swallow the final outcome but it was a very good game and here are some things that jumped out at me during and after the game.

steve slaton is our running back! whether ahman green comes back or not i think we will be much better and we may have a 1000 yard rusher finally. like the way he ran the ball, and the way he cuts and explodes(when he had a lane to go through of course). as a matter of fact chris taylor looked good as well, finished some nice runs.

we need to turn these field goals into TDs. kris brown is an awesome weapon dont get me wrong but damnit put it in the zone. especially playing on the road, when we are putting up field goals instead of TD they might as well be turnovers.

man it took schaub some time to get loosened up. to me it looked like he was playing tight. too many balls over the head of our recievers. overall he looked to settle down and start making some good throws.

kevin walter is a smooth cat. with andre johnson nowhere to be found, walter was the go-to guy. i can see a 80 - 90 catch season. he is such a valuable piece to our recieving core and is one of my all time favorite texan.

our return game is scary good. i really fell like with jacoby jones and apostrophe we have the ability to take it to the house on every punt and kick off return.

we won the turnover battle. got a pick in the endzone and a couple of good gang tackle strips one guy holds em up while the posse strips the ball. we fell one fumble short late in the game when brad johnson luckily fell on the ball.

offensive play of the day: sage leaping into the endzone off of a called qb draw in the fourth quarter on a 3 and goal play. brilliant.

defensive play of the day: zack diles pick in the endzone. if they would have converted that TD it would have been lights out and the lead would have been 14 points i think.

call of the day: 2pt conversion attempt. of course everyone is going to second guess the call because we failed to convert. but i like the call and the balls it showed and how we came to win. of course our defense didnt help out with the holding call at the end of the game and closed the door.

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good assessment

One more positive i took away from last night is our o-line’s ability to protect against the pass rush. I thought Dallas was supposed to have a really good pass rush. Couldn’t tell from last night as the Texans allowed exactly zero sacks.

I wasn’t able to watch the game (it’s on the DVR for later this weekend), but how many times did Schaub and Rosie end up on their backs? How many times were they hurried? I’m feeling good about our ability to protect the QB thus far.

by BigTexBD on Aug 23, 2008 12:42 PM CDT reply actions

I think Schaub and Sage each got hurried a few times, though I couldn’t tell you exactly how many. I think Schuab got knocked down after he passed two or three times, but generally, our O-line did a decent job pass protecting.

by tehGrindCrusher on Aug 23, 2008 8:36 PM CDT up reply actions

more of a necessity

I didn’t see real good protection very much. I saw constant pressure, and early releases. If we didn’t get a hurry, it was because the pressure was anticipated, and a quick route/pass made to compensate.

I saw Romo comfortably going through his reads, and our QB’s wide eyed and getting rid of the ball.

I think we have good pass protection against the lower echelon defenses, and barely passable to non-existent against the upper echelon teams.

I think we are deeper than most teams, however, since the last three games our second and thirders consistently outplay theirs.

Our OL has not made as much progress as I expected, but we have a couple weeks… I am cautiously optimistic, but not sure we’re ready for prime time. Hopefully I’m wrong.

Healthy and Turnover free 2008-09, and we win 11!

by texanphil on Aug 24, 2008 10:55 AM CDT up reply actions

Yea

What happened to Andre Johnson
What happened to Matt Schaub in the first quarter and a half
Did Mario play
Did a truck run over me last night

by 1Texan on Aug 23, 2008 12:54 PM CDT reply actions

Richard Smith

Please turn in your resignation.

Thanks,
Management

by Leein3D on Aug 23, 2008 2:24 PM CDT reply actions

The Positives & The Negatives

Positives
1. Had two takeaways, no giveaways. That kept the game close in spite of being outplyed by the Cowboys
2. Running game came around. Slayton, Taylor, and Walker look like they belong
3. Receivers/returners looked good, except Jacoby still isn’t putting the ball away

Negatives
1. No pass rush
2. Run defense
3. Offensive play calling. We seemed to have forgotten to run the ball until well into the game
4. Schaub’s aim was off for quite a while
5. Pass defense (although with a pass rush, would be much less noticeable

by kozanack on Aug 23, 2008 2:40 PM CDT reply actions

I think we had

3 takeaways. Agreed, excellent stat. The ZERO giveaways is the most important, however!

I wouldn’t worry about the offensive play calling, its simpler and different in pre-season. I worry about our OL on running plays.

Healthy and Turnover free 2008-09, and we win 11!

by texanphil on Aug 24, 2008 10:58 AM CDT up reply actions

Andre Johnson

was basically a non factor last night, and we still almost won. It’s only the preseason, but it is also Dullass, and we hung with them till the end. Can’t wait for the season to start.

"...and if I claim to be a wise man, well, it surely means that I don't know". SL

by Southern Lion on Aug 23, 2008 3:05 PM CDT reply actions

I made the following observations:

—In a perfect world, Slaton is our starter against Pittsburgh
—Duane Brown has exceeded my expectations. He did well against Ware, imo, but still has a ways to go. He has earned an opening day start for me as well.
—Mario was a factor in both turnovers that came during open play (as opposed to the one that happened during the return). On the interception, he blew up his blocker before the help could arrive and forced Homo to scramble, and as everyone saw, he caused the fumble. He was, imo, far and away the best player on the defensive side of the ball.
—Schaub looked great once Kubiak slapped him in the face a few times.
—KW = the man. That is all.
—DeMeco looked pretty solid, surprise surprise.
—Our pass rush sucks. Richard Smith needs to either a) go or b) throw some blitzes in.
—‘Jacques Reeves’ is french for ‘DeMarcus Faggins.’
—Fred Bennett has a long way to go.
—Overall, I’m not too upset because we were up against a good offense and it is the preseason, but we were pretty lucky to be within two touchdowns at the end of the first half.

by tehGrindCrusher on Aug 23, 2008 8:44 PM CDT reply actions

—'‘Jacques Reeves’ is french for ‘DeMarcus Faggins.’'

Brilliant. I wish I’d thought of that one.

"...and if I claim to be a wise man, well, it surely means that I don't know". SL

by Southern Lion on Aug 24, 2008 5:18 PM CDT up reply actions

it seems to me

Reeves and our merry cast of DB’s are there to make the play for the most part, but don’t make a play on the ball. Reeves was out of position a few times against Dallas, but most of the time we’re right freakin there, and don’t defend the play. Frustrating…

Healthy and Turnover free 2008-09, and we win 11!

by texanphil on Aug 24, 2008 11:00 AM CDT reply actions